Lesson 5.

The Information Age

The Information Age also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age or New Media Age is a
historic period in the 21st century. The idea it upholds is that access to and the control of
information is the defining characteristics of this current era in human civilization. The driving
force behind changes and new options given to us is an innovation called the Internet. Many
possibilities are limitless and convenience is greatly improved. New forms of communication were
introduced. Educational opportunities were greatly enhanced because of the wealth of knowledge
now placed at the fingertips.

There may be those who do not favor this occurrence citing the creation of a technological
divide, the impersonal nature of electronic communication and the unregulated nature of the use
of internet. Regardless of these drawbacks, the world continues to becoming wired.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Link learned concepts to the development of the information age and its impact on
society; and
2. Illustrate how the social media and the information age have impacted our lives.

Discussion

5.1 Information Age Timeline

The Information Age is the idea that access to and the control of information is the defining
characteristic of this current era in human civilization.
The Information Age, also called the Computer Age, the Digital Age and the New Media Age,
is coupled tightly with the advent of personal computers, but many computer historians trace its
beginnings to the work of the American mathematician Claude E. Shannon. At age 32 and as a
researcher at Bell Laboratories, Shannon published a landmark paper proposing that information
can be quantitatively encoded as a series of ones and zeroes. Known as the "father of Information
Theory," Shannon showed how all information media, from telephone signals to radio waves to
television, could be transmitted without error using this single framework.
By the 1970s, with the development of the Internet by the United States Department of
Defense and the subsequent adoption of personal computers a decade later, the Information or
Digital Revolution was underway. More technological changes, such as the development of fiber
optic cables and faster microprocessors, accelerated the transmission and processing of
information. The World Wide Web, used initially by companies as an electronic billboard for their
products and services, morphed into an interactive consumer exchange for goods and information.
Electronic mail (email ), which permitted near-instant exchange of information, was widely adopted
as the primary platform for workplace and personal communications. The digitization of
information has had a profound impact on traditional media businesses, such as book publishing,
the music industry and more recently the major television and cable networks. As information is
increasingly described in digital form, businesses across many industries have sharpened their
focus on how to capitalize on the Information Age.
Companies whose businesses are built on digitized information have become valuable and
powerful in a relatively short period of time. In "The companies that define the Information Age are
the ones that know consumers the best," author Larry Allen of Real Media Group points out that just
as land owners held the wealth and wielded power in the Agrarian Age and manufacturers such as
Henry Ford and Cyrus McCormick accumulated fortunes in the Industrial Age, the current
Information Age has spawned its own breed of wealthy influential brokers, from Microsoft's Bill
Gates to Apple's Steve Jobs to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.
WordNet defines the Information Age as a "period beginning in the last quarter of the 20th
century when information became easily accessible through publications and through the
manipulation of information by computers and computer networks."

According to the famous Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, information is

"knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance." Humans and
other living creatures have shared information as an essential survival tool.

The means of conveying symbolic (e.g. writing, math, other codes) information among
humans has evolved with increasing speed, as summarized by the following Jays Roman History
timeline:

Year Event
3000 B.C Sumerian writing system used pictographs to represent words.
2900 Beginnings of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.
1300 Tortoise shell and oracle bone writing were used.
500 Papyrus roll was used.
220 Chinese small seal writing was developed.
100 A.D. Book (parchment codex).
105 Wood-block printing and paper were invented by the Chinese.
1455 Johann Gutenberg invented printing press using movable metal type.
1755 Samuel Johnson's dictionary standardized English spelling.
1802 The Library of Congress was established.
Invention of the carbon arc lamp.
1824 Research on persistence of vision published.
1830s First viable design for a digital computer.
Augusta Lady Byron wrote world's first computer program.
1837 Invention of telegraph in Great Britain and the United States.
1861 Motion pictures projected onto a screen
1876 Dewey Decimal system was introduced.
1877 Edward Muybridge demonstrated high-speed photography.
1899 First magnetic recordings were released.
20th Century
1902 Motion picture special effects were used.
 1906 Lee DeForest invented electronic amplifying tube (triode).
1923 Television camera tube invented by Zvorkyn.
1926 First practical sound movie.
1939 Regularly scheduled television broadcasting begins in the U.S.
1940s Beginnings of information science as a discipline
1945 Vannevar Bush foresaw the invention of hypertext.
1946 ENIAC computer developed.
1948 Birth of field-of-information theory proposed by Claude E. Shannon.
1957 Planar transistor developed by Jean Hoerni.
1958 First integrated circuit.
1960s Library of Congress developed LC MARC (machine readable code).
1969 UNIX operating system developed, which could handle multitasking.
1971 Intel introduces first microprocessor chip.
1972 Optical laserdisc developed by Philips and MCA.
1974 MCA and Philips agreed on standard videodisc encoding format.
1975 Altair Microcomputer Kit: first personal computer for the public.
1977 RadioShack introduced first complete personal computer.
1984 Apple MacIntosh computer was introduced.
Mid-'80s Artificial intelligence was separated from information science.
1987 Hypercard developed by Bill Atkinson recipe box metaphor.
1991 Four hundred fifty complete works of literature on one CD-ROM.
Jan. 1997 RSA (Encryption and network security software) Internet security code cracked for
a 48-bit number.

