In the modern age, social media has grown to be a source of entertainment and, for some, even a source of income. Many teenagers find themselves addicted to scrolling through their Instagram feeds or down their Tiktok home pages without questioning the information they’re consuming. Some platforms have created fact-checking systems that are designed to catch misinformation, but they’ve been found to be unreliable. Social media companies don’t actually want to rid themselves of false facts, they’re just putting on a show to keep their audience’s trust. By looking at the efforts made by social media companies to stop the spread of misinformation on their platforms, we can see that they are solely motivated by profit; this is important because social media users often don’t realize they’re being manipulated. This manipulation is dangerous to our society, especially concerning health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to bringing people together in a time where we had to be apart, social media aided in the spreading of informational posts. But when not all informational posts are scientifically accurate, it can lead to serious fatalities.
A big part of democracy is making your voice heard as a member of society, and people have been using social media as a tool to amplify their voices since its creation. The issue is that not everyone is speaking the truth. Whether it’s disinformation or misinformation, it can be hard to catch all of it. When social media companies don’t invest enough money into ridding their platforms of false information, it leads to some fake news staying out there and some perfectly good posts getting taken down. This hinders people from making their voices heard in situations like planning a protest; they can’t tell others about where to go, or when, or even about the important cause they’re fighting for. During the uptick in protests with the Black Lives Matter movement, social media was vital for organizers to get the word out. When innocent people are silenced, justice cannot be served.
Almost every young person uses social media these days, especially teenagers. Surveys show that 90% of teenagers have used social media, and 51% of teens reported using at least one social media platform daily. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2018) This means that almost every teen is affected by misinformation, whether or not they know it. Even if people don’t have social media, they could be impacted by the spread of misinformation through somebody in their lives that does have social media and has fallen into the trap of fake news. Especially with issues like the COVID-19 pandemic where there was uncertainty and danger, people were desperate for answers and would latch onto the first things they saw on social media. When misinformed civilians are the ones producing this content, it can have drastic effects. Users will believe what they want to believe without doing their research and seeking the advice of experts. Just a few anti-mask social media personalities can lead to a huge downtick in masking throughout the country, which puts everyone in danger, especially older or immunocompromised people. This is just one instance where misinformation can be deadly.
Social media has played a tremendous role in the increasing right wing extremist attacks over the past few years. “The New Zealand mosque attack, in which 51 people died, was peculiarly internet-centric, including a pre-planned online manifesto distribution strategy and Facebook Live video stream, which has ensured that the threat posed by contemporary extreme right online activity is now under greater scrutiny than ever before.” (Maura Conway, 2019) This is an example of social media being used as a negative force, not a force for good. Without social media companies properly monitoring the activity on their sites, they can’t make sure that their platforms are being used the way they’re intended. Additionally, these deaths could’ve been prevented if companies made more of an effort to prioritize user safety. Conway goes on to write, “The extreme right sought to capitalize on the fear and anger generated by the terrorist attacks and the refugee crisis and the elation generated by the other events to increase its political power and recruit new followers, including via the Internet. They were aided in their efforts by foreign influence campaigns spreading disinformation on many of the same talking points.” In this case, people used social media to cause harm to others through the use of disinformation, which is the purposeful spread of false information. With disinformation being different from misinformation, there should be serious consequences for users who post it, such as suspension of their accounts or banning them from the platform.
There are endless opportunities for social media companies to limit misinformation on their sites, and yet, we don’t see them taking those opportunities. Many people are unaware of the techniques used by companies to squash misinformation, and that is not an accident. At first, many companies employed fact checkers who manually flagged posts that may have contained false information. When things got out of hand with the rise of right wing extremism, they were forced to scale up their efforts using algorithms that automatically flagged suspicious posts. Although this system may sound high-tech and seamless, it is not perfect, or even good. “A sample ad claiming that COVID-19 is a hoax, created as part of a Consumer Reports investigation, was approved by Facebook despite the platform’s commitment to combat misinformation about the pandemic.” (Nathalie Maréchal, 2020) Better fact-checking systems are necessary to stop the spread of blatant misinformation, especially in a time like the COVID-19 pandemic, when people are at their most vulnerable.
