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Social media sites have had a pretty interesting year when it comes to approaching filter bubbles and echo chambers and the real world effects that come when they effect something like a national election. Verrit<\/a> is a fledgling media startup that\u2019s aiming to provide a platform for Hillary supporters to look at infographics with quotes on them about stuff they agree with.<\/p>\n Verrit got a big boost yesterday when Hillary herself tweeted out an endorsement of the platform to her nearly 18 million Twitter followers.<\/p>\n I’m excited to sign up for @Verrit<\/a>, a media platform for the 65.8 million! Will you join me and sign up too? https:\/\/t.co\/bOLSMyk6bG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 3, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n For Clinton supporters the site aims \u201cto become their trusted source of political information and analysis; to provide them (and anyone like-minded) sanctuary in a chaotic media environment; to center their shared principles; and to do so with an unwavering commitment to truth and facts,\u201d according to a blog post<\/a>. The site frequently references \u201cthe 65.8 million,\u201d i.e. the number of votes Clinton received in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n Shortly after the Hillary endorsement, the site suffered a cyber attack substantial enough to make it inaccessible for much of Sunday night. Today, it has returned with some added protection thanks to Cloudflare.<\/p>\n CEO Peter Daou isn\u2019t just a wayward founder who lucked into a Hillary endorsement of his product. He served as Clinton\u2019s \u201cInternet Director\u201d in her 2008 presidential campaign and was a digital media strategist for her in years prior. After that he led ShareBlue, a left-leaning media site seemingly primed for those who find Salon to be a tad too centrist.<\/p>\n He seems to be excited about the attention from Verrit.<\/p>\n DEAR HATERS: You realize screaming “go away, shut up, you suck” at @verrit<\/a> is PRECISELY why Leela and I launched it? Thanks for validating!<\/p>\n \u2014 Peter Daou (@peterdaou) September 4, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Philosophically, the site is a bit on the smug side, arguing that progressive-minded Hillary supporters need a home on the web away from the hustle and bustle of trolls and trump-ets to get their information. For those who were worried that other social media sites weren\u2019t already echo chambers, Verrit basically codifies that into its mission. It wants to be a \u201csanctuary\u201d for Hillary supporters.<\/p>\n Creating a media organization that isn\u2019t absorbed in the 24-hour news cycle and can take a step back to approach topics on a deeper level is certainly not a bad idea, but building one that is supposed to make up for the biases of the mainstream media against liberals <\/em>in a purely reactionary tone with the explicit backing of former staff of Hillary Clinton doesn\u2019t exactly seem to be a recipe to bringing about solutions to political turmoil.<\/p>\n 8. The Hillary-hating frenzy over @Verrit<\/a>‘s launch is proof of why it needs to exist: THERE IS NO SANCTUARY IN THE MEDIA FOR HILLARY VOTERS.<\/p>\n \u2014 Peter Daou (@peterdaou) September 4, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Then again, this is 2017 where products that espouse \u201cfree speech\u201d as a central tenet are almost guaranteed to be hubs of hate speech. Just a couple weeks ago, social network Gab was booted from the Google Play store for failing to show \u201csufficient level of moderation.\u201d<\/p>\n Even so, Verrit has its own issues with user-generated opinions.\u00a0The site\u2019s commenting policy is a bit unsavory, suggesting that instead of just not allowing you to post a comment if you\u2019re in violation of its policy, Verrit will actually change the text itself before posting. \u201cWe reserve the right to alter or remove terminology that violates our policy before publishing a comment.\u201d<\/p>\n The site\u2019s big deal<\/em> is that each post is part of a larger system system for verifying news snippets, but it doesn\u2019t really appear to solve anything other than that it comes from sources trusted by Verrit. Each Verrit infographic has a seven-digit code on the bottom which sources to the website as a way of linking the image to its sourcing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not exactly revolutionary and furthermore none of the sources are actually linked so if you really care you\u2019ll have to scour the web to find where the claim is from, especially when it just tells you the name of the publication.\u00a0Seeing \u201cSource: CNN\u201d isn\u2019t necessarily going to inspire any faith from Trump supporters used to the President\u2019s habit of spouting \u201cfake news!\u201d at stuff he doesn\u2019t agree with.\u00a0Then again, this site isn\u2019t meant for those people, just the 65.8 million.<\/p>\n Even though the interface functions pretty well, it\u2019s not really clear whether Verrit\u2019s format actually does a good job at conveying info.\u00a0Some complex topics are pretty difficult to express succinctly and Verrit hasn\u2019t exactly shown its deftness in doing so.<\/p>\n what the fuck are you supposed to do with this pic.twitter.com\/dvG9PPN6wM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) September 4, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Verrit has every hallmark of a \u201chere today, gone tomorrow\u201d media startup but that won\u2019t stop similar ideas from going forth with similar mission statements while similarly failing to solve the political divide.<\/p>\n\n
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