Strategies
04/02/2026
Image: Etsy – this underlines my fundamental belief when it comes to social media and real life – like most humans, I often fall short this ideal but believe it is important to keep in mind – always.
Task 1
In your blog write 1 sentence about the freedom of speech with examples of positive and negative online digital content that could cover any of the following:
1. Online challenges.
2. Trolling
3. Online auditing
4. Political views
5. Mega-fan / Trufan / Uberfan…
6. Beauty standards
Freedom of Speech in Various Online Settings:
- Online challenges: When shared with care, online challenges can inspire creativity and connection, reminding us to choose ones that uplift rather than harm.
- Trolling: Respectful conversation helps everyone feel welcome online, so choosing kindness over negativity makes digital spaces safer and more enjoyable.
- Online auditing: Constructive online auditing can shine a light on fairness and accountability when done with empathy and respect for others’ dignity.
- Political views: Sharing political views thoughtfully invites understanding and dialogue, especially when we listen to different experiences with an open heart.
- Mega fan / Trufan / Uberfan: Passionate fans bring joy and community to their interests when they celebrate what they love without putting others down.
- Beauty standards: Digital platforms grow richer when we use them to appreciate genuine beauty in all its forms and encourage confidence in ourselves and others.
A Possible Positive and Negative Example for Each Setting:
- Online challenges
- Positive: A group of friends join a month‑long step‑count challenge on TikTok, encouraging each other to walk more and donate to a local charity.
- Negative: A teenager feels pressured to copy a viral stunt that involves jumping from a risky height “for likes,” even though it makes them feel unsafe.
- Trolling
- Positive: Someone notices a heated comment thread starting to turn unkind and gently steers the conversation back to the topic with a calm, respectful message.
- Negative: A user repeatedly replies to another person’s posts with mocking comments, hoping to upset them and start an argument.
- Online auditing
- Positive: A content creator calmly documents poor accessibility in a public building and posts the video to encourage improvements for disabled visitors.
- Negative: A person films staff at a small shop without consent, shares their faces widely, and invites others to shame them rather than address the issue privately.
- Political views
- Positive: Someone shares their political opinion in a thoughtful post, invites others to add their perspectives, and thanks people who disagree for explaining their views.
- Negative: A user reacts to a different political opinion by posting insults and encouraging others to pile on the person who shared it.
- Megafan / Trufan / Uberfan
- Positive: A devoted fan creates uplifting fan art and kind reviews, celebrating their favourite artist while welcoming new fans into the community.
- Negative: A mega fan attacks people in the comments for liking a different artist, saying hurtful things to anyone who disagrees with their taste.
- Beauty standards
- Positive: An influencer posts unfiltered photos and affirming messages about body diversity, encouraging followers to appreciate their own unique look.
- Negative: A creator regularly criticises other people’s appearance in “before and after” videos, making viewers feel judged and inadequate.
A Picture is Worth A Thousand Trolls
Image: From Nano Banana (Prompt: Cheerful, inclusive flat-style illustration showing a diverse group of people of different ages, body types, skin tones and styles gathered around a giant smartphone screen that displays icons for online challenges, comments, videos, hearts and peace signs; everyone is smiling, talking kindly, and sharing positive content, with small playful details hinting at fitness challenges, fan communities, and supportive messages, all in bright, welcoming colours and a warm, friendly atmosphere that reflects the idea “if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything.”)
Task 2
In your blog write 1 sentence about the difference between Misinformation and Disinformation use examples.
Misinformation is false information shared by people who believe it is true, whereas disinformation is false information created or spread on purpose to deceive or manipulate others.
I have taken examples from Social Media ‘tending’ issues:
Misinformation (shared in error)
- During and after the 2024 Southport murders, posts on X wrongly claimed the suspect was a “Muslim immigrant” and spread a made‑up name, which many users repeated as if it were fact before it was debunked.
- In 2024–25, multiple social videos falsely warned that the UK government was bringing in new systems like “enhanced customs monitoring” to flag people who travel abroad more than three times a year, and many viewers shared them believing they were genuine news.
Disinformation (shared deliberately to mislead)
- MPs have warned that some of the divisive and misleading posts that spread after the Southport attacks may have formed part of a foreign disinformation campaign designed to inflame tensions and provoke unrest in the UK.
- An investigation by fact‑checkers found a cluster of TikTok and other social media accounts repeatedly pushing slick, news‑style videos about fake new restrictions on personal freedoms in the UK, including AI‑generated “news presenter” clips, in ways that strongly suggest a coordinated attempt to mislead rather than a one‑off mistake.
Task 3
In your blog write 1 sentence about what deepfakes are with an example.
Deepfakes are AI‑generated or heavily edited videos, images, or audio that convincingly make someone appear to say or do something they never actually said or did, and a recent example is fake audio of politicians’ “statements” being shared online during election campaigns to mislead voters.
Deepfake of the late Pope Francis
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-puffer-jacket-fake-photos-deepfake-power-peril-of-ai/
The above image shows two side‑by‑side photos of Pope Francis in a white puffer jacket, in one he appears to be walking in a crowd wearing the jacket, and the other a close‑up highlighting the jacket’s oversized style. This picture is a well‑known 2023 deepfake example created by swapping the Pope’s traditional outfit for more contemporary fashion using AI tools like, for example, Midjourney or Nano Banana.
I made a couple of deepfakes myself last week – I had to drop into Specsavers and while I was waiting for a repair to my own spectacles, I tried on a few of the display models. I later uploaded them into AI – Google Gemini I think – and they improved my appearance dramatically!
Sleepless in Tesco
In this example, three of my friends met while shopping in Tesco. Another friend joked that – as they had posted a similar photograph before – that a ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ style of love affair may be developing. I used AI to create a mock-up of the film poster – again I think this was Google Gemini. I hadn’t expected to use these examples in my blog – maybe demonstrating a developing AI addiction here!
In both the Specsavers and the Sleepless examples, the AI generated likenesses are not perfect but in each case – apart from one – is recognisably the subject of the original photograph.
Weekly Task
- The rise of AI is transforming online content creation by making it faster and more accessible through automated tools and creative assistance, but it also raises concerns about originality, authenticity, and the potential loss of human voice in digital storytelling – though in my opinion, AI also gives the opportunity for those, like myself, with no skill in other areas of art to be creative in ways that would never before have been imaginable.
- Creata a online avatar using: https://www.jogg.ai/features/ai-avatar/Links to an external site. OR https://higgsfield.ai/Links to an external site.
- Get your avatar to discuss misinformation, alternatives a hoax or a fake, use one of these ideas below, make it as believable as possible:
Examples:
- Hollow earth theory
- Fake moon landing
- Climate change denial
- Singularity
- Fast fashion is ethical
- Sustainable denim
- Fake goods don’t fuel crime
My Avatar
I made this avatar using HeyGen AI:
Image: HeyGen AI – Nick with better teeth and an American Accent
Get your avatar to discuss misinformation, alternatives a hoax or a fake, use one of these ideas below, make it as believable as possible:
With jogg.ai I wasn’t able to create a video or an avatar without paying a subscription so I chose HeyGen to create an avatar and then invideo.AI for the video part of this task. Labs:
I’m fairly pleased with this short video – the look of my avatar is pretty good and the video has captured the message well. I am not quite so sure about the voice however – I think the platform would benefit from a few more examples of my voice. I sound, as we say in Scotland, like I have bools in my mooth!.
And finally … another avatar and another accent – still not very Scottish! And, to be honest I’m not sure I’m enamoured of the addition of age spots – I though AI was suppose to make us more beautiful!
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