As I write this, the news trending on Twitter is that Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik (both former members of One Direction) are friends again. Meanwhile, the top story in the New York Times is, “Leak Investigations Triple Under Trump, Sessions Says.”
It is incredible that this form of media allows people to discuss their opinions and beliefs in a place where others can respond with their perspectives. But rather than trying to understand others’ views and engage in civil discourse, users often attack one another for having opposing ideas. It doesn’t mitigate the issue when our current President prods his 35 million followers to believe that “Right now, we are one of the highest-taxed nations in the world” even though we’re not, and “You know we’ve gotten billions of dollars more in NATO than we’re getting. All because of me.” despite the fact that the deal was taken down in 2014. (The New York Times)
It is a struggle to engage in civil discourse when our generation has become dependent on the one-sided stories we read on social media to craft perspectives on issues instead of relying on a credible news source to challenge and balance our opinions. This invites audiences to debate what they already agree on, without fully understanding input from the opposition to why we disagree. Or even think the way we do. In addition, we have all become journalists through this medium—those reading our tweets learn from us and trust our 140 character stories to be facts if they are clever or snide enough. So the arguments we have are often not supported by real data or knowledge, but rather by what we have learned from a carefully edited selection of “others.”
The desire to be successful on social media and cultivate the most support tends to exceed the need to speak with substance. Many users publish shallow content just to accumulate a high volume of likes and shares. When people see that a certain idea has been favorited and reposted hundreds of thousands of times, it influences them to believe that this statement holds value. The aspiration to be popular on these outlets creates a superficial goal to acquire a powerful voice.
When approximately one-third of Americans use Facebook as a reliable news source, it can become difficult when you have Facebook friends across the political spectrum. The extent of what is considered "news" ranges greatly on these channels and can even significantly influence our understandings of "facts" and "truths." If we minimize reality, reality will minimize us.
