Week 3 — News and Social Media

In the most recent years social media—and especially Facebook—has become shockingly political. People who did not used to be politically active have suddenly started frequently posting their stances. There also has been a huge influx of misinformation, particularly amongst my parents' generation and older.

Research shows that people over 65 are almost 7x as likely to post fake news than any other generation. I see this on the daily from my parents' friends who share viral posts without ever checking their sources. This age group is particularly susceptible to the manipulation that these fake accounts use to get followers, which turns normal views into somewhat extreme, conspiratorial views.

As important elections loom, it's key to begin combatting this in some way. First, older generations need to be trained in how to analyze sources and search for information on the internet, second, we need to be more capable of political balance, especially on social media, and third, social media sites should put a greater effort in searching out misinformation and shutting it down before it becomes viral.