1.1 What does scholarly research have to say about the power of the Internet to
radicalize some people into extreme and potentially dangerous beliefs? What are
some of these extreme beliefs?
1.2 According to the research, what sort of people are most likely to be
radicalized?
1.3 According to the research, who are the people spreading these extreme beliefs
online? What are their motives for doing this?
1.4 According to the research, what can you do to lessen the possibility that you
or those around you are not radicalized online?
Research Paper
Documenting the Media Revolution
Mass media is redefining itself at a speed and depth unmatched in human history. Basic
definitions of various long-established mass media are rapidly evolving to include digital
formats that would have seemed the stuff of science fiction a few years ago. Furthermore,
as mass media becomes more pervasive and powerful, its impact on individuals and the
larger society have increasingly become topics of scholarly research. Your paper will be
written about one of the mass media topics listed below. Choose a topic that interests you
and for which you can find a variety of high-quality sources.
1. Online Radicalization
1.1 What does scholarly research have to say about the power of the Internet to
radicalize some people into extreme and potentially dangerous beliefs? What are
some of these extreme beliefs?
1.2 According to the research, what sort of people are most likely to be
radicalized?
1.3 According to the research, who are the people spreading these extreme beliefs
online? What are their motives for doing this?
1.4 According to the research, what can you do to lessen the possibility that you
or those around you are not radicalized online?
2. The End of Privacy?
2.1 What does scholarly research have to say about the power of the Internet and
other media to erode or eliminate personal privacy?
2.2 Who is invading our privacy? Is it corporations, government, other people, or
ourselves?
2.3 How does “The Internet of Things” have the potential to create a further
erosion of our privacy?
2.4 According to the research, what types of privacy are most endangered in the
years ahead? What can we (as individuals or as a larger society) do about it?
3. Battling Misinformation Through Lateral Reading
3.1 According to the scholarly research, what is Lateral Reading? How does a
person engage in lateral reading?
3.2 According to the research, why is lateral reading a particularly relevant skill in
the internet age? How does it decrease the destructive power of misinformation?
3.3 What are some examples of lateral reading being successfully taught in
schools?
3.4 Find an internet site devoted to a current political or social issue. Engage in
lateral reading to determine the truthfulness and general fairness of the site.
Describe what you did and what you found.
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