Has social media democratized truth by giving everyone a voice, or distorted it by blurring the line between fact and opinion?

If I were asked the same question a decade ago, I would have answered that social media brought us voices to democratize truth. I still agree with it to some degree, notwithstanding that my opinion has leaned toward the latter statement.

In this essay, I’ll argue how I think the use of social media has changed in recent years.

First of all, in the early stages of social media, it was merely used for sharing moments from users’ daily lives, such as a photo of flowers they found on the way, a cute moment of their dogs/cats, an idea, or what they were craving at the moment.

As more industries expanded and the number of users grew, each platform’s specifications diversified. In recent years, social media has become a search engine among young users.

The study conducted by BBC Education found that “nearly half of the people between the ages of 11 and 16 tend to believe the news they see on social media, often regardless of the source.”

In addition to this, Meta (a tech company that operates several social media platforms) announced the end of the third-party fact-checking system a while ago. This certainly has spurred the distortion of truth, since people who label themselves as experts in every category have been disseminating their own beliefs on social media.

Secondly, algorithms work according to our desire. It’s not hard to discover information that reinforces one’s beliefs, whether the content is fact or not. As a result of a single word search, social media offers us content continuously, like a waterfall.

Eco chambers are a consequence of algorithms that significantly contribute to reinforcing one’s desirable beliefs and have simultaneously become a barricade against diverse perspectives.

This is supported in the article by Petter Törnberg, P(2018). “It finds an ‘echo chamber effect’: the presence of an opinion and network polarized cluster of nodes in a network contributes to the diffusion of complex contagions, and there is a synergetic effect between opinion and network polarization on the viral spread of misinformation.” 

More importantly, even politicians utilize it to consolidate their position. For instance, they tweak their statements and actions to cater to certain supporters of extreme demands or movements and conveniently edit videos to influence their opponents’ impressions. Even worse, they fall into echo chamber traps.

On the plus side, it’s undeniable that social media gives us a voice. To illustrate this, live streaming has allowed us to instantly access unfiltered footage from other continents, such as natural disasters and ongoing protests.

Additionally, social media offers a place for everyone, including people who struggle with finding confidence in real life or have difficulty communicating verbally.

However, without legal policy and regulation, it only exacerbates the distortion of truth and casts a shadow over its excellent premise.

In conclusion, while it’s a fact that social media significantly contributes to positive movements and gives anyone a voice to fight against their hardships. On the other hand, tragically, it has become a prolific scene of blurred facts and opinions.