According to John Waters, design director, Waters International, Inc.:

"There was a time when information was precious, when news was important. We
collected and stored the facts in our heads. But something began to happen around the
middle of the last century. Information got ahead of us. It started to grow at a rate we were
unprepared to handle. Throughout the sixties and seventies information abundance made
collecting and recalling more selective and more difficult. During the eighties, real angst set
in. We suffered from “Information Anxiety”, as Richard Wurman explained in his classic
book by the same name. In the nineties, information became the currency of business — the
preferred medium of exchange, and the information managers became information officers.
Today ... this currency has become a commodity, another mass-produced, unspecialized,
overdeveloped product. And we are nearly drowning in it."

What Will Come After The Information Age?

In the Industrial Age and the Information Age, there was widespread optimism that
technology would eventually solve all of our problems — poverty, disease, violence, and others. In
the last 5 years or so, it’s been slowly dawning on us that more technology, by itself, cannot be the
solution, and in fact, the systems we currently have in place, while they solve some problems, create
other problems that may be equally severe.

While technology has certainly lifted many humans out of poverty and enriched our lives in
many ways, it has also made the world increasingly complex and difficult to navigate. The rapid
disruption of many established industries has meant that even the most intelligent and
conscientious individuals have had to struggle to stay relevant in the modern globalized economy—
while others, inundated with information to make sense of, can’t figure out how to make all the
right decisions the first time, and must spend years broke, jobless, underemployed, or burnt out.
We are not weaker or stupider than our ancestors, but the world is more challenging than ever
before and we need to go through more trial and error than they did in order to secure a
comfortable existence. Continued technological development will increase material abundance
even more, but technology alone cannot solve the problem of figuring out whom to distribute
resources to and getting everyone on board with how resources are distributed.

The internet has enabled new modes of social interaction that the evolution of our primate
brains didn’t equip us to handle. Despite the fact that we are supposed to be more connected than
ever before, many people are lonely and starved of genuine positive human attention. Many people
don’t belong to “tribes” or “bands” in which individuals are valued, the way our ancestors have for
millennia; instead, we all compete for attention on a globalized market provided by social media,
and many people are losing the competition, becoming lonely and depressed, while even those who
are winning, receiving a larger share of positive attention than others, can often be anxious and
insecure about maintaining their position in the status hierarchy, because they, too, often lack a
close-knit social group in which people genuinely care about them. Economic growth and
technological development don’t increase the ratio of available human attention to the amount of
need for human attention (as both scale linearly with the number of humans alive). We have to
admit that we simply don’t know how to solve this problem right now, but at any rate, it’s obvious
that we can’t rely on technology to be our savior.

5.2 The Computer

A computer is one type of machine manage different kinds of programs to perform useful
tasks to the users. Computer gives proper response to the users through the set of instructions
arranged in proper order. It has storage capacity along with execution benefits. Computers can
perform both complex and simple operations. Based on types of actions, computers design in
several formats with hardware and software specifications. Computer contains wires, transistors,
circuits, hardware parts and etc. Computer designs with both software and hardware. Software is a
process of preparing program through instructions and data. General computers are made with
following types of components in hardware:
Computer Types

1. Personal computer

It maintains above list of hardware and software components. It can be defined as a small
that range up to the limited pounds. It appeared in the year of 1970’s that work with small
CPU, RAM and memory chips. It is useful to the word processing, accounting, desktop,
database management applications and etc. Number of home users use this software for
play games and learn anything from internet easily.

