Social Media: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #10

Today, in our series finale, we're going to talk about the great white whale of navigating online information: your social media feed. Social media shapes both our online and offline behaviors from how we engage in communities and consume goods and services to influencing our thoughts and opinions. So let's talk about how they really function - the good stuff and also the terrible stuff.
We know that navigating our current information environment can be frustrating, and we hope this series has helped you develop the habits to navigate our digital world a bit more confidently. Thanks so much for watching!
Read more about KZbin's effort to improve recommendations here:
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Special thanks to our partners from MediaWise who helped create this series:
The Poynter Institute
The Stanford History Education Group (sheg.stanford.edu)
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MediaWise is supported by Google.
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Thanks to the following patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:
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--
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[@futureDK1]

I quit social media except KZbin 7 months ago & never looked back. It is literally one of the best things I've ever done. Freed up so much of my time so I could focus on other practical skills. I'm not missing out on anything.

[@WolfyAteUrSocks]

Never used social media except KZbin and still find myself spending way too much time in the comments sections lol

[@futureDK1]

@@WolfyAteUrSocks Better than wasting your life scrolling thru memes.

[@AtomicDrake28]

This has been a great series. It has been nice to see John host a series again. Can't wait to watch the next series!

[@ahmes004]

Connor Harrison agreed. Remember crash course history when he had like so much energy

[@KingMondoWWM]

I must agree. I usually go to watch his courses first actually.

[@deadmansvision5926]

True

[@germanhernandez4130]

Lovely Video clip! Sorry for chiming in, I would love your initial thoughts. Have you thought about - Miyatalie Social Saccade (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is an awesome exclusive product for discovering how make money on the internet using this simple traffic technique minus the headache. Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my m8 at last got great success with it.

[@gardenhead92]

They draw the battery at 17% just to torment us

[@greenredblue]

I’m binge watching KZbin at 4 am. I felt brief excitement at seeing another episode of a favorite series. Less than a minute later the episode made me feel profoundly ashamed of my life choices.

[@seanleisk4248]

"when we are this reliant on a media ecosystem full of pollution, We have to take responsibility for what we read, post and share." - This video One of the most true statements yet least followed.

[@sdrawkcabUK]

It's too late now... going cold turkey is the only option

[@jesusfreakhobbit]

I want this series to be required viewing for anyone who creates a social media account. Seriously. It's so helpful.

[@rubyppower]

Crash Course and MediaWise, thank you so much for this series. It had the perfect balance of entertainment and education (which is in my opinion, how education should be). Even though I may still fall into some traps of information online, this course will hopefully help me to avoid some in future. Thanks John Green for the great hosting and can’t wait for the next course!

[@d4mdcykey]

Very much loved this Series, and hope you do more like this, or expand upon this one. I sent the Playlist to so many people I lost count and have gotten a surprising amount of positive feedback. I say surprising because some of said people have been deep into various rabbit holes for quite some time and these videos managed to give some of them a wider view of how easy it is to get manipulated online. Big thanks for the work and energy that went into this, and your other endeavors on this channel.

[@d4mdcykey]

@@KingNekodom ~ That doesn't make any actual sense...but ok.

[@faatimahfarhad1523]

@@KingNekodom WOAH

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

This may be the most important course you ever did and it's one the most crucial online so it's tragic is so underrated. I kinda wish there were more videos. Thx so much.

[@iladdiewhiskynerd4924]

Thank you for this series. I now know what to call, in English, what I had been doing for a while, being lateral reading. I will recommend this series to anyone! Compliments

[@alisharickha6076]

Thank you, John Green, for such an amazing series. Literally making an impact and adding value to the unknown section is a real win

[@KingaZajacNNR]

That was a great series! I so enjoy John's voice; so soothing. I'm sort of information specialist myself and I would love for people to know the tactics for navigating the web and seeing what's true and what's just fishing for their attention and emotion. Also, Slytherins unite!

[@Whayles]

Watching this in 2022 with what’s happening with Twitter makes the information feel even more important

[@Heretical_Theology]

This entire series needs to be a prerequisite to be allowed to communicate on line.

