from inside an online media source or from a foreign power that weaponizes social media to influence an election, as the Russians did in 2016. Without opening ourselves up to multiple information and action channels, we can live an unexamined mediated life.
information bubble a closed cycle, sometimes self-created, in which all the information we get reinforces the information we already have, solidifying our beliefs without reference to outside reality checks
But mediated citizenship also creates enormous opportunities that the founders never dreamed of. Truth to tell, Madison wouldn’t have been all that thrilled about the multiple ways to be political that the mediated citizen possesses. He thought citizens should be seen on election day, but not heard most of the time, precisely because he thought we would push our own interests and destabilize the system. He was reassured by the fact that it would take days for an express letter trying to create a dissenting political organization to reach Georgia from Maine. Our mediated world has blown that reassuring prospect to smithereens.
Mediated citizens are not only the receivers and distributors of narratives from powerful people, like the TV-watching couch potato or headphone-wearing student with her eyes fixed on Insta. We can be the creators and disseminators of our own narratives, something that would have terrified the old monarchs comfortably ensconced in their narrative. Even the founders would have been extremely nervous about what the masses might get up to.
As mediated citizens, we have unprecedented access to power, but we are also targets of the use of unprecedented power—attempts to shape our views and control our experiences. That means it is up to us to pay critical attention to what is happening in the world around us.
Don’t Be Fooled By. . . Your Own Information Bubble
Technologies that enable citizens to connect with one another, to engage in lively debate, and to organize for common purposes hold great promise for democracy. The power to communicate on a massive scale was once held only by governments and those with access to print or broadcast media outlets, but today it is in the hands of anyone who has access to a cell phone. As every superhero learns quickly, along with great power comes great responsibility. There is no guarantee that what you learn through social media is true, and if you are sharing information that isn’t reality based, you are helping to perpetuate a false narrative.
In addition, your social media feeds and even your browser are working against you, ensuring that the news that comes your way is tailored to your interests and preconceptions, creating what one observer calls a filter bubble.11 Whether your news feed is custom made or crowd-sourced, always look before you “like” since social media algorithms can channel information to you that reinforces the narrative you get about “who gets what, and how” in today’s political world.
What to Watch Out For
Don’t create your own echo chamber. Social networking sites and other tools make it easy to create your own custom news channel, ensuring that you see stories from sources you like, about subjects that interest you. Important stories can easily slip past you, and your understanding of political matters will suffer. But if you follow only the political sources you like, that will get you in trouble, too. So open yourself up to alternative sources of news and opinions that you might find offensive or wrong. If what’s showing up in your news feed does not challenge your ideas and beliefs from time to time, consider whether you’ve been censoring news that you don’t like. Make sure you’re getting all sides of the story, not just the one that you want to hear.12
Don’t trust your browser. It’s not just your self-selected social media feeds that are shaping your information diet: every link you click and word you search is fed into complex algorithms that tailor your results into a custom feed of “things you might like.” Just as Amazon knows what items to suggest on your personal Amazon front page based on your browsing and purchase history, your Google results are similarly parsed and packaged for your viewing pleasure. Two people searching on a particular topic may get very different results.13 Search around—don’t just click on the first links offered to you.
Separate truth from truthiness. Some of the most compelling (and viral) political material on the Internet comes from people who are intent on selling you on their narrative. Their arguments may be valid, and their evidence may be strong—but bear in mind that an opinion piece is different from a statement of fact. Take care to seek out news sources that strive for objectivity and don’t have an ax to grind (such as the Associated Press or the news pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or Politico) alongside those that offer analysis and argument.
In Your Own Words
Describe the enduring tension in the United States between self-interested human nature and public-spirited government and the way that has been shaped in a mediated world.
Who Is a Citizen and Who Is Not?: Native-born and naturalized citizens
Citizenship is not just a normative concept—that is, a prescription for how governments ought to treat residents and how those residents ought to act. It is also a very precise legal status. A fundamental element of democracy is not only the careful specification of the rights granted and the obligations incurred in citizenship but also an equally careful legal description of just who is a citizen and how that status can be acquired by noncitizens.
If you are born in any of the fifty states, in the District of Columbia, or in most of America’s overseas territories, such as Puerto Rico or Guam, you are an American citizen, whether your parents are Americans or not and whether they are here legally or not. This rule follows the principle of international law called jus soli, which means literally “the right of the soil.” The exceptions to this rule in the United States are children born to foreign diplomats serving in the United States and children born on foreign ships in U.S. waters. These children would not be considered U.S. citizens. According to another legal principle, jus sanguinis (“the right by blood”), if you are born outside the United States to American parents, you are also an American citizen (or you can become one if you are adopted by American parents). Interestingly, if you are born in the United States but one of your parents holds citizenship in another country, you may be able to hold dual citizenship, depending on that country’s laws. Most countries, including the United States, require that a child with dual citizenship declare allegiance to one country on turning age eighteen. It is worth noting that requirements for U.S. citizenship, particularly as they affect people born outside the country, have changed frequently over time.
So far, citizenship seems relatively straightforward. But as we know, the United States since before its birth has been attractive to immigrants, people who are citizens or subjects of another country who come here to live and work. Today there are strict limitations on the numbers of immigrants who may legally enter the country. There are also strict rules governing the criteria for entry. If immigrants come here legally on permanent resident visas—that is, if they follow the rules and regulations of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—they may be eligible to apply for citizenship through a process called naturalization.
immigrants citizens or subjects of one country who move to another country to live or work
naturalization the legal process of acquiring citizenship for someone who has not acquired it by birth
However,