Personal computer maintains several kinds of computers such as following.

a. Notebook

An extremely lightweight personal computer. Notebook computers typically weigh

less than 6 pounds and are small enough to fit easily in a briefcase. Aside from size, the
principal difference between a notebook computer and a personal computer is the
display screen. Notebook computers use a variety of techniques, known as flat-panel
technologies, to produce a lightweight and non-bulky display screen. The quality of
notebook display screens varies considerably. In terms of computing power, modern
notebook computers are nearly equivalent to personal computers. They have the same
CPUs, memory capacity, and disk drives. However, all this power in a small package is
expensive. Notebook computers cost about twice as much as equivalent regular-sized
computers. Notebook computers come with battery packs that enable you to run them
without plugging them in. However, the batteries need to be recharged every few hours.

b. Tower Computer

The term refers to a computer in which the power supply, motherboard, and mass
storage devices are stacked on top of each other in a cabinet. This is in contrast to
desktop models, in which these components are housed in a more compact box. The
main advantage of tower models is that there are fewer space constraints, which
makes installation of additional storage devices easier.

c. Laptop

A small, portable computer small enough that it can sit on your lap. Nowadays,
laptop computers are more frequently called notebook computers.

d. Subnotebook

A portable computer that is slightly lighter and smaller than a full-sized notebook
computer. Typically, subnotebook computers have a smaller keyboard and screen,
but are otherwise equivalent to notebook computers.

e. Handheld

A portable computer that is small enough to be held in one’s hand. Although

extremely convenient to carry, handheld computers have not replaced notebook
 computers because of their small keyboards and screens. The most popular hand-
held computers are those that are specifically designed to provide PIM (personal
information manager) functions, such as a calendar and address book. Some
manufacturers are trying to solve the small keyboard problem by replacing the
keyboard with an electronic pen. However, these pen-based devices rely on
handwriting recognition technologies, which are still in their infancy. Hand-held
computers are also called PDAs, palmtops and pocket computers.

f. Palmtop

A small computer that literally fits in your palm. Compared to full-size computers,
palmtops are severely limited, but they are practical for certain functions such as
phone books and calendars. Palmtops that use a pen rather than a keyboard for
input are often called hand-held computers or PDAs. Because of their small size,
most palmtop computers do not include disk drives. However, many contain
PCMCIA slots in which you can insert disk drives, modems, memory, and other
devices. Palmtops are also called PDAs, hand-held computers and pocket computer.

g. PDA

Short for personal digital assistant, a handheld device that combines computing,
telephone/fax, and networking features. A typical PDA can function as a cellular
phone, fax sender, and personal organizer. Unlike portable computers, most PDAs
are pen-based, using a stylus rather than a keyboard for input. This means that they
also incorporate handwriting recognition features. Some PDAs can also react to
voice input by using voice recognition technologies. The field of PDA was pioneered
by Apple Computer, which introduced the Newton Message Pad in 1993. Shortly
thereafter, several other manufacturers offered similar products. To date, PDAs have
had only modest success in the marketplace, due to their high price tags and limited
applications. However, many experts believe that PDAs will eventually become
common gadgets.

PDAs are also called palmtops, hand-held computers and pocket computers.

2. Desktop model

A computer designed to fit comfortably on top of a desk, typically with the monitor sitting
on top of the computer. Desktop model computers are broad and low, whereas tower model
computers are narrow and tall. Because of their shape, desktop model computers are
generally limited to three internal mass storage devices. Desktop models designed to be
very small are sometimes referred to as slimline model.

3. Mini Computer

It is a midsize computer useful in work stations that can cover 200 users simultaneously.
 4. Workstation

It designs for engineering applications SDLC and various kinds of applications with moderate
power and graphic technologies. It generally maintains high storage media along with large
RAM. Workstation only work by the UNIX and Linux operating systems. It has several types
of storage media that maintain both diskless and disk drive workstations.

