Think about how Weaver describes noise as unwanted information, and then reflect on the relevance of this concept to your everyday life. How do you know what is “signal” and what is “noise”? Are you living in a world of too much information? Do you control that information flow, and is more control better? Or does all of that information flow control you, turning you into an information processing device?
Its 2019. We have an incredible amount of information power in the palm of our hands. With the internet at our disposal we are able to send and receive any type or any volume of data all across the world. But just because we have all that ability does not mean that there are not times where we can experience some level of information overload that makes a message hard to translate. Noise is something discussed in the Weaver piece where it is something that contaminates in a way a message by creating distortions, errors, extra materiel, that ultimately complicates the message we are trying to send. In 2019 it is arguably the information that controls us rather than the other way around. We have such a wide array of information at our disposal and yet nowadays it seems almost hard to discern the truth in said information. Not to introduce the ever treacherous topic of politics but it is very pervasive in that realm. People have the ability, and use it, to form a given narrative that might not be completely true. Insert CNN/Fox News “Fake news” meme here. So while it is great from a baseline computing and knowledge standpoint that we have the unlimited freedoms that an infrastructure like the internet provides. It also leads to people not being able to discern truth from fiction. This idea would still be around regardless of a global computing network, but if not for the advent of the internet and the information sharing capabilities that they possess it might be more niche than as mainstream as it has become. I like to think that on a personal level I do my best to limit the noise in the information that I consume. But even being as diligent as I think I am, that does not preclude me from being at risk from receiving messages riddled with noise.

As you note, though, Shannon and Weaver are using the concept of “noise” in a way that’s a little different than we tend to think of it when we talk about mass media.
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