Integrate These Sources

Review the following slides, then fix the Float Quotes in the quotations below:

Integrating Sources and Avoiding Float Quotes

Part I

Revise the following sentences, integrating the quotations:

1. Anonymity on social media seems to give some people an opportunity to spout hateful views about others. These people would likely not express these views in face-to-face conversations because of the shame they would have. “Being accountable for your words is a major component in civil discussion.”

(Source: Mandy Long, Psychology Professor, Duke University in “Using Your Words Carefully”)

2. Information silos are a serious threat to modern democracy in the age of social media. This is because news is being shared from sources that are not reputable, but it is believed anyway if it fits the already held view of the recipient. “While the internet has made it possible to disseminate information freely, it has also made it possible to disseminate bad information freely.” This can be done by people simply wanting the fun of creating a viral hoax, or it can be done by people who are intentionally trying to damage public discourse in a free society.

(Source: Kim Gros, Professor of Communications, UCLA in “When Information is a Virus”)

Part II

Avoid using long quotes (anything longer than 4 lines of text) unless you feel very strongly about having the entire quote. Instead, pinpoint the most important line or two and tell us the rest of it in your own words (paraphrase). See my example below and then complete the exercise that follows:

From “Truth, Deliberative Democracy, and the Virtues of Accuracy: Is Fake News Destroying the Public Sphere?” By: Chambers, Simone, Political Studies, Feb2021, Vol. 69, Issue 1

Despite this growing body of research, many still look at the dangers of fake news and post-truth as reflecting a global problem with democracy and democratic citizens. For example, it is not uncommon in commentary about post-truth to cite the Gallup poll that shows a drastic drop in Americans’ level of trust in the media ([21]: 45; [29]: 86). For Americans, trust that the mass media report the news “fully, accurately, and fairly” went from a high of 72% in 1976 to an all-time low in 2016, coming in at 32% ([45]). But these numbers are misleading. Broken down by party affiliation, the data indicate that sinking trust in mass media appears to be largely driven by Republicans and to some extent Independents, with Democrats’ trust dropping only very slightly ([45]). Couching the problem as a global problem affecting all citizens equally also dominates what has become one of the most common frameworks for understanding the fake news phenomenon—psychology

Instead of including this entire quote, I am going to find a line or two that says what I think will best support my point and paraphrase the rest. Here is how I would quote it:

In a democratic society where the free exchange of ideas is valued and encouraged, the dangers of misinformation can arise at any time. This does not mean that there is an inherent problem with allowing the free exchange of ideas. So while social media has led to an overall decrease in trust for news media in general, that distrust is more an ideological perception than it is a reality. Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, Simone Chambers, says that in the U.S., “the data indicate that sinking trust in mass media appears to be largely driven by Republicans and to some extent Independents, with Democrats’ trust dropping only very slightly” (15). According to Chambers, the issue is more a matter of psychology than it is something inherent to democracy.

[I put the quote in bold text just to highlight for you how little of the quotation I used. It took work to be able to understand what Chambers was saying enough to put it in my own words, but that work is the work we need to do when using outside sources. It is the key difference between a well written essay and one that needs improvement.]

3. Use the following long quote to find a line or two that you will quote along with paraphrase to show how dating sites can have positive outcomes for certain personality types. Your paraphrase doesn’t have to be as long as my example above:

“Free to be me: The relationship between the true self, rejection sensitivity, and use of online dating sites”. By: Hance, Margaret. Journal of Social Psychology, 00224545, 2018, Vol. 158, Issue 4 [Hance is Professor of Psychology at Arkansas State University].

As online dating sites and apps continue to increase in popularity as a way to meet potential romantic partners, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to this phenomenon. Our research has primarily focused on factors that predict use of online dating sites and apps, uncovering rejection sensitivity as one such predictor. We have further focused on understanding why rejection sensitivity predicts use of online dating sites/apps. Online dating sites/apps can provide rejection-sensitive individuals a way to present their “true” selves online while searching for potential romantic partners. Use of online dating sites could also increase self-disclosure (an important step in developing any relationship), especially for rejection sensitive individuals, though future research will need to examine whether this is true.