Hey, Facebook: Social media really can change what people believe
With the whole debacle of fake news with Facebook and the election, I found this interesting article on Mashable about how social media can help with changing peoples’ minds on the candidates. While Zuckerberg is saying that it didn’t play a role, recent data from the Pew Research Center is saying otherwise. What was most interesting, but not surprising was that most of the attitudes towards the candidates went in a more negative direction than positive direction
Now while it states that the responses on the report don’t mention being exposed to fake stories, I wouldn’t be surprised that they did have a role in it. I think that so many fake stories were coming out before the election and people were most likely not even fact checking.
While this data from the Pew Research Center was done right before the election, I hope they come out with some new findings surrounding the issue of social media and fake news.
I think the heavy usage of social media may have an impact on people’s minds and attitudes towards the candidates because the more you use Facebook and get exposed to news that you are interested in or what news your friends, colleagues, or families are sharing, you will be surrounded by the news that’s been shared and may affect the way you look at the candidates or issues.
Even though Mark Zuckerberg argue that Facebook is not a media company but a tech company, I believe more strict policies are needed because of the fake news that are circulating social media and affect people in a negative way. So we need fact-based journalism! Journalism is important especially in social media environment.