The Speed of Fake News
As social media websites such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook become increasingly intertwined with every aspect of modern culture, concerns have been raised over the impacts it may have as it pertains to the future of journalism.
While social media can serve as an important platform for the instantaneous dissemination of current events, in recent years the threat of “fake news,” especially as it pertains to the American political system, has threatened the reputation of social media’s presence as a source of reliable journalistic information.
While the idea of “fake news” has always been around under the name of “misinformation” or “disinformation,” the phrase has mainly been used recently as an attack by President Donald Trump against media outlets that report negatively on his presidency.
While the way President Trump uses the phrase is no more than a deflection technique used in order to discredit news organizations that do not report favorably on his administration, “fake news,” when it actually is spread as truth, can be extremely detrimental to journalism as a respected institution.
“Fake news” simply put, is inaccurate information, and on social media, where algorithms, as well as human nature, make it incredibly easy for people to stumble upon such misleading or flat out disinforming media, and where journalistic practices such as peer review and fact-checking are rarely put in place, social media has become almost synonymous with fake news.
As reported by NPR, in the presidential election of 2016 that got Donald Trump into office, it was found that Russian interference through disinformation via social media websites Twitter and Facebook helped to dissuade votes from opponent Hillary Clinton, and though she still won the popular vote by over three million, she lost the necessary 270 electoral college votes to secure her position as president.
With a new presidential election coming up in less than two weeks between incumbent Donald Trump, and opponent and former Vice President Joe Biden, fears over foreign interference and its “fake news” are at an all-time high.
The speed at which social media can allow for information to be spread is, like most things, positive and negative. If used correctly, social media could easily take over traditional news media outlets, but despite recent attempts at native tools against “fake news” implemented by Twitter and other websites, the use of social media as a source of accurate and unbiased information currently is not available.