[@thomasturner6980]

Thanks crash course, I'm used that joke to my moth friends and I'm now cool

[@rafikulislam9496]

ThomasTurnipples69 Include:  Protect all of your devices with just one subscription. Cover an unlimited number of your devices so you can protect all the Pcs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets you own.  Password Manager

[@rafikulislam9496]

Hi friend love you so much

[@DavidBennettPiano]

This video is a great, concise lesson that everybody who uses the social internet needs to see! Thank you for striving to make our world a better place.

[@ernestlee5737]

Thank you John Green. This is a wonderful course and I am going to require my high school students to take this course on their own and give them class credit. Now to get all of my friends and relatives to do the same.

[@KMO325]

This may have been one of the most important Crash Course series yet. Thank you guys!

[@philipcobb]

This has been by far the best and most important series that CrashCourse has produced. This kind of education needs to be in every school and university.

[@mariaashton-stebbings9433]

I'm a librarian and instructor in information literacy and this series is great as background for students to think more deeply about what they see/hear/read. The lateral reading is very important. Students are amazed when they are required to evaluate a website and how long it actually takes to find a good one to use in research (one that is credible and less biased). I can't want to refer my students to some of these videos as background on the topics we discuss. Thank you for this series!

[@TheTwick]

Thanks John, this was a very useful and informative course - awesome 😎

[@fadedpajamas]

It's been at least two years since I've deleted all my social media accounts, and don't read any coverage about "twitterati". I had to make a facebook account a couple of days ago to wach la liga on facebook watch, but I haven't made any online friends. Though I had made that decision before these videos, still a huge thank you to John and crash course for them.

[@ipadpro9580]

KHAN come back to social media it is good especially during times of crisis

[@lauradftba4653]

This series has been really, really helpful to me. I appreciate the work that was put in to making this series. I’ve learned so much and can’t wait to try out the tips in this video to avoid filter bubbles!

[@muhammadyahyafaksh5099]

this is my first series to watch completly and after finishing it , i became from the 90% .... really

[@camiloiribarren1450]

Love this series. Need John involved in CrashCourse again. Get back in it!

[@fazil47]

Hey you look a little bit like John!

[@camiloiribarren1450]

Fazil Babu lol too bad I’m not related to either of them

[@angiel516]

As someone who used to have Instagram and am friends with many other people who do, I’ve been trying to get some of my friends to understand this. The more the use the internet the more I realize that people have no idea how to use the internet or how it works. This video is so perfect. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted to say about social media in one video. John Green is my hero now lol

[@jonniheinisto9825]

You NEED to do: Crash course blockchain. You absolutely need to. Also, math.

[@shamm9374]

Thank you, CC. Thank you, John. Thank you everyone at this show. You have been awesome and the information from this show could not have come at a more better. All the best in your upcoming series.

[@StephanieFink515]

Again, I wish everyone would watch this. Thanks, guys.

[@RangerRuby]

This has been a great Course! Especially since even though I'm not in high school/college all of this still applies to me! I totally can relate and now, I can be satisfied I know how to navigate Digital Information in some capacity.

[@kylehenderson9489]

Oh wow I almost clicked to close that ad.

[@AlmodatherAwad]

It 's utter ridiculousness to take all of your knowledge from one place, especially one like Facebook or Twitter. Thanks, John, for illuminating the way to benefit from the age of Internet's free exchange of info, without being subject to intentional misinformation campaigns.

[@narrator69]

I swear I'm part Jack Russel, I'm always diving down rabbit holes to find the juiciest details on a subject. I grew up in the reference section of my local library in the 70's and 80's and that just stuck with me to the easier internet way of information gathering. With the right search engines you can find all sorts of legitimate information, searches that may take some time to return a result but it will only be peer reviewed papers on the topic are my favourite to use.

[@narrator69]

P.S. Great series, wish there was more, lots more. I trust you and your brother, thank you for being a rational voice in a very irrational time. A meme as potus says it all really.

[@christinecrawford]

Thank you for doing this series!! It was very informative and helpful. And thanks to John for hosting it! 💟

[@Taskdriper]

this has been a great series so far, John's style of teaching is remarkably stunning.

[@henrymarx5947]

Everyone, please look up Norm MacDonald on Conan doing the moth joke

[@LauraMarilia]

Thank you and MediaWise so much for this series! It was an amazing journey!... Everyone needs this information to survive in today's world (...unless you're the Mongols!)