Companies always like to blame their users for their faults. At first glance, the situation seems clear-cut. If users didn’t post misinformation, it wouldn’t be shareable. Even then, when users inevitably post misinformation, it’s the fault of other users for sharing it and causing it to spread. However, when you look past the surface level and place the company under a magnifying glass, it is obvious that they are the catalysts in the spread of misinformation, not the users. “As it turns out, much like any video game, social media has a rewards system that encourages users to stay on their accounts and keep posting and sharing. Users who post and share frequently, especially sensational, eye-catching information, are likely to attract attention.” (Pamela Madrid, 2023) When people get sucked into the vortex of their social media feeds, it can be hard to think about anything other than the “reward” that comes with reposting. Understandably, they’re not in the habit of stopping to think about the information they’re sharing or doing outside research to confirm the facts.
People share posts because they’re surprised by the content, causing other users to engage more. This ultimately leads to more profit for social media companies, which is their main concern. They don’t care whether the information circulating is true or not because they don’t care about the well-being of their users.
Of course, social media companies know this! If they can personalize your entire experience on their app based on your preferences, surely they’re aware of how quickly users move from one post to another. If they know that your favorite kinds of videos are hip-hop dancers and pasta recipes, then of course they know that you spend an average of 7.2 seconds looking at a post before moving on to the next one. Because their goal is for you to interact with the post in some way (liking, commenting, sharing, etc.), it would be impractical for them to limit the chances of you doing so because of a “may contain false information” notification in the corner of a post. It’s in their best interest to spend fewer resources on fact-checking algorithms and more resources on engagement algorithms.
It’s easy for people to feel powerless as they use social media. It may seem like misinformation will never go away, like there’s no hope in doing your research to confirm the alleged facts. These feelings are not invalid, as it takes mass amounts of people standing up and demanding change in order for things to be different. Sometimes, taking a break from social media is the answer. Keeping social media use to a minimum can not only protect you from misinformation, it can also lead to increased mental health and well-being. “Participants in the study reported decreased depression and loneliness when they reduced their time spent on social media.” (Cleveland Clinic, 2020) Spending time away can make you reevaluate what social media brings to your life and whether or not it’s worth it to return to it. If you decide that it’s an important part of your life, just remember to use caution and take everything you see with a grain of salt. It is up to the individual user to use social media for good. This includes being their own fact checker and ensuring that they watch what they share in order to create a better online environment for themselves and others.
Works Cited
Aacap, aacap. “Social Media and Teens.” Social Media and Teens, 2018, www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Social-Media-and-Teens-100.aspx#:~:text=Surveys%20show%20that%20ninety%20percent,mobile%20devices%20with%20internet%20capabilities.
Conway, Maura, et al. Right-Wing Extremists’ Persistent Online Presence: History and Contemporary Trends. International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2019. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep19623. Accessed 10 May 2023.
Maréchal, Nathalie, et al. “Targeted Advertising and COVID-19 Misinformation: A Toxic Combination.” Getting to the Source of Infodemics: It’s the Business Model: A Report from Ranking Digital Rights, New America, 2020, pp. 13–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25417.5. Accessed 10 May 2023.
Madrid, Pamela. “Study Reveals Key Reason Why Fake News Spreads on Social Media.” USC News, 17 Jan. 2023, news.usc.edu/204782/usc-study-reveals-the-key-reason-why-fake-news-spreads-on-social-media/.
Cleveland Clinic. “8 Signs You Need to Take a Break from Social Media.” Cleveland Clinic, 3 May 2023, health.clevelandclinic.org/signs-you-need-to-take-a-break-from-social-media/.