Triggers
True or False:
We only need to watch out for bad feelings when we're online (fear, sadness, anger, etc).
False
(Even extreme happiness, humor, and excitement can make us share information without thinking)
What emotion is a phrase like this meant to trigger?
"99% of people think..."
shock
anxiety
judgement
superiority/justification
Why should we be wary of trusting comments blindly?
comments might not be in a fair order (chronological vs popularity, power, positivity/negativity, etc)
True or False:
There are settings you can adjust to change the way the Community Reading Experience affects your view of information online.
True
(comment settings, blocking accounts, flag/report options, chronological vs For You presentation)
Even if the information isn't triggering strong emotions for you, what might you still need to think about before sharing with your community?
Whether it might be triggering to others
What emotion is a phrase like this meant to trigger?
"This is outrageous!"
anger
fear
Name two factors relating to the Community Reading Experience that can influence people to trust content they find online.
- likes/views
- shares
- followers
- comments
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Why might the Community Reading Experience have more power on mobile apps and sites than on laptops or home computers?
- doomscrolling
What should you do when strong emotions make you feel an urge to trust or share information?
Look for clues to tell you if it's trustworthy
Only headlines, photo captions, and comments can trigger extreme emotions.
False
(any part of a piece of media can trigger strong emotions)
What power do you have to influence the Community Reading Experience?
Your likes, shares, and comments contribute to those counts, and they might be the first thing someone new notices about the content.
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Why might a company want to make it harder for you to figure out which sources of information to trust?
- they want to keep you in reaction mode - big emotions, big reactions, big actions on their site (sharing, liking, commenting)
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Why is it important to notice if a piece of media is making you feel a strong emotion?
- Fight or flight response!
- Strong emotions may make it harder to stop and think about the right thing to do, or if the information is even true
Why does taking a few deep breaths help lessen the impact of strong emotions?
- reduce heart rate
- reduce blood pressure
- reduce stress response
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Why might removing the like/share counts change your initial view of a piece of information?
- you're forced to actually look at the information itself, rather than what everyone says about it
Thinking Question - Double Points!
In 2020, more people had access to mobile phones than had running water in their home. If people NEED water to live, why do you think they don't all have running water in their homes?
- community water sources (wells and fountains)
- natural water sources (lakes and rivers)
- updating or expanding infrastructure is EXPENSIVE
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Why might a content creator WANT to make you feel extreme emotions (good or bad)?
- make you share without thinking or fact-checking
- make you engage with the content even if you disagree (trolls)
- go viral
- $$$
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Does this all mean we aren't supposed to feel anything when we're online? Why or why not?
- not all emotions are big ones that short-circuit our ability to think and act with intention
- it's impossible for us to feel NOTHING - there's so much amazing, funny, scary, terrible stuff out there!!
- sometimes a BIG emotion is the right response - BUT we still need to be in control so we can improve a situation rather than making it worse
Thinking Question - Double Points!
Just because a piece of information appears to have a negative reaction on social media, should you assume it is bad or untrustworthy? Why or why not?
- The information might be so new that it hasn't had a chance to get lots of likes/shares yet
- The information might have only been shared within a group that already has strong feelings about it (like a steak recipe in a vegetarian blog?)
Thinking Question - Double Points!
In 2020, more people had access to mobile phones than had running water in their home. Why do you think so many people would prioritize getting a mobile phone?
- emergency calls (sickness, injury, etc)
- location features (GPS, maps)
- delivery services (DoorDash)
- homework
- more mobile than a laptop
- cheaper than a laptop