[@fatimasalmansiddiqui1182]

Feeling slightly nostalgic that this course has ended, but I'm glad I did it. It has improved my overall online experience. Thanks Crash Course and John for creating this! 😀

[@louisefaithgayatao]

i, myself, have been subject to these algorithms that i began to notice the structures and patterns to which i have been so addicted with. media literacy is highly important to teenagers these days. if we fail to educate the youth, we all might experience the consequences of falling into these rabbit holes. let's make the internet ecosystem a better and healthier place for everyone.

[@TheNiceNix]

By far, the most important episode in the series. Great work! Should be compulsory viewing for all twitter users.

[@kausthubkrishnamurthy2410]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the most useful and relevant series so far. I've enjoyed keeping up with it week by week. Always love your work John :) Back to world history 2 for me

[@Inspirator_AG112]

It is a double-edged sword. Cons get bad momentum. Pros get good momentum.

[@dinop5857]

I'm left somewhat dissapointed with how few answers we've come to during the series. I don't think this is an issue of the course but I can't help but be worried about how few answers or solutions anyone seems to have about the troubling media and information climate we have right now. Maybe we need to think less within the constraints of all the current systems and consider some more drastic changes. I think the issues we have are large enough to warrant that.

[@Jay-rn6dt]

Agreed. Separating profit from information would go a long way in purifying the information landscape, I believe.

[@beaglefan6818]

I really enjoyed the series! Thanks for creating it!

[@KannikCat]

All around great series. Thank you Crash Course for the great info and teaching. Fingers crossed for a season 2!!

[@EVEspinosa79]

I really liked this series. And I hope we understand that it is not that Internet, Media, Facebook, Twitter, KZbin, etc is evil. These are only platforms, these are tools, and yeah, you or others can do harm by using tools, but if used with responsibly, these can bring so many good things to our lives.

[@Kfroguar]

This is a great series. I really enjoyed it, and I've found myself using the strategies presented in real time. You all explained how to do all the good internetting stuff I knew I should be doing but wasn't sure how to do. Thank you.

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

This has been a great Crash Course, BUT... The Onion is my favorite news source. I'm not kidding. You will find more truth there than in any more conventional news source.

[@radagastwiz]

"Life IS pain, Highness. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something."

[@ilonahh65]

Amazing series. Thank you.

[@hotdrippyglass]

I love your work John and team. It's unfortunate that this series has been limited just these 11 videos ( I am including the introduction). Maybe someone on the staff could sleuth one or two bogus sources hitting the web each month and show not only how easy it is to fake the story but also how easy it is to track it back to prove that it is misinformation put out for what ever reason. As a youngster I had an older friend that fed myself and other kids I hung out with a series of bogus "writings" from an alternate dimension. We fell for it hook, line and sinker because we trusted the source. It is so much easier to fool people and lead them by the nose these days as long as the faker doesn't tip their hand.

[@angelabeckman9203]

Thanks for posting this series. I found it extremely useful.

[@jose.montojah]

This one and media literacy should be on the curriculum every human takes before going online. Hot damn!

[@mariodavidpalacio]

Thanks, CC and John. Awesome series and conclusion. Greetings from Colombia.

[@Beryllahawk]

As a certain Lizzie once said: "Talking to people on the Internet: not the same as talking to actual people in person."

[@lowhertzhighspl]

What I couldn't hear what you had said.

[@haikalyadzid1761]

Loved this course so much. Glad to learn a lot!

[@peterhall4086]

Thanks for this series of videos, it has been most informative, and I have learned a lot.

[@jayfaisa6016]

I think I'm genuinely addicted to the Internet... Ever since my brother passed away two years ago, I've been depressed and I've just been staying at home with my mom. I'm having a lot of trouble finishing my degree (I have just two more courses left). I've lost a lot of motivation and will-power to get up and find a job or volunteer or whatever. I just feel like it's all pointless in the end anyway. I've gotten a little fatter, as I'm always snacking at the computer. I've even let my addiction get in the way of my relationship with my fiancee. I spend so much time online, wasting 24 hours everyday, for years... And the thing that just spokes me about all this is that I'm totally self-aware of what I'm doing and it's negative affects on my personal life, relationships, and health. I know that I'm slowly letting my life go. Yet, I can't seem to shake this feeling that I always need to be on the Internet. *edit* no joke, even with this post, I'm constantly checking it again. I'm refreshing the page. Like, it's pathetic. And, honestly, I need to go cold turkey.

