Don’t Share Everything You See

Lauren Ullman

Social media’s reach is far and wide, even beyond those with active accounts. Regardless of the method through which it is being accessed, the public learns information from and promotes the use of media daily. This can display itself in different ways—you are either the one with a profile who shares what you know with your peers, or you are the one who learns from your peers, with information that they themselves found on the web. 

How often do we hear, “did you see this? Did you hear about that?” The second any major event occurs, everyone runs to see it on the first platform they think of, varying from TikTok and Instagram to Snapchat or Facebook. 

While this can result in satisfyingly closing any knowledge gap, it also means that people are not checking their sources or ensuring that the information they find is accurate. And all too often, people trust what they see on the surface-level without following up. We should be taking everything we see online with hefty grains of salt, or at least with the presence of mind to not fully trust a post, no matter how official it looks.  

Social Media in Society

As children in society have adapted to the use of social media on a regular basis more and more frequently, its reach has tripled from that which we might have been used to in the past. Nowadays, life for teens exists solely online—at events, we take photos with the purpose of later sharing them with our friends, and we consider interacting with the posts of others as a method of keeping in touch with our peers. 

Having access to social media as a young teenager can be crucial in social development, in terms of staying updated with friends and having the confidence to share memories online.

However, this also means that social media users are able to interact with complete strangers at their leisure. While this builds further connections and encourages socialization, it can be dangerous. All too often, we hear of cat-fishing that occurs in social media, where people edit their appearances or even completely pretend to be someone else in order to seduce others.

These risks of social media are paramount, but even more dangerous can be the ability that people possess to spread information, or rather, misinformation. Misinformation, according to the U.S. Pirg Education Fund, “is incorrect or misleading information,” including content that “is purposefully exaggerated, using clickbait headlines or out-of-context details to make a story harder to look away from.” 

In a study conducted by Pew Research Center, it was found that “84% say technological connectivity has made people easier to manipulate with false information and rumors,” but also, that “73% describe people being more informed about both current events in other countries and about events in their own country.” So where does the line lie? It seems that there is no escape from people being more informed, while acknowledging that social media can manipulate others. Why should education from this platform have to come at a cost? 

Spreading Misinformation on Social Media 

People are eager to create their own pictures and share information that they have personally researched, often in short-term formats such as infographics and captions that serve as enhancements to anything that has been shared in the picture. Sometimes, even the photos included in the infographic are falsely created or edited and solely intended to mislead others. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi, a character from the Star Wars franchise, is speaking with a subtitle that says "You will not share fake news!"

This results in social media platforms being viewed as news sources, and thus for many, possessing the same role that the newspapers should instead hold. Many people are affected by this belief, as according to the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, “53% of Americans get at least some of their news from social media,” and “researchers at MIT have found that fake news can spread up to 10 times faster than true reporting on social media.” Rather than searching in the papers, or even on online publications to educate oneself, people consider themselves informed when they read information online. 

This can have varied results— “when asked whether social media is a good or bad thing for democracy in their country, a median of 57% across 19 countries say that it is a good thing,” because some consider the ability to communicate with others as a positive thing (Pew Research). However, this can also result in tensions. The study further revealed that “44% across the 19 countries” say “that access to the internet and social media has led people to be less civil in the way they talk about politics” (Pew Research). 

When people can be hidden behind a computer screen, they feel more comfortable making such posts and sharing their thoughts publicly. Previous results indicate “that a median of 70% across the 19 countries surveyed believe that the spread of false information online is a major threat to their country” (Pew Research). 

Fault of the Algorithm

Algorithms are effective in noticing what types of posts or keywords that people most often interact with online, and pushing other posts that are related to this onto their feed. 

According to Neuroscience News, “as humans naturally learn more from their ingroup and prestigious individuals, algorithms capitalize on this, pushing information that feeds these biases—regardless of its accuracy,” representing where the true issue lies. 

Without even knowing it, humans “tend to learn more from individuals they perceive as a part of their ingroup and those they perceive to be prestigious” (Neuroscience News). 

Whether or not this draw to information published by their peers, or those who they think are most educated in a certain topic, is useful is up for debate, but the conversation it invites leads to intense tensions. 

Tensions Online 

The spread of misinformation can only be stopped by those who challenge posts that they disagree with, or those that they find false information in, but even this leads to further issues. 

Debates that ensue between everyone who thinks their beliefs are those which are correct can become intense and harmful. They often end up shifting from discussions on the issue to personal insults, or even more debilitating claims on the subjects at hand in the event that has been covered. 

Further, some people attack others for reposting the graphics they see. It is common for people to come across a post that they agree with or feels needs to be shared, so they will repost the graphic to their own page so that people that they know can interact with it.

However, this means that some of their own followers, which can include people that they do not personally know, might find issues with the graphic posted. Ensuing replies to the posts can lead to arguments among friends and peers, further muddying the intent of educating oneself.   

Why Should I Care?

If you are in the segment of millions of social media users who believe in the benefits of spreading information online, you should probably be reconsidering your views. 

As we have acknowledged, in certain cases, these posts can be useful—they make the unaware aware of world trends and issues, and encourage curiosity. 

However, this curiosity is often not enough. Users may see a post that piques their interest, but rarely do they ever go beyond the initial post to find out more. If this first post they come across has been falsely construed, this poses an even more significant issue.

Ultimately, the “the outrageous “fact” that blasts through audiences is louder, stickier, and more interesting than a follow-up correction,” meaning that in the “race between the false but interesting and the true but boring, the interesting story wins” (U.S. PIRG Education Fund). 

The ability of people to post their thoughts and beliefs online is dangerous. When coming across infographics created to spread ideas, users should always follow-up on the post, by moving from social media to a reliable news source. 

Yoda, a character from the Star Wars franchise, looks around a room, with the text saying "Fact check, you must or infodemic you create!"