In the article it talks about the fake videos that were shared online about pophyra (seaweed type) and how they talked about it being “transparent, rubbery and fishy smelly”. Another article talks how much trouble the fake news brought to the economy of the businesses that sold the seaweed. These videos had no scientific proof that showed all these allegations were true, just some observations that people made and based them on some untrue ideas. Seaweed is not made out of plastics, but some parts of it can be used to make plastic. A story explains how seaweed extract can be used to make plastic that can decompose 4-6 weeks after that without harming the environment. It is easily accessible and very cheap to get. It provides a testable theory where you can test if it plastic or seaweed by placing it in water and the one that expands is seaweed as it absorbs water.
Sure, plastic and seaweed might have some similarities between them, but that doesn’t mean that seaweed is plastic and is bad for our health. To make plastic out of seaweed a lot of steps need to be done and the final product is not we eat it is what we use and can’t be compared to the real seaweed as it had overcome many modifications.
-Olga Egkorova
This is crazy. A lot of fake news has at least some truth involved. But this is just totally based on lies and misunderstandings. It's like a game of telephone, where the message at the end is totally different from what was said in the beginning. How did this happen? Did someone just misunderstand the article about seaweed extracts? Did someone go out an intentionally spread lies?
ReplyDeletePosted by "Chandler Kupris"
a video was leaked online and the seaweed that was grown was assumed to be plastic, so they started spreading lies about it being made of plastic and harmful to humans. It might have been done out of revenge from someone to someone so that their business of seaweed is destroyed but then turned out completely different story in the end.
Delete-Olga Egkorova
Honestly this is the first time i hear about this and this is so cool. Fake news is always a problem by making the news to appear crazy even if it is not the same way they present it, but the purpose it to reach big number of watchers. Coming back to how we know if it is seaweed or plastic, i was surprised by this test, which if it is true, it indicates that seaweed even if it's similar to plastic, is permeable to fluids.
ReplyDeletePosted by "Jad Imad"
The scientific premise of using seaweed as a substitute for plastic is really amazing and could do incredible things for our environment. It is really concerning that people would misuse such information, likely to promote some other agenda. It's also crazy that this false information has already had such detrimental effects. Do you think some form of corrective information needs to be posted or will this error likely be corrected on its own?
ReplyDeleteAlexandra McGuire
I do think that some form of corrective information has to be posted. if not that then at least explained to the people that plastic and seaweed are two different things and that what people are trying to achieve with seaweed is not affecting the seaweed that you buy at local stores.
Delete-Olga Egkorova
I think its interesting that people believed seaweed, a biological algae, is made out of plastic, a chemically made substance. It's shocking how much backing fake news can sometimes get its like a wildfire effect where one person believes the story and spreads it and it exponentially grows. I feel like fake news often has such shocking and dramatic conclusions which causes people to believe them more and in this world which is now highly dictated by social media it is easy to find yourself believing the next shocking story which often is later debunked.
ReplyDelete-Maddie Powers
It seems like in today's day and age we don't have that many credible sources to obtain information from. We see "fake news" in politics, the news, and now we see it more and more in science. I believe this is caused by a vicious loop of sensationalism. Some media source says something wildly outrageous and gets a lot of attention so another media group says something even more outrageous and the cycle continues and gets more and more outrageous and less and less truthful. This paired with the gullible mind of the average consumer can cause these illogical stories to seem like the one and only truth. We need to stop lying to the world and begin to use REAL science and data to prove things as soon as possible, or people will really believe things like algae is made of plastic.
ReplyDelete-Francis Hoey
Amazing how false information spreads so quickly! It was, however, interesting to learn that plastic can be made from seaweed! Is such plastic cost effective and economically feasible to produce and manufacture? I wonder in what capacity it could be used, and furthermore, if there are there any regulations in order to protect these species from over-farming.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Hayley Fecko
That's insanity that they said seaweed is made from plastic. I mean any understanding of biology reveals plastic a synthetic product, and anybody who has felt seaweed in their hands and also felt plastic should know one of those is alive, and the other is plastic. It seems a common theme of fake news articles to find a gleam of truth, and use it to justify enough conclusions to give a person sun stroke. I mean there is just no connection between a gleam and sunstroke, although both are generally in the context of light. Similarly there is no connection between the truth they share, and the conclusions they infer. I think reading stupid things can be beneficial because something so obviously wrong is like life's beginner guide to think for yourself. I would hope that the net impact on the world from this article is a positive one, because it teaches critical thinking. Although probably stupid people read it and are like, "Yes, I can throw shit on the ground now."
ReplyDeletePosted by, "Takoda Nordoff"
It is honestly quite crazy how people can just post fake news, and obviously many people are gullible and basically anything on the internet can spread easily. I've seen articles and videos on how boba is made from tires, or how plastic is incorporated into the making of certain foods - especially from China. It is all of these things that give China such a bad reputation - many people say things that are "made in China" is not good, but most things are manufactured over there.
ReplyDelete