[@VashdaCrash]

What you need is to look for help. Say that you believe you are falling into depression and it's getting worse, or something on those lines, to someone you trust, so they can help you to start helping yourself. Also you may need a professional. Ask about that too, you'll probably need to look for one yourself, but it's a good start.

[@lowhertzhighspl]

Or man up and quit fishing for Poor Yous as your bro I'm sure would have wanted to tell you. You're wasting what he can't have. Life's opportunity. Beyond 2 years is too long to make excuses. 18 months is too long. Yes I've been there in one form or another so don't "You're being harsh" because I'm being real by trying to do this man a favor. Smacking some sense into him. Start by working out, raises testosterone then that brings energy then motivation then. . And so on. Watch Mulligan Brothers YT videos. That's what worked for me in combination of knowing what my brother would have done if it were me to have lost my one shot at this beautiful thing we call life. Oh yah, UNEQUIVOCALLY watch Anthony Robbins movie.. "I'm Not Your Guru". In other words, spend your limited time wisely otherwise you're essentially spitting in your brother's face/memory. I hope to hear from you once you've woken/wised up and accomplished your first major improvement. I have faith in you but bro you need faith in you! It's time to man up. The 6 inches in between your ears is all that stands in your way. Get it done. Get busy living. It's ALL on you!

[@VashdaCrash]

@@lowhertzhighspl That sounds about right. Thanks, I'll check those recommendations, it could turn out to be useful for me too.

[@MKPiatkowski]

Hope things are better for you. Grieving has no timetable, it takes as long as it takes. Being online can be a blessing as there is tons of material and healers who can help you turn it all around. Turn your time here into a strength.

[@darrellcole6311]

yes, John Green you are AWESOME!! Keep up the great videos

[@cellocoversimprov5660]

2:45 You lasted 2 minutes and 45 seconds! That’s a new record!

[@marshawoods1493]

Love this series.. I learned so much!!! I love watching you and your brother.. other people are good but you two are Great!!

[@brookemuzzatti9710]

the perfect finale to an engaging series

[@kendrickoyola4290]

"Productive dialog on social media" Please :)

[@kendrickoyola4290]

THAT RIGHT! I liked my own comment; This is my Birthday month.... Mwahh!

[@acg4879]

Bravo John. Excellent series with great information and balanced presentation. Whikked Awesome work.

[@mucuspatty4649]

How dare you such slander against Slytherin! Justice for Slytherin!

[@hughesjf]

Thanks! The course was very well done and very useful in today's environment.

[@KingMondoWWM]

This has been a wonderful series. I would love to see this similar subject introduced to Khan Academy (with these videos integrated). I hope to see another awesome course hosted by John soon!

[@zhaf]

“... argue over thanksgiving...” I can’t relate to any of this. “... unless you don’t live in America and don’t have thanksgiving...” I relate to this so much!

[@BThings]

What I find interesting is that a frequent source of praise for social media is its absence of gatekeepers, yet, partly through its algorithms and partly through human behavior, it still seems to tend towards people who are socially gregarious or already in positions of great power. As I said, it _seems_ this way to me, so if people have evidence to refute my anecdotes, I welcome it. I'm largely basing this on having observed that, after months of posting about it on Twitter, I didn't get a whole lot of views for my webcomic, but then registering it with a couple online webcomic databases recently has led to noticeable spike in the number of people viewing my comic on my website. Obviously, I haven't been especially scientific about observing this, and anecdotes are not proof. It does seem to suggest, however, that social media may not always be an effective "leveling ground"-especially for more niche interests-since it is easier for those who are already "popular" or powerful to be heard on it. Am I crazy for thinking this? I genuinely want to know if it's just me being angsty as someone just trying to start out as an artist in the era of social media or if this is a thing that has been observed and measured.

