Emme Bowe
Eb730819@ohio.edu
While social media may have started to connect with friends and maintain relationships, it quickly transformed into a platform that shares news, encourages political commentary, and launches debates. Conceptually, social media is pro-democracy. It has made a variety of diverse information more widely available, allowing people to become more educated on issues they may not have known about otherwise. It is a forum to give people within our democracy a voice, to amplify the idea of popular sovereignty that America was founded on. People can collaborate on ideas, initiatives, and protests and make meaningful societal changes. The idea behind social media encourages democratic functions; however, the unrestricted voices and algorithms that amplify them can harm the democratic process.
The freedom of voice that makes social media so powerful for democracy has also contributed to the destruction of democratic practices in recent years. Stories shared on social media influence political self-expression, and people seek out information. Algorithms create an echo chamber that reinforces pre-existing beliefs while suppressing other voices, causing users to see only one political perspective while suppressing other sources of information.
In addition to algorithms limiting political perspectives seen on social media, individual human tendencies further narrow one's worldview and increase polarization. The theory of selective exposure explains that people are more likely to expose themselves to information aligned with their views while avoiding contradictory information. Partisans reject news that shows diverse opinions and only seek out like-minded content, further narrowing the algorithms content sharing and creating an endless cycle of one-sided news. The political echo chamber creates more polarized opinions, hostility towards opposing views, and a more divided democracy.
Social media is not only causing users to distrust opposing political parties. People have also lost trust in journalism. Attacks on the news media are made from both sides of the political spectrum, and the public no longer trusts news outlets that were once deemed objective. The public is also starting to doubt democracy in itself. When users start believing that the opposing political side is unfounded, it can cause opposition to the democratic decision-making process that allows that side to give their voice.
Social media has damaged democracy by skewing perceptions, limiting voices, interfering with decision-making, and creating distrust. On the other hand, social media can uplift democracy and be a platform of popular sovereignty. The question is: how can social media save the democracy it has helped to destroy?
First, social media platforms must correct their shortcomings. While platforms cannot be held accountable for what information users choose to read, they can and should be transparent about how their algorithm engines amplify voices and target people. They should also be held accountable for how these engines may spread and lead people to misinformation.
Social media can save democracy if journalists utilize it strategically and ethically. If news outlets share the truth with fewer biases, users will be less misinformation to internalize and spread to other users. With consistently credible, unbiased sources appearing on social media, users will hopefully see informative but not polarizing information. Journalists can also use the platform to make officials answer to the citizen's agenda. Suppose news outlets listen and respond to what communities want to know about candidates and share that information on social media. In that case, users will be more informed and partake in the democratic decision-making process.
Despite the algorithms, misinformation, and influence of social media projects on users, democracy should not be afraid of these communication platforms. Social media has the power to destroy democracy, but it also has the equal potential to save and enhance it.
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