Could social media be tearing us apart?
In the article “Could social media be tearing us apart?”, Jerry Daykin observes how social networks have contributed to an eccentric political scene. Through posts, comments, tweets, and many more information cascade methods social media platforms offer society today, the development of controversial opinions and allowing people to share their own personal thoughts have never been easier. However, Daykin argues that social media not only allows the sharing of controversial opinions, it fuels their growth. Many social media sites enable us to engage in the social bubbles we want to be immersed in by allowing us to choose who we be friends with and who we follow. This leads to a strict information cascade of public opinions from people who share the same view as ourselves, instead of giving us the opportunity to be challenged by opposing opinions or social and political differences. When we see posts or information we don’t want to see, we now have the ability to block this and any other related information we see on social media newsfeeds.
By filtering the news and information we see to reinforce our own beliefs instead of representing a range of opinions, we blind ourselves from the diverse views of the rest of the country that may be different from our own. Not only through our own actions, but politicians and social media platforms themselves can also play a role. For example, Facebook went through a recent scandal when it was accused of actively hiding right-wing stories from the newsfeed. This lack of information by remaining in our own social bubbles leads to the ease for hatred and animosity to develop against people who display opinions you do not agree with. For example, negative views of immigration are usually weaker in areas with high levels of immigration. When we block certain information we do not want to see, or surround ourselves with people we have similar views with, we fail to engage with diverse groups and therefore fuel the development of hatred against their views.
https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2016/jun/28/social-media-networks-filter-bubbles