[@MKPiatkowski]

As an artist, the reason you saw those jumps is that you started to focus in on channels where people who would be interested in your work hang out. Twitter only works when you find and engage with a community that shares your interest. There is so much traffic that getting noticed independently requires either a degree of fame or being a bad actor, which is why it's become a cesspool of the latter. Each social media channel is different. Twitter is great for engaging in discussion but not so great for advertising a product. However, the rapport you have with people on Twitter can help you sell products. That is why having a Twitter account has become a requirement for book deals, as an example. Facebook pages are sources of information for potential buyers to find when they hear of you. Again, because of the algorithm, it also is not great for sales. The paid ads don't usually work for you unless you have a large following to begin with. You might find more luck on instagram if you use the right hashtags and striking images. General rule of thumb is that social media is for building relationships with potential and existing clients, rather than a straight sales platform.

[@JimRandolph]

Loved this whole series and will be sharing, thanks!

[@rubyppower]

God, Jimmy Green really alt to watch this Crash Course series in future!

[@nateweinand4209]

This was pretty great! I missed John a lot! Can we please get just one more season of World History? Please! Please!

[@Lazy_Llama]

Thanks John for hosting and the crash course team for producing this great and important series. I just have a question on what you said here 10:42 about the extreme right having more content and following than the extreme left. I'm just curious about this information and would like a link to the source, if possible, to have a greater in depth look at this research.

[@rei.illumi169]

I'd rather have this frustrating socio - digital world than not have it at all. 💯

[@MsJaneEHawkins]

VERY fine series. Thanks so much for your clear and intelligent videos!

[@danasadek2555]

Thanks CrashCourse, it's been really an informative series!

[@love_tammy]

this is such a great series, I'm definitely going to share it wherever I can

[@adelined]

Thanks for the great series!dftba

[@Kokozaftran]

Thank you Crash Course team!

[@donaldbustell]

Good series. Thanks.

[@Sqrtl22]

Great video! Just doing some social media work and this was very helpful to me.

[@IsaacBTTF]

What a good series Crash Course :) I learnt a lot from it.

[@uss_04]

I still remember when social media was supposed to be the answer to feeling connected. Now its just a sh--storm. Culture has chamged around it as well. Good video nonetheless for summarizing the issue, and kids still in still in school.

[@dionysus326]

Awesome!! Waiting for the next episode

[@LuinTathren]

I love John! Are you sure he's married? Damn. Anyway, I am so glad they made this series. I'll be sending it to my mom. I haven't been on Facebook for about two years, but I'll post this series. Thanks!

[@socialt.socialmediaagency7250]

Love these tips - thanks for sharing!

[@supershinigami1]

Next time you do a series about literature do it about fantasy or sci fi.

[@TheEnes39]

I like how he can criticize KZbin's right wing tended algorithms in a video series supported by Google itself. Btw, we do have serious harsh debates with our uncles and aunts in feast tables outside US and Canada , though it isn't Thanksgiving it's somewhat similar

[@Pfhorrest]

wrt seeking out different perspectives, I've always found it boring and not engaging to hear people repeating arguments and viewpoints I've heard a million times over, and more interesting and engaging to hear new arguments and new points of view. It seems evident that most people don't feel the same way, and prefer hearing things they already agree with, or else getting outraged about things they already hate, but it feels to me like there is maybe some angle to be found to engage people in different points of view by emphasizing the boringness of the familiar and the interestingness of the new and different.

[@DavidNBerger]

Great series! Thank you.

[@elmurdoc]

Thanks for another excellent Crash Course

[@emilyplunkett6034]

Thank you again for this series. 😊

[@perse9779]

This is a great series. I would like to see an addendum though about the problems with accessing information behind paywalls, and also with the EU's horrible copyright thing. I just tried to verify an article laterally and was blocked by no less than 4 paywalls. I don't think I need to say how much this sucks. :/

[@isabelsong21]

Thank you for this series.

[@hem89180]

Thank you crash course!

[@blinkypalermo8032]

I'm glad this exists. Could have done without google...

[@ciprianstanescu]

Great series!

[@dalorasinum386]

This was very useful. I’ve been watching political videos for six months now and some fishy stuff was starting to appear.

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

Thank you so much for this course, I really really enjoyed it!

[@JohnyBuzzkillKidd]

Tried explaining to a family member to not trust the new Brexit news site he keeps sharing as the owner is anonymous and the information is biased and he got VERY DEFENSIVE. Maybe this video will help sooth him