Social Media Reflection Case 1

I’m sure we’ve all heard of this “fake news” business that rocked social media during the presidential election. If you haven’t, here’s a general synopsis from Politifact:

Fake news is made-up stuff, masterfully manipulated to look like credible journalistic reports that are easily spread online to large audiences willing to believe the fictions and spread the word.

Yikes.

My problem, however, in this scheme, doesn’t lie with the journalists or “news stories” but with the consumers of these stories. Why do we believe them? Why do we share them? And aren’t we smart enough to detect the fake news stories?

Craig Silverman, argues in an NPR interview (full interview here) that fake news must “appeal to emotion. They know that maybe if it can have a sense of urgency, if it can be tied to things people care about, that's probably going to do well in terms of fake stuff.”

We become emotionally invested, click on these fake news stories and begin to be buried by an avalanche of media and internet lies.

I think that Facebook is trying their hardest to balance between upholding our First Amendment rights and still keeping the media honest. That is a difficult bridge to walk. On one hand, people go to social media to express themselves and make statements, which would allow fake news to be integrated into our news feeds. On the other hand though, I believe that if Facebook wants to keep its place as the social media giant of the world, it needs to get this sorted out.

Facebook already has plenty of blocks and rules and regulations when it comes to marketing. Occasionally, Facebook flags certain words like “pain” and “joint” expressing that it doesn’t meet their guidelines. Facebook is smart enough to know not to share a beer ad to an underage individual, what is stopping them from ending the spread of fake news?

I am in marketing. For my job, I have to boost posts to help them appear higher in my client’s customers’ news feeds.  My job is to generate new leads for clients and entice new customers through social media. But when I try and write headlines and captions, I avoid the “click-bait” language that deceives people on Facebook. As marketers, we need to be aware of the type of message we are sending to the general public.

And that’s another measure that needs to be taken to stop the spreading of false stories. The people and companies who share it, need to be held accountable for their actions. Maybe if there were some form of punishment or a fine, the companies wouldn’t spring up. Who would enforce this, I don’t know. The age of social media has brought a need for different laws and regulations to help protect the public.

Part of that law could also be enforced against Facebook if they don’t stop fake news from being spread.

What I’d like to know however, is why  Facebook’s strict system, allows the fake news to get distributed. I understand that Mr. Zuckerberg is making necessary changes to fix it,but I can’t believe it will work.

 Humans are just as fickle as Facebook and the general consumer will latch onto whatever they can do to make the opposite side of an argument appear invalid. Inside our human brain lies a place for gossip and fighting. Ever read world history? That’s why fake news spreads so much. No matter how Zuckerberg and his Facebook technicians try, uneducated people, consumers who believe anything, will always spread the news. Fake news is the new version of war propaganda. It stirs our emotions and makes us not able to think logically.  

That is why, I believe that when we get on Facebook we should be able to put on our critical thinking hats and become smart consumers on news.

May I suggest 3 ways to avoid being sucked into fake news on social media.

1. Use your brain. Sounds self-explanatory but really think about what you read and question to yourself if it makes sense.
2. Know where popular “fake news” comes from. DailyDot composed a list of 58 websites to look out for. Read and familiarize yourself with these websites to help avoid spreading their lies. (Original here)
3. If you question anything, don’t share it.

It might take a combination of laws, tighter Facebook monitoring, and a critical-thinking population to sort through all the fake news. We can’t stop people from posting things, that would be a violation of American freedom, but we can stop it from being shared.