Fact or Fake News: Facebooks Influence on Politics

 Jamyson Butler

jb935918@ohio.edu  

Photo illustration by Dado Ruvic/Reuters

For years, Facebook has had the attention of many people, no matter the age, race, gender, etc. Many social media users go to Facebook for a lot of information these days, such as selling or purchasing items, checking the weather, connecting with the neighborhood, and getting the latest news. It is an outlet for almost anything and everything. In turn, you never really know if what you see on Facebook is truly real or fabricated. 

Social media platforms maintain their audience and number of viewers by the app. If the viewers find censored information, they are likely to go to other platforms to find alternative information. So the fact that you can find both factual and fake news on Facebook keeps the viewers entertained enough to keep coming back. It is merely all about the drama. 

People tend to get sucked into the drama created on these platforms. Especially the adults who are super involved in politics and voting. Around election time, Facebook becomes a hot spot. There are countless ads and even posts from users about the candidates running. The viewers become infatuated with the heated platform and can't take their eyes off it. They even have an "I Voted" innocuous-looking that is a mighty button.

However, some would say that Facebook does not influence the election results. Some would believe that people may have already created their own opinions, and Facebook will not change that. It can also depend on how influenced someone is by others. Someone's mentality means a lot in this situation. Furthermore, even Mark Zuckerberg stated that the idea that Facebook influenced the 2016 election is just crazy.

Sometimes people tend to see a political ad on Facebook and believe everything it says without even fact-checking or further research. Then, they share the post on their page, and it is just a trickle effect from there. Eventually reaching millions of other users who the ad might influence. It has been shown that the brain decides to think consciously about it first. So, subconsciously, most humans react this way on social media platforms. 

It will be an ongoing debate whether Facebook influences people's opinions on politics or political campaigns. Of course, it can go both ways, but in the end, it is ultimately how the viewer chooses to react to the information they are given.