The rise of social media has changed the way people receive information, with people no longer needing to be an active searcher of information to get informed of the news around them. Instead, For You Pages (FYP) bring topics straight to you. In a new world where we regularly receive our information from an app, it is easy to become misinformed by those who stand to benefit from the manipulation of information. Take for example the 2016 election in which Trump gained mass support from Twitter while spurring hate and lies.
While political misinformation and bias in the media are unfortunately nothing new, social media allows for the opportunity for anyone to be given a platform regardless of their accuracy.
Traditional media outlets such as newspapers, television, and books undergo editorial processes that in theory offer a level of credibility and accountability that social media does not. There is no fact checker for content creators, and users are practically encouraged to post misinformation because should any well-intentioned user comment to correct the poster, the app’s algorithm views all engagement on the post equally and thus pushes out this content for more people to see. How this impacts politicians is that politicians are incentivized to be controversial to get media attention, harming citizens as they focus less on conveying information about their campaigns and laws and more on what will get their attention.
Furthermore, information on social media spreads like wildfire. While the usefulness of the app’s ability to introduce new concepts to previously unaware users cannot be discredited, we must acknowledge that the mindset of an average social media user is not the ideal place to do so. People go to social media for entertainment and distraction from their daily lives, and so when their FYP decides to show them new information, they are not in a headspace to evaluate if this information is accurate, leaving them susceptible to accepting false or misleading information as truth. Thus, social media becomes a breeding ground for groupthink, the act of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages individual responsibility, perpetuating ignorance and apathy among its users.
At the end of the day, social media is a tool that can be used to negatively shape American politics through misinformation that does no good for the public. Through outrage garnering the most attention to misinformation being spread into the minds of unsuspecting users, people would do well to research and actively engage in the process of seeking out accurate information to avoid the dangerous age of social media politics.