5. Supercomputer and Mainframe

Supercomputer is best fastest computer in world that is very expensive. It works based on
mathematical calculations so, everything works well with simple procedure.
Supercomputers deals with scientific simulations, animated graphics, electrical design,
perform dynamic calculations and etc.

6. Server
It refers to a computer that has been improved to provide network services to other
computers. Servers usually boast powerful processors, tons of memory, and large hard
drives.

7. Wearable Computers

They involve materials that are usually integrated into cellphones, watches, and other small
objects or places. They perform common computer applications such as databases, email,
multimedia and schedulers.

5.3 The World Wide Web (Internet)

World Wide Web (WWW), byname the Web, the leading information retrieval service of
the Internet (the worldwide computer network). The Web gives users access to a vast array of
documents that are connected to each other by means of hypertext or hypermedia links—
i.e., hyperlinks, electronic connections that link related pieces of information in order to allow a
user easy access to them. Hypertext allows the user to select a word or phrase from text and
thereby access other documents that contain additional information pertaining to that word or
phrase. Hypermedia documents feature links to images, sounds, animations, and movies. The Web
operates within the Internet’s basic client-server format; servers are computer programs that store
and transmit documents to other computers on the network when asked to, while clients are
programs that request documents from a server as the user asks for them. Browser software allows
users to view the retrieved documents.

A hypertext document with its corresponding text and hyperlinks is written in HyperText
Markup Language (HTML) and is assigned an online address called a Uniform Resource
Locator (URL).

The development of the World Wide Web was begun in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee and his
colleagues at CERN, an international scientific organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. They
created a protocol, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which
standardized communication between servers and clients. Their text-based Web browser was
made available for general release in January 1992.
 Tim Berners-Lee, WWW Inventor

The World Wide Web gained rapid acceptance with the creation of a Web browser
called Mosaic, which was developed in the United States by Marc Andreessen and others at the
National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois and was released in
September 1993. Mosaic allowed people using the Web to use the same sort of “point-and-click”
graphical manipulations that had been available in personal computers for some years. In April
1994 Andreessen cofounded Netscape Communications Corporation, whose Netscape
Navigator became the dominant Web browser soon after its release in December 1994. BookLink
Technologies’ Internet Works, the first browser with tabs, in which a user could visit another Web
site without opening an entirely new window, debuted that same year. By the mid-1990s the World
Wide Web had millions of active users.

The software giant Microsoft Corporation became interested in supporting Internet

applications on personal computers and developed its own Web browser (based initially on
Mosaic), Internet Explorer (IE), in 1995 as an add-on to the Windows 95 operating system. IE
was integrated into the Windows operating system in 1996 (that is, it came “bundled” ready-to-use
within the operating system of personal computers), which had the effect of reducing competition
from other Internet browser manufacturers, such as Netscape. IE soon became the most popular
Web browser.

Apple’s Safari was released in 2003 as the default browser on Macintosh personal
computers and later on iPhones (2007) and iPads (2010). Safari 2.0 (2005) was the first browser
with a privacy mode, Private Browsing, in which the application would not save Web sites in its
history, downloaded files in its cache, or personal information entered on Web pages.

The first serious challenger to IE’s dominance was Mozilla’s Firefox, released in 2004 and
designed to address issues with speed and security that had plagued IE. In
2008 Google launched Chrome, the first browser with isolated tabs, which meant that when one tab
crashed, other tabs and the whole browser would still function. By 2013 Chrome had become the
dominant browser, surpassing IE and Firefox in popularity. Microsoft discontinued IE and replaced
it with Edge in 2015.

In the early 21st century, smartphones became more computer-like, and more-advanced
services, such as Internet access, became possible. Web usage on smartphones steadily increased,
and in 2016 it accounted for more than half of Web browsing.

