While Twitter users took part in a global live-tweet of the World Cup last week, a Twitter bot came to life. Coded to scan IP addresses from Wikipedia edits, @congressedits has reported more than thirty cases of Congress members editing Wikipedia articles.
The first thing that comes to mind is a government attack on free press. But the most surprising part of account is that it isn’t all serious.
One tweet reported a member of Congress editing the official “Horse Head Mask” Wiki page to include the fact that President Barack Obama once shook hands with a man in a horse-head mask. Another tweet informed followers that a member of the U.S. Senate changed a grammatical error in the “Step Up 3D” Wiki page. And of course there were many that involving tweaking politicians’ Wiki pages, no doubt in an attempt at a better public image.
Since the Internet became an integral part of our world, our government has begun using it as a resource to remind us to vote, get younger Americans involved and get themselves elected. It’s also rapidly developing a group of 20- and 30-somethings who spend a lot of time and energy developing tools like @congressedits, which allow citizens to view and criticize government activity.
The rapid spread of information propelled by social media is something to be both admired and feared. There are a growing number of instances worldwide in which governments have been rebelled against because citizens use sites like Twitter and Instagram to spread information and truth of conditions to the outside world.
In America, we have free press. But just as we here at The Daily Reveille commit ourselves to being an unbiased news source, we are human, and humans are never without bias. Printed media often show bias simply in selecting which information is printworthy.
If The Daily Reveille management chose to report that a group of art students were harassing the LSU president by disrupting campus activities instead of reporting on the silent protest exhibited by those students last semester, things could have very easily gone south for the group. However, the published story highlighted the students’ concern for building conditions, which informed members of the LSU community of a problem within itself.
If a professor, known on RateMyProfessors.com for being particularly difficult and hard on students, were to make fake accounts and begin giving himself rave reviews, we would all be in trouble when it came time to take that freshman physics course.
But social media — media that are run of the people, by the people and for the people — will be more likely to remain unbiased, at least from biased availability of information.
However, we as millenials will continue to be picked on by our uncles and aunts who sit down each evening and watch FOX News, claiming that “the youth today” depend far too much on keeping connected. Don’t fret about their comments. They’ll be asking you how to change their profile pictures or delete an offensive post that’s getting them too much attention before too long.
Just as we cringe when a Facebook friend goes years back through our timelines and likes an old photo, politicians have begun cringing at their past stances on issues. The difference is we can delete posts from our private social media. Politicians are going to have to learn that once they say something or do something, they’ll be held accountable.
Let’s not allow those politicians who voted against birth control forget their public misunderstandings of female reproductive systems. And don’t let any politician claim ignorance when they are questioned about an unpopular voting decision they made.
If they’ve got time to edit the “Choco Taco” Wikipedia page, they’ve got more than enough time to brush up on basic human anatomy.
Jana King is a 20-year-old communication studies junior from Ponchatoula, La.