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How Can We “Circle the City With Love” on a Larger Scale?

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The Pulling From Fake News to Make a Story

With the increase in social media use there has also been an increase in fake news. Fake news, which used to be regarded as a piece of media that was known by its viewers to be intentionally false or satirical has taken a turn to mean something much more serious. Most people under 30 years old are not subscribing to traditional media outlets, and are instead getting their news from trusted adults, the internet, and different social media platforms. This behavior is creating a new wave of individuals who are more politically influenced by social media than ever before. Young people have been more skeptical of the concept of objectivity in the media and are leaning toward local blogs and opinion pieces as their preferred way of getting information (Marchi, 2012).

Fake news is not just a concept that is read about in class, though it’s easy to get caught up in class discussions and readings and forget that fake news is not something lurking the shadows of the internet, but is a large part of our everyday lives. Many of my friends and family members share fake news, and site it during debates regarding various topics from the funding of planned parenthood, or to defend their choice on who they voted for in the most recent presidential election. I myself have fallen victim to fake news, and admit I have been responsible for circulating it myself. I recently came across a piece of fake news on my Facebook newsfeed titled, “Controversial child sex dolls floated as treatment for pedophiles”, the piece that was being shared came from the New York Post, but it was cited in the article that the original source was The Sun, a British tabloid. The article claimed that Scandinavian experts are urging pedophiles to use child-like sex dolls, as a form or treatment/prevention. The article highlights an exchange between the Sexpo Foundation, who believe pedophiles should have access to the dolls, and Norwegian law enforcement who have, according to the article confiscated 20 dolls in the past 6 months.  The article talks about the fear that the dolls will increase the likelihood of individuals committing acts of abuse, while the Sexpo Foundation claims that having access to the dolls will have an opposite effect.

When investigating both sites I noticed that each cite was flooded with articles regarding celebrity gossip and weight loss tricks, as well as titles that appeared to be click bait in the way they had the potential to inflame the reader’s emotions, most of the titles containing the words “sex”, “Trump”, “feud”, and “outrage” which furthered my suspicious regarding the validity of the cite. I went on to search the title of the article in my general search bar and was able to see that the article had been featured on other news platforms including Fox News, all three of the articles from the New York Post, The Sun, and Fox News all used the same wording using words like “sick”, “creepy”, and “disgusting” to show their bias towards what they were reposting on. The Sun had one major difference though were it featured other speculations which further decreased is validity, such as “Human and robot marriages have been slated for 2030 when, one expert claims, the law will be altered to allow humans to tie the knot with androids.” Though the articles followed the same general format and held the same stance the other two outlets chose not to include unsupported stances from the original source. The New York Post is the only source that provides a link to the Sexpo Foundations website allowing its readers to further investigate the stance and the validity of this foundation. When the reader clicks on the link provided they are redirected to a website that for a non-profit that provides sex counseling and deals with topics regarding human sexuality, including pedophilia. The New York Post also provides a link which includes the foundations statement regarding the sex dolls. With this in mind it appears that the New York Post, though it still used similar biased language to The Sun and Fox News, did provide it’s readers with links to information for readers to view the perspective of the other side. It also appears that the original source, The Sun, is more so fake news than the New York Post, and Fox News due to the selective pulling of information from the The Sun’s article which did feature claims that were not cited, as well as made claims regarding the dark net, and the sale or drugs as well as the dolls, meant to further inflame the emotions of its readers.

  Knox, P. (2017). Controversial child sex dolls floated as treatment for pedophiles. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from http://nypost.com/2017/03/13/controversial-child-sex-dolls-floated-as-treatment-for-pedophiles/

Marchi, R. (2012).  With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic “Objectivity” In, Journal of Communication Inquiry. (pp.246-258). New York, NY: SAGE

Murphy, M. (2017). British cops investigating import and sale of vile sex robots designed to look like children. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2653144/british-cops-investigating-import-and-sale-of-vile-sex-robots-designed-to-look-like-children/

Nonprofit floats child sex dolls as treatment for pedophiles. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2017, from http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/03/13/nonprofit-floats-child-sex-dolls-as-treatment-for-pedophiles.html

Seksuaalineuvontaa, seksuaaliterapiaa ja koulutusta. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2017, from http://www.sexpo.fi/

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Jeffrey Marsh: A Clicktivist for the LGBTQ Community