Some have begun to call it the Information Revolution. Technological changes brought
dramatic new options to Americans living in the 1990s. From the beginning of the decade until the
end, new forms of entertainment, commerce, research, work, and communication became
commonplace in the United States. The driving force behind much of this change was an innovation
popularly known as the Internet.
Personal computers had become widespread by the end of the 1980s. Also available was the
ability to connect these computers over local or even national networks. Through a device called a
modem, individual users could link their computer to a wealth of information using conventional
phone lines. What lay beyond the individual computer was a vast domain of information known as
cyberspace.
The internet was developed during the 1970s by the Department of Defense. In the case of
an attack, military advisers suggested the advantage of being able to operate one computer from
another terminal. In the early days, the Internet was used mainly by scientists to communicate with
other scientists. The Internet remained under government control until 1984.
One early problem faced by Internet users was speed. Phone lines could only transmit
information at a limited rate. The development of fiber-optic cables allowed for billions of bits of
information to be received every minute. Companies like Intel developed faster microprocessors, so
personal computers could process the incoming signals at a more rapid rate.
In the early 1990s, the world wide web was developed, in large part, for commercial
purposes. Corporations created home pages where they could place text and graphics to sell
products. Soon airline tickets, hotel reservations, books, and even cars and homes could be
purchased online. Colleges and universities posted research data on the Internet, so students could
find valuable information without leaving their dormitories. Companies soon discovered that work
could be done at home and submitted online, so a whole new class of telecommuters began to earn
a living from home offices unshaven and wearing pajamas.
New forms of communication were introduced. Electronic mail, or email, was a convenient
way to send a message to associates or friends. Messages could be sent and received at the
convenience of the individual. A letter that took several days to arrive could be read in minutes.
Internet service providers like America Online and CompuServe set up electronic chat rooms. These
were open areas of cyberspace where interested parties could join in a conversation with perfect
strangers.
Advocates of the Internet cited its many advantages. The commercial possibilities were
limitless. Convenience was greatly improved. Chat rooms and email allowed individuals to converse
who may never have had the opportunity in the past. Educational opportunities were greatly
enhanced because of the wealth of knowledge now placed at the fingertips of any wired individual.
"SURFING THE 'NET" became a pastime in and of itself.
Critics charged that the Internet created a technological divide that increased the gap
between the haves and have-nots. Those who could not afford a computer or a monthly access fee
were denied these possibilities. Many decried the impersonal nature of electronic communication
compared to a telephone call or a handwritten letter. Hate groups were using the Internet to
expand their bases and recruit new members. The unregulated nature of the Internet allowed
pornography to be broadcast to millions of homes. Protecting children from these influences, or
even from meeting violent predators would prove to be difficult.

5.4 Effects of Technology on the World of Information and Knowledge to Society

Human civilization owes its current form to a number of major revolutions in the capacity
to communicate and pass along information. The genesis of writing, a technological development
that began at least 3,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, led to a flowering of commerce,
mathematics, science, and learning (Neugebauer, 1969; Van De Mieroop, 1999). Another milestone
was the invention of the modern printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century, which
made it possible for ideas to be passed along to many people at widely distributed locations and
times. Inventions of the telephone, telegraph, radio, movies, television, and the Internet all
extended communication and expression. These revolutions changed the world of information and
knowledge, resulting in transformative effects on society.

Rapid advances in information and communication technologies during the latter half of the
20th and early 21st centuries are creating an Information Age revolution. These technologies have
made possible the storage, organization, and manipulation of vast quantities of data, far beyond
what was possible for a physical library, and have greatly facilitated access to the information by
anyone, anywhere. Together these technologies are modifying the world of information and
knowledge itself, with implications for individuals, organizations, and entire societies.

It is important for all citizens to understand the societal needs that led to the development
of information and communication technologies and the effects, both positive and negative, of these
technologies on the creation, extension, and use of knowledge and the expression of ideas. Students
can acquire these insights and capabilities by taking courses in technology or simply through daily
activities, such as studying the traditional subjects in school and pursuing personal interests at
home. In other words, the process of using various technologies to access and interact with
information and knowledge can yield valuable learning about the technology itself, and therefore
contributes to students' technology and engineering literacy.

In contrast to the assessment targets later in this chapter under "Information and
Communication Technology", which are concerned with student knowledge and use of various
technologies, the assessment targets in this subarea emphasize the revolutionary consequences of
the Information Age—the ways in which society affects what information and knowledge is
available and how the availability of that information profoundly affects society.

Key principles in the area of effects of technology on the world of information and
knowledge that all students can be expected to understand at increasing levels of sophistication
are:

 Information technology is evolving rapidly, enabling ever-increasing amounts of

information and data to be stored, managed, enhanced, analyzed, and accessed through a
wide array of devices in various media formats.
 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enables the creation and modification of
information and knowledge products by remotely connected individuals and teams.
 The emergence of intelligent information technologies and the development of
sophisticated modeling and simulation capabilities are transforming the world of
information and knowledge, with potentially profound effects on society.

