Last week after the premier of his newest acting and directing role, "Fences", Denzel Washington was asked about a fake news story that came out about him on Facebook and his response really encapsulates how so many of us feel. The reporter asked the question of how fake news could have real consequences and he spoke for about 50 seconds on the consequences.
If you don't read the newspaper you're uniformed. If you do read the newspaper your misinformed. What are the effects of too much information? It's the need to be first, not even to be true anymore. In our society, now it's just first — who cares, get it out there. We don't care who it hurts. We don't care who we destroy. We don't care if it's true. You all have a responsibility to tell the truth. Just sell it, anything you practice you will get good at, including bs." -Denzel Washinton
Now of course this doesn't directly impact or mention Steemit or even promotion independent information, but it shows just how strong the feelings towards the mainstream media and corporate media outlets. The rise and advancement of technology is allowing for independent research and information gathering like no other period in the past. The ability to not be reliant on the mainstream media for all of your information is something that the media was not ready for. Look at the past election, again it doesn't matter your feelings on Donald Trump, the thing to focus on isa just how ignorant and naive the mainstream media was. When the media becomes so clearly and publicly biased, people began to quickly loose faith for a good reason. If independent media was able to utilize Steemit as a platform, the advancements of Steemit could happen quicker than anyone pictured. I really think that if and when Steemit were to grow rapidly, the growth will have an unprecedented domino effect. What I mean by that is all it will take is one of two big names to join Steemit and utilize it as a way to share their content, whether that be news, music, art, or use it as a substitute for mainstream social media. Once the advantages are seen by the additional attention that brings, Steemit has a serious potential to grow exponentially.
Just some thoughts i had about the currency sociopolitical environment and the growing need for independent media. Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment with any questions, comments, or arguments you have.