Information Cascades and Sexual Assaults
https://www.ft.com/content/6973e6d6-d047-11e7-9dbb-291a884dd8c6
Information cascades is an interesting concept that is applicable to many different areas and fields of interests. In “Trump and the ‘information cascade’ created a cultural reckoning,” Gillian Tett explained how information cascades is one of the major reasons why there has been a significant increase in recent sexual harassment allegations. In the past, before the introduction of advancements in internet technology, women had to go through a long, bureaucratic process if they wanted to file for a sexual assault. This process was tiresome, and resulted in a lack of media attention, and without social media and other internet applications, it was hard for any of these cases to gain serious traction. Thus, many cases never ended in a fair or just way, and these women would feel powerless when it comes to sexual assaults.
In this course, we learned about information cascades and how they have the capacity to influence the decisions of many people. This happens when the popular opinion is changed, and thus everyone follows in suit to change their own opinion. In the case of women and sexual assaults, women were in the state that had them not want to report the assault. They were in this equilibrium state because reporting the assault would usually never be productive and just a waste of time. However, this state changed after the opinions of a few celebrities changed. After certain celebrities spoke up against Harvey Weinstein, we saw the dynamics evolve. Through the use of the internet and social media, this information cascaded and became the new equilibrium. This proves to be a positive change for society since it will help us create a more ethically just world.