Our modern world has shaped us to rely on technology constantly. Due to rapid technological advancements, we often use our digital devices when seeking current events and political news. Whether we find ourselves scrolling on Facebook, reading a Wikipedia article, or watching the news, these technological outlets can be faulty and manipulative. Ultimately, technology truly impacts people’s political perspectives for the worse. Too often we come across these unreliable sources without even realizing it, and this ongoing crisis has impacted our everyday lives, and subtly influences our political beliefs. Although many key features of technology have the potential to be beneficial, currently it degrades America’s already weakened political community.
For starters, technology has enabled politicians to manipulate information, too gain more followers, and control our opinions. Throughout recent years there has been a soaring rate of fake posts surrounding political campaigns, and platforms such as Facebook, and Instagram seem to not be against it. Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, we saw this phenomenon of information manipulation being executed at various times. These manipulators took advantage of the tensions of the time to spread false narratives impacting voters’ decisions. The UCF How Fake News Affects US Elections states “There was a research study that said undecided voters were more likely to vote for President Trump in the last election if they believed the fake news about Hillary Clinton that they saw on social media” This quote emphasizes on how the media is directly linked to American voters. The majority of the platforms used algorithms to establish a target audience, so people can engage with politically slanted media. Social media platforms greatly influence Americans through algorithmic manipulation, and we shouldn’t continue to subsidize these corrupt companies by continuing to engage with these posts. If we essentially rely on the media for our news we will escalate tensions within our already politically divided America.
Another prime example of how the media can discourage political views is through biased content. All over the internet, you can find biased content reinforcing the author’s opinion rather than giving various perspectives on a topic. This information is often one-sided and molds people’s opinions on current political events. When biased content is accessible to the public people often don’t think twice to check if it’s from a trustworthy worthy which leads them to believe misinformative news. The Columbia University School of Professional Studies emphasized this in their article “The Real Impact Of Fake News” The article centralizes on biased perspectives during vulnerable times(such as elections) you can see that more individuals typically favor the candidate which the author favors.
To add on, the media contributes greatly to political disengagement. Due to the ongoing rate of conspiracy theories, comments, and ai-generated posts, a proportionate amount of trolls have infested our beloved apps. These trolls dedicate themselves to spreading false narratives, creating a toxic flow of information that distorts our political landscape.In fact “Acquai” elaborates on the urgency of the situation by stating “‘Witness to lies at the collective level, harassed by social media trolls, and overrun by conspiracy theories, the American public, as well as publics in Latin America and the Caribbean, find themselves in crisis. The conflict-avoidant and the just plain politically exhausted are retreating from the political process altogether as distrust in government rises. That’s a serious concern, analysts argue” This trend has drastically decreased civic dialogue thanks to these “trollers” who have established a now toxic environment for media users, causing many of the users to pull back from politics entirely. This also is a huge factor in why America;i n comparison to other nations, has such a low voter turnout. Because of the harmful effect technology has on us, there are numerous concerns surrounding how political participation will look years from now. More people feel unsafe sharing their political ideologies especially online, and the media is destroying political participation.
On the other hand, reliable information can be found on certain media outlets, but it isn’t very accessible or practical. There are established safeguards in many respected publications such as the NY Times which have teams of verifiers, to fact-check their work before releasing it to the public. However, it is incredibly easy to bypass these regulations, and implement misinformation. The MIT media lab states that fact-checking systems are not quick enough to ensure perfection due to the high demand of information waiting to be published; and often the very few reports made towards un-accurate newspapers, and videos don’t get taken heavily into consideration. To add the internet is incredibly accessible meaning that false narratives can rapidly spread before they can be proofread. So although the internet has some reliability, it isn’t as advanced and can easily be overpassed.
Furthermore, the media narrows our political beliefs and prevents us from being tolerant of others. Due to complex algorithms on known platforms, there are echo chambers; or an environment where individuals only face their own beliefs online. It’s a repetitive cycle of videos that align with their opinions on certain topics; because creators such as Mark Zuckerberg know it will put you in a rabbit hole, which creates more profit for the company. If we only see posts, that reinforce our beliefs, we will not get the necessary exposure to be more tolerant and understanding to others. We’ve seen this throughout the last few decades, with contradicting viewpoints leading to arguments, riots, and even murder. The lack of empathy towards people’s political beliefs nowadays is petrifying, and social media is a contributing factor to it.
Although the media does seem pretty dividing at times, it has the power to unify people together. For instance, thanks to social media we can bring awareness to specific issues, by collaborating with like-minded individuals. In late 2020 the black lives matter movement was popularized bringing widespread attention to the injustices black Americans encounter on a day-to-day basis. The media played a key factor in the uprising of this movement because the majority of in-person events, protests, and so on were incredibly difficult to coordinate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using social media African Americans would share videos stories and ideas regarding how systematic inequalities have impacted their daily lives. Because of technology awareness was brought to this sensitive topic, and created a hashtag which millions of people used in order to show their support. Social media does have the potential to unify us and have a positive enlightening impact on its users however there are less than a handful of examples in which the media is truly innocent.
Due to the recent decline of early voting for America’s presidential debate, I contacted a 19-year-old New Yorker to understand why so many “Gen-Z’s” are politically unengaged. Due to personal reasons, she prefers to stay anonymous and will be referred to as E.Z
When asked if E.Z. is voting and why she is/isn’t for the upcoming election, she said she decided it’s better not to cast her ballot.
“ I don’t feel like my voice will make much of a difference in New York, especially because the majority of the NY population who’s voting which is typically older, conservative people who are going to vote for Trump. So if I cast my ballot for Harris it will make a small dent and isn’t very impactful. I also don’t feel safe expressing my political beliefs, or voting in general ”
When we asked E.Z why she doesn’t feel safe regarding political expression she elaborated
“ All over my foryoupage, there’s hatred(regarding politics). People rallying near poll sites, yelling shouting I just don’t want to get involved. It scares me, I don’t see why we can’t respect one another” She told The Sunday Diplomat that all over her phone at the moment, there are ton of content regarding the election and hyperbolized statements about both candidates, which makes her question whos side shes on.
Written by Caroline Zera
