Resisting Fake News

With rise of social media, the general public’s ability to read, post, and respond to fake news is more common than ever. Just about everyone is on social media now; so far in 2017, 81% of Americans have at least one social media account.

Let’s look at the 2016 election. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, denied claims that Facebook affected who Americans voted for and why. This isn’t true though; just about everyone on social media had an opinion about the election. One of Facebook's own employees, who chose to speak anonymously, disagreed, stating, “What’s crazy is for him to come out and dismiss it like that, when he knows, and those of us at the company know, that fake news ran wild on our platform during the entire campaign season.”

Sometimes humans, without even realizing it, let the opinions of others sway their opinions. If a person hears something frequently enough, it’s easy for them to start thinking that way too. If someone was born and raised in Georgia, a predominantly Republican state, then whomever they friend on Facebook is probably Republican too. If everyone they’re friends with on Facebook expresses their support for a Republican candidate, the person will more than likely go along with it. This is how social media, which is the biggest offender of fake news, can affect one’s mindset.

Limiting the use of social media can help people resist fake news. Kady Phillips from Blavity, a media and culture blog aimed at black youth, went 30 days without social media after realizing it was a burden on her daily life. One of the things she realized was she couldn’t keep up with anything. She didn’t know what was going on lately around the world.

According to the Pew Research Center, 4 out of 10 Americans get most of their news online, while 50% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 reported those same results. Millennials are the ones who will determine the future of fake news. Inevitably, the older generations will pass on as the millennials grow up. Social media isn’t going anywhere. Every year, new social media sites start up, so there’s no way fake news will completely go away. However, if millennials limit their use of social media, the rates of fake news being shared and discussed will decline.