Information Cascade on Social Media
In a cascade, the individuals involved make the same decision in a sequential order. Individuals are easily persuaded from the individuals before them to make the same decision. We have seen multiple examples of information cascades on social media, specifically with what individuals post on instagram and what individuals change their profile pictures to be. On Blackout Tuesday in June 2020, thousands of people around the world were posting a black screen with #BlackLivesMatter and changing their profile picture to a black screen to join the movement and show their support. However, the majority of them were doing this without even understanding what the hashtag meant or what the black screen and black profile picture meant. They saw that the rest of their feed was posting, so they joined in. One person posted a black screen or changed their profile picture and then it started a chain reaction of everyone else posting a black screen and changing their profile picture. Some of these individuals who participated also might not have agreed with the movement but posted the black screen in fear of being judged if they didn’t post the black screen. This would show that those individuals are choosing what the previous individuals before them did instead of their own opinion. Also, a person debating whether or not they should post, does not know if the individuals before them believe in the movement or if they just posted because everyone else did. This highlights that each person only knows the public information of posting or changing their profile picture and not the private information of if they believe in the movement and want to join the movement. In the CNN article linked below, music artist Kehlani explained that the #BlackLivesMatter did more harm than good because during that time “when you check the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, it’s no longer videos, helpful information, resources, documentation of the injustice, it’s rows of black screens,” highlighting how some of the individuals who were posting were joining the cascade without thinking about what their actions entailed.
This is not the only case of this happening. In 2019, there was a period of time where everyone’s profile picture was a blue screen to show their support for the #BlueForSudan movement. On May 19th 2021, thousands of people were posting blue squares on instagram and changing their profile picture to blue for #BlueOutFriday and #standupagainstantisemitism. Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, thousands of people in the United States changed their instagram and facebook profile picture to include the words “I Voted”. After the public was given the opportunity to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine, thousands of people changed their instagram and facebook profile picture to include the words “I Got Vaccinated”. All of these examples are Information cascades as each individual alone most likely would not have posted a blue or black screen or would have not have changed their profile picture if they did not see that everyone else on their instagram and facebook feed did. There also is the perspective that they might not have wanted to be judged if they didn’t post the screen or didn’t change their profile picture so they joined in with the cascade in fear of being judged for not joining. This also highlights that each person only knows the public information of posting or changing their profile picture and not the private information of if they believe in the movement.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/us/blackout-tuesday-black-lives-matter-instagram-trnd/index.html