Over the past few years, social media has found itself at the center of the world of information distribution. Today, many consider social media to be a prime source of news. It is easy to see why social media has become such a popular outlet, as it is simple to use, straight to the point, and a quicker way to relay information. Through social media more people are able to stay up to date on the latest events occurring across the globe. However, there are many negatives as well that come along with these changing times as the use of social media as a news outlet can result in misinformation and hyper partisanship.
With information continuously flowing in from various different sources, it can be difficult to tell what is trustworthy. This becomes an even bigger issue when many are concerned more with finding information they agree with rather than information that is true. While these two elements can co-exist, this is often not the case. Nonetheless when people see news that they agree with or that further supports an already held belief, they consider it to be trustworthy. In addition, seeing opposing information will appear untrustworthy. With social media, it is easy to customize the content that one sees. For example if one held more liberal beliefs, they would be able to alter what they read based on what they “like” and who they “follow” which could completely omit opposing information. Wether it is trustworthy or not, people are able to only view material which they favor. This can be problematic, however, as it can lead to hyper partisanship. Because of this, people tend to stray further from facts and gravitate more toward opinion based news which in return causes more misinformation.
Misinformation can be dangerous for various reasons. When ill informed individuals are given power, facts can be harder to find. Debates and issues can quickly become clouded which can make them difficult to resolve. With social media, this issue will only intensify. However, there are precautions that can be taken to verify if the information being displayed is trustworthy. One method is checking the source of the news. Social media allows most anyone to publish their thoughts. In order to be careful about content, one can double check the source. If the post belongs to a large or well known journalism or news outlet, chances are it is more factual than if it is coming from an obscure source. Another way to be sure that information is correct is through investigation. Often when reading about something that seems unusual or incorrect, I will search for other articles on the topic apart from those on social media to see if the information is correct. This can sometimes be a more involved process, however it will allow you to be more knowledgeable about the topic.
Apart from self verification, I think steps can also be taken by the social media outlets as well. Corporations such as Facebook have already taken steps to make a difference. One possibility is a system that fact checks content when it is posted. If a social media users decides to post an article concerning politics, the website would be able to investigate the posts truthfulness and then deem it either factual or false. With this, others who view the post would be able to know if what they were reading was true or not. There are many steps that can be taken to determine in information is trustworthy. Wether it be the work of the individual or the social media outlet, such actions can help to decrease the spread of misinformation and lead to a better informed society.