The Digital Convergence Dilemma

 Whether we are aware of it or not, we all play enormous roles in this era of digital convergence. After all, we don't have to look any further than the cellphone in our pocket to find a prime example why. Our phones and technology as a whole are a huge factor in the growth of digital convergence. They've made the consumption of media and information, as well as putting it all out there, as easy as it's ever been.

 If it's a monotonous day on the job and time seems to be coming to a crawl, one might put on their AirPods and listen to their favorite podcast. If they're on lunch break they may decide to watch the recording on their phone. They could even get an aggregated version by just scrolling through their Twitter timeline.

 I can speak from personal experience when I say that it's changed how media is consumed around my household. My mother hardly watches the news on television anymore, because she can get updates anywhere, at any time, from applications. There's many positive takeaways, but the shift is far from flawless on a grander scale.

 News updates and events being reported quicker than ever before sometimes bring with them unreliability and misinformation to the public. There's never been more competition than there is now between journalists - and fugazi insiders with zero credentials on trying to be the first ones to break a headline. Credibility is often thrown out the window or put on the line for the sake of generating traffic, interest, and an off-chance they were actually correct.

 At its worst, it can cause a chain reaction that not only damages the reputation of the reporter, but also whomever the subject of the report is. Every day it seems a celebrity has to debunk a theory from baseless speculation that caught fire, or an athlete shutting down trade rumors by an unreliable source.

 For instance, just yesterday, the NBA dispelled rumors that Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies was benefitting from generous scorekeeping during home games this season. The thread on Reddit noted the discrepancies in Jaren's home/road splits-specifically his blocks and steals. While the user provided video examples, what he didn't include were specific angles which did show Jaren making a play on the ball. Before the league could deny the conspiracy, it had already generated a lot of headlines and conversation online, discrediting Jackson Jr. and the season he has had defensively.

 It speaks to why due diligence is so important in these times where anything can seemingly catch fire, and also why it's been thrown out of some people's routines. So while getting our fix of news may be much easier than before, we also have to be conscious of who we are getting it from