While social media has brought convenience and efficiency to our lives, it has also brought a concerning amount of fake news and a rapid spread of misinformation. While I do not oppose the use of social media, it’s crucial that we recognize the dangers it poses and the frightening magnitude of the influence it holds over students’ lives.
Social media often lacks credibility. Anyone has the ability to post, no matter their skill set, background or intentions. This can result in biased or fabricated information reaching an audience, which is why students should always remain cautious when coming across new information.
QAnon and Pizzagate are examples of debunked conspiracy theories that still managed to spread across social media. The New York Times reported that Pizzagate posts totaled more than 82 million views on TikTok last summer. The postings lack all credibility, but still hold influence over thousands of people.
Bots and algorithms are another threat to users. Bots are defined as software programs designed to execute tasks and use algorithms to identify human targets. According to the Digital Marketing Institute and Oxford University, algorithms can be intentionally used to promote polarizing political content and misinformation to boost engagement.
These algorithms have made it even easier for people to live in bubbles of differing realities. Depending on your user data (interests and demographics), the network encourages you to view information that continues to fit a narrative you have already established, resulting in closed mindedness.
For instance, if a student who supports Bernie Sanders begins to interact with left wing political content, the algorithm will continue to engage that user with left wing content, and limit their exposure to other perspectives. When your perspective is limited, you can become closed off to alternate views and independent thinking.
Young people are particularly vulnerable to falling victim to misinformation. Wired reports that 54% of teenagers get their news from social media. This number is startling due to the amount of baseless theories that have gained recognition on platforms often used by students.
TikTok has also removed many political videos. There were several widely viewed TikToks claiming Wisconsin counted more votes than the number of registered voters in the state, according to Insider. When inaccurate videos like these gain hundreds of thousands of views, they contribute to an already polarized and misinformed political climate. If a student believes a post claiming voter fraud, they could lose faith in America’s election system, feel the outcomes are unfair, further polarizing their views. They could also feel their vote doesn’t matter, therefore becoming discouraged from politically participating.
Despite having fact checking systems put in place, many networks have seen an eruption of misinformation in the past year. To combat fake news, Twitter recently updated its labels to further inform users that flagged content is inaccurate or misleading. Newsweek reported that Twitter flagged 300,000 tweets relating to the election. While efforts like these help filter through fake news, they do not guarantee that it will be removed before reaching an impressionable audience.
Clearly, misinformation and baseless theories have no trouble reaching an audience. In order to avoid falling for fake news, students can read multiple unbiased news sources, avoid following politically polarizing people or groups and remain skeptical. It is essential that students do not rely on social media as their only source of information or blindly believe news without verifying its credibility.