Social Media and its Impact on Information

Social media played a massive role in the 2020 civil rights movement and protests since it allowed media to spread very quickly. It allowed hashtags to flourish, especially around the BLM movement and the murder of George Floyd, which played a very large role in the media communication aspect of news. However, I think social media was able to flourish like this and spread information so quickly because it was in the beginning stages of COVID. Because we were all in lockdown and on social media all day every day, any significant event outside of our four walls was bound to spread like wildfire. 

Social media is changing the way people document history. It is causing people to document events at the moment, and it leads to many more points of view being documented simultaneously. Because anyone can document large events and spread information about it, this leads to “fake news”. This is problematic because it usually leads to more false information about an event being spread than factual, professionally investigated and reported news. 

Because amateurs, basically anyone with a recording device and a means to upload it to the internet, are able to post media and “news”, it can lead to misleading information and emotional manipulation. If the “reporter” is capturing an event, but only certain parts of it, this can lead to the event only being shown in the way the “reporter” wants it to be conveyed. This idea can even be conveyed in peoples day to day life. The biggest example of this is social media influencers. They only show the best aspects of their life, and they get to depict and paint their lives to the public in the way that they want to. This is usually by showing nicer clothes, restaurants that they eat at, and all things lavish. However, if you were to know them in real life, I'm sure that they would be depicted and seen in a completely different way. Since they pick and choose when people get to see them, they get to easily win over people’s hearts and support.

Song of the week is Come Around - Hoodie Allen and Christian French. It is another great song to joy ride to in this beautiful summer weather!

- https://youtu.be/ZftDp-qS5YU