Never before in history has there been so much ease of access to information. The information landscape is evolving at an “alarming rate” (O’Connell et al., 2021, module 2.2) and the amount of data created is growing exponentially each and every day (Desjardins, 2019). With the rise of various social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more recently, TiKTok, their popularity is established and entrenched by the “sheer ordinariness of these readily accessible, user friendly and rapidly pervasive technologies” (Webster, 2014, p. 12).
In light of this, O’Connell et al. (2021, module 2.2) identifies that information in the modern age is “easy to manipulate”, with difficulties in establishing “authority” and “authenticity”. I would argue that these proclamations are spot on. The average, ordinary citizen has been given a platform upon which their voice can be heard. Every man and his dog who has an opinion (no matter how ill-advised) is able share it with the world. No longer does a ‘statement of fact’ spouted on social media have to have be rigorously hypothesised, researched and tested for it to be ‘true’. I feel there is a severe lack of credibility that is veiling so much information present in the digital world and in particular, on social media platforms.
Consider, for example, the social media influencer. Martineau (2019) defines an influencer as:
someone (or something) with the power to affect the buying habits or quantifiable actions of others by uploading some form of original—often sponsored—content to social media platforms … [where] the value of the content in question is derived from the perceived authority—and, most importantly, authenticity—of its creator.
Influencers – as the title suggests – have the power to influence the masses. Some seemingly use their power for good (for example, Celeste Barber with her body positive celebrity body image parodies, who succeeded in raising over $51 million dollars during the Bushfires of 2019/20) (Seibert, 2020); whereas others appear to be in it purely for the commercial gain.
I believe there will always be a place for the qualified professional. Particularly in today’s day and age where there is a constant deluge of misinformation and inaccuracies, never before has the qualified professional been as important as they are now. Having the academic competencies, skills and expertise in a specified field will always stand the test of time and be necessary in the sifting through and providing informational truth and accuracy.
References
Desjardins, J. (2019). How much data is generated each day? Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-much-data-is-generated-each-day/
Martineau, P. (2019). The Wired guide to influencers, Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-an-influencer/
O’Connell, J., Derouet, L. & Korodaj, L. (2021). 2. The information environment [Learning module]. ETL401: Introduction to teacher librarianship. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContentEditable.jsp?content_id=_4449688_1&course_id=_57504_1
Seibert, K. (2020). Celeste Barber’s story shows us the power of celebrity fundraising … and the importance of reading the fine print. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/celeste-barbers-story-shows-us-the-power-of-celebrity-fundraising-and-the-importance-of-reading-the-fine-print-139379
Webster, F. (2014). Theories of the information society (4th ed.). Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1656811