Information cascades in contemporary news
https://www.ft.com/content/6973e6d6-d047-11e7-9dbb-291a884dd8c6
This article discusses the impact of an information cascade in todays news, specifically in the recent sexual assaults from high profile men in Hollywood. Prior to the digital age, information was received from newspapers in articles that were carefully researched by journalists. The information coming to any individual was isolated and the information was well researched as possible. However now with the speed of social media the general information that “gets out” isn’t well researched at all and can be spread to the masses quickly. News gets out and has little time to be filtered out to separate fact from fiction, and this cascades so quickly that readers make opinions quickly and reinforce them with comments that cascades quickly. In the past, sexual abusers would have their crimes hidden by influencing the long process of getting information out. One positive of social media and todays news system is that information cascades empowered the normally voiceless and allows them to get their stories out.
Information cascades are the key theme in this article. News now is fundamentally less researched and gets out quicker than anything in the past and especially before social media. We have a lot of news cascading that is unfiltered and allows people to provide their trigger opinions rather than receiving some very carefully written article that is intended to invoke a certain emotion. Its a real life very interesting and positive consequence of information cascades.