Jeffrey Marsh; a non-binary author, LGBTQ activist, and speaker who has gained an increasingly visible online presence. Marsh was born on July 7, 1977 in York Pennsylvania, and they currently reside in New York City. Out of respect for Marsh’s gender identity, Marsh will be referred to with they, them, and their pronouns (as opposed to he/his/him or she/her/hers). Marsh began to expand their audience with their start on Vine, though they had no intentions of becoming a public figure. Marsh is most well-known for inspiring the viral hashtags #DontSayThatsSoGay and #NoTimetoHateMyself. They are unique in comparison to activists in the past because they are engaging in a form of activism never seen before, “Clicktivism”, which is seen through their use of social media to promote multiple social causes, predominantly those associated with the LGBTQ community. Marsh highlights the significance of the personal aesthetic that vine had over other social media platforms such as Twitter. They value having the opportunity to make virtual eye contact with their audience and recognizes the impact that a video can have on an individual as opposed to the written word.

Jeffrey Marsh’s main objective is to promote self-love amongst all, but with a special focus on the LGBTQ community. They not only provide representation for non-binary individuals, but speak about social issues with eloquence, with liberal and conservative identified parties alike. In an interview between Marsh and Dennis Michal Lynch on Unfiltered, Lynch admits that he is out of his comfort-zone during the interview multiple times, and asks Marsh very personal and some would deem inappropriate questions but Marsh answers them fully and with the upmost respect the way they conducted themselves was truly inspiring. Marsh also discusses their book during this interview, and his experience with coming to terms with their gender identity as a person born in the late 70’s.

An example of the representation they provide outside of their own social media accounts is when Marsh was used as the first non-binary model for bridal wear. As of August 2, 2016, they are also the author of the book “How to be You”. In writing this book Marsh extends their reach and can get more personal with their followers. They can also speak of their experiences in greater depth, all while to guiding people in navigating their own self-worth. With their book Marsh also became the first openly non-binary person to be published by Penguin Random House.

Marsh is open with their experiences as a non-binary person with their audience. In a piece, they wrote for Time Magazine Marsh opens up about harassment they have faced due to their non-binary status. They describe a time when they were female presenting (wearing make-up, and women’s clothes) on public transportation in New York City. They begin by describing the emotions they felt before the harassment occurred, setting the story right after a musical performance, and describing the high a performer feels after performance. They contrast this description with the depiction of teenage age boys on the bus that started out pointing and laughing at Marsh, and lead to those boys eventual shouting anti-gay slurs at Marsh from across the bus. Marsh uses the description of this experience to lead into a segment of their book “How to be You”. Marsh uses their personal experiences with discrimination, harassment, and self-hate to provide advice for their audience as well as be a person for those not in the LGBTQ community to see and learn from.

           Marsh admits that their start on Vine was not intentional, and their growing fan base was very much a surprise to them. They also admit that the process was not instantaneous, like a viral video but much more gradual to the point that they didn’t recognize their growing popularity and fan base.

           If Jeffrey Marsh was not alive I know that the world would be worse off, or at least their primary followers would be. Marsh highlights that they try to focus on the gradual impact they are making on the lives of others, but acknowledges the letters they have received from followers explaining how the 6 second videos, created by Marsh, have saved their lives.

About. Retrieved February 24, 2017, from http://www.jeffreymarsh.com/about/

BuzzFeed, both, Vine…, & Marsh, J. (2017). How to be you by Jeffrey Marsh. Retrieved from http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536846/how-to-be-you-by-jeffrey-marsh/9780143110125/

Clark, C. (2016, August 1). This gender fluid wedding dress photo shoot gives zero fucks about the “gender binary.” Retrieved February 24, 2017, from http://offbeatbride.com/gender-fluid-wedding-dress/

Marsh, J. (2017). How to handle trolls and haters. Retrieved February 24, 2017, from http://time.com/4394691/jeffrey-marsh-how-to-be-you/

Media, N. DML Unfiltered | Jeffrey Marsh discusses his new book, “how to be you” Retrieved from http://www.newsmaxtv.com/vod/DML-Unfiltered-Jeffrey-Marsh-discusses-his-new-book-How-to-Be-You/vid/t5dTFyNDE6oNV84UhoOYG4qYH9S5vvoU

 TheHuffingtonPost (2014, December 13). Meet the Genderqueer vine star changing hearts and minds One Hashtag at A time. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/13/jeffrey-marsh-vine-star_n_6311896.html