advancements in the field of technology have positively impacted our social lives
Over the last two decades, the advancements in the field of technology have positively impacted our social lives. The innovation of new forms of communication that facilitates the fast transfer of information over the entire globe regardless of the difference in time zones and distance principals have been on the rise. From the innovation of telegrams to telephone and mobile networks to emails and finally to the development of social media, for instance, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. According to a recent survey, approximately 80% of the United States’ population had a social media profile, with numbers projected to grow steadily with time.
The exponential growth of misinformation in social media is continuously attracting the attention of most learners. According to Liang Wu and Kathleen, the open and timeless nature of social media has massively facilitated the communication of misinformation majorly; rumor, spam, and fake news. Despite the political process being infamous for its long history of misperception and misinformation, the presence of social media has facilitated robust widespread phony communication in recent times. For instance, in the last presidential election, a significant number of American adults were exposed to false narratives before the election. The social media has been credited by many to have majorly influenced the outcome of the election not only in the United States but also in most parts of the world. Additionally, there is a growth of fear that misinformation and fake news stories on social media pose a damaging threat to society and democratic institutions.
Misinformation has consequently led to polarizing the country’s social community, with misinformation on controversial issues like same-sex marriage, racism, equality for both genders, among others creating a more significant divide between the liberals and the conservatives. Therefore, finding a possible solution for curbing fake news on social media has become the norm. Unlike most media and cable news, the government has inadequate policies to facilitate the regulation of information being channeled on social media. Moreover, the challenge of verifying the individuals relaying the information is at its optimal, since many people prefer to use their alias to the use of their official names.
Misinformation has both technical and human aspects, so too does any prospective solution. Most social media companies have vowed to help in curbing potential misinformation being relayed on their media platforms through algorithms that filter fake news and misleading information. For instance, when Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg, while in senate hearing regarding the right to privacy and the interference of social media in the 2016 presidential election, he stated, the company was putting in place measures to ensure the privacy of user data and their protection from false news. According to the BBC post, in 2019, Facebook took action on approximately 30million pieces of content between the period of July and September.
In conclusion, curbing misinformation on social media is a responsibility among its users. In a case, a user feels the information being relayed by an individual may be faked, and it should be of the essence to flag the content and rather than to pass it on. The social media users need to understand their individual biases and how their mistakes can be exploited. Therefore, before relaying any vital information on social media, the users should corroborate the information, to ensure the only the truth is conveyed. Consequently, the government should establish policies that help regulate content being disseminated on social media platforms. Such policies should include censorship of misappropriate information, stipulating guidelines on how to handle persons culpable of conveying fake news. “Evidence on whether these efforts will be effective or how the scale of the misinformation problem is evolving more broadly remains limited.” (Lazer 2018)