MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

While technology like social media is new, the human characteristics that cause problems like misinformation are not, and Don DeLillo is able to show this through his text White Noise, which functions as an eerie prediction for these problems. In White Noise, DeLillo describes the problems of misinformation – a popular term used to describe the sharing of false information on social media - on a smaller scale, which provides essential insight into the problems faced through social media and warns against being overly trusting of information. While scientists continue to try to crack the code of social media’s problem, or computer programmers try to make the technology a bit better, the problem will persist because it is a human one that has simply been amplified by social media. By better understanding human tendencies through the use of literature like White Noise, the problem of misinformation can be better grappled with.

Jack Gladney, the protagonist of White Noise, offers, “The family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation…. Facts threaten our happiness and security…. The family process works toward sealing off the world. Small errors grow heads, fictions proliferate” (DeLillo 81-82). Jack’s description of misinformation offers the analog parallel to the technological echo chambers of social media. The parallels between Jack’s comments and the echo chamber concept are uncanny, as his ending remarks outline the concept of the family acting as a sealed unit, much like special interest groups that create false information. The relatedness provides insight into the emotional qualities of the rise of misinformation, helping to fill the gap that is created by those who seek answers only through quantitative analysis. This paper explores the relationship between social media and White Noise, including how DeLillo’s satirical commentary on human practices can help solve the problem of misinformation.