5.5 The Internet

The internet is accessible by almost any person who tries to connect to one of its central,
main networks. Moreover, it can be accessed by users of any age and condition. But what are the
positives and negatives aspects of the internet?
The Internet has some great positive effects. Some of these include:

 Internet search engines are the best information retrieval systems available. They bring any
kind of information for internet users, from local restaurants to international news.
 The Internet provides some of the most effective means of communication among people,
including online emailing and instant messaging.
 The Internet makes possible for business and companies to do transactions with their
clients and customers.
 Thanks to the internet, people can take action and avoid adverse circumstances. For
instance, hurricane, storms and accidents can be tracked through the internet.
 The internet has allowed the interchange of ideas and materials among scientists, university
professors, and students, in addition to provide servers, resource centers and online tools
for their research and scholar activities. Moreover, millions of books, journals and
other material are available through the internet because of the digitization of public
domains material from libraries in the States and Europe. This action enables people to
learn all new sort of things.

Sometimes, the internet also can have negative effects, including:

 Illegal or inappropriate materials can be found in the internet.

 Some people in recent years have illegally downloaded music or other copyrighted material
for free. This action has had a negative impact on the music industry and has led to several
lawsuits.
 The addiction to online social networks can disturb a person's way of living and
professional activity.
 Some criminals use the internet for spreading computer viruses or even intercepting credit
card or bank details for spurious purposes.

5.6. Social Media (or Networks)

Social media is computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts,
and information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social media
is internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content. Content includes
personal information, documents, videos, and photos. Users engage with social media via computer,
tablet or smartphone via web-based software or web application, often utilizing it for messaging.

Many individuals will use social media to stay in touch and interact with friends and family,
while others use it to communicate with different communities. Many businesses will use social
media as a way to market and promote their products. In addition, business to consumer (B2C)
websites include social components, such as comment fields for users. Other tools have been
created to aid in tracking the number of mentions and brand perception.
Social media originated as a way to interact with friends and family but was later adopted
by businesses which wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication method to reach
out to customers. The power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with
anyone on Earth, or with many people simultaneously.
 Globally, there are more than 3 billion social media users. Social media is an ever-changing
and ever-evolving web-based platform.

According to the Pew Research Center, social media users tend to be younger. Nearly 90
percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 used at least one form of social media. Further,
these users tend to be better educated and relatively wealthy, or earning over $75,000 per year.

Social media may take the form of a variety of tech-enabled activities. These activities
include photo sharing, blogging, social gaming, social networks, video sharing, business networks,
virtual worlds, reviews and much more. Even governments and politicians utilize social media to
engage with constituents and voters.

For individuals, social media is used to keep in touch with friends and extended family.
Some people will use various social media applications to network career opportunities, find people
across the globe with like interests, and share their thought, feelings, insight, and emotions. Those
who engage in these activities are part of a virtual social network.

For businesses, social media is an indispensable tool. Companies use the platform to find
and engage with customers, drive sales through advertising and promotion, gauge consumer
trends, and offering customer service or support.

Social media's role in helping businesses is significant. It facilitates communication with

customers, enabling the melding of social interactions on e-commerce sites. Its ability to collect
information helps focus on marketing efforts and market research. It helps in promoting products
and services, as it enables the distribution of targeted, timely, and exclusive sales and coupons to
would-be customers. Further, social media can help in building customer relationships
through loyalty programs linked to social media.

While social media has its positive side, many point to the platform and call out negative
features, likening its overuse to an addiction. Some contest it contributes to inattentiveness, stress,
and jealousy. The National Center for Biotechnology Information links heavy social media use to
depression. Also, many times, social media may be a conduit for misleading information and
falsehoods.

The 2016 American presidential election has well-documented accounts of the impact of the
ability to spread false information through the platform. Such a phenomenon leverages the power
of social media, allowing anyone to reach an audience of millions with content that lacks oversight
or fact-checking.

The figures for the most popular social media websites as of July 2020 are as follows:
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