With an increase in people getting their news from biased sources through Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, or podcasts, there has been a dangerous wave of misinformation throughout the country.
Relying on social media platforms as one’s main source of information makes us fall victim to dangerous echo chambers and biased media. Social media is inherently designed to continuously push content that it believes the user would want to engage with. When we only engage with content that satiates our agitations within the world without understanding the context and accountable actors that contribute to our dissatisfactions, we are no longer useful to our communities. Social media pushes us to see the worst within ourselves and to further look to scapegoat tokens of the oppressive empire and entertaining characters as opposed to forming a deep analysis of how every institution, political actor, and community member contributes to the state of our current world, including us. Social media pushes massive amounts of content to individuals in very short spans of time, designed to make people addicted to the dopamine rush they get from scrolling through potentially 15 minutes in just 5-10 minutes. We are intentionally being made ill and reliant in the face of our digital escapes.
Social media has also made it increasingly harder to get younger generations to turn to legitimate and factual news sources for information. The reality that it is incredibly easy to just turn to TikTok or X for quick “facts” from random accounts is ruining people’s media literacy. Hardly do individuals fact check information, especially if it aligns with what their previously held beliefs are, validated by social media posts. These platforms are specifically created to distract audiences through pushes of biased, shallow, and often falsified information.
Social media also makes it incredibly easy for individuals to become isolated within their own echo chambers, constantly intaking political information from people online. This gives the illusion of communicating with people, leaving no incentive for some to engage in real-life community building.
Our inability to withstand the gruesome and often prolonged task of having researched and learned independently the realities of the world in which we live makes us ill-equipped to combat misinformation and form sustainable solutions to our transgressions. Furthermore, the internalization of instantly available and gratifying information leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by the empire. Through this lens, we understand how media literacy is imperative in navigating the terrains of ideological warfare and political competence. We are responsible for challenging ourselves to become more willing to take time in the slowness of learning through this world, we are accountable to truth and to the time it takes to uncover it.