Is Social Media Taking Over Journalism?
Several Americans rely on social media platforms to keep them up to date on the latest news. Not knowing that companies are continuously struggling with misleading information being put onto their platforms. Americans are using these platforms as a regular source of news. Who needs Journalists, if 50% of adults are not relying on the news for valid information? Is social media taking over Journalism?
On average, how many hours do you spend scrolling through social media weekly? Now, compare that to how long you spend watching the news. Would you say that you spend more time watching the news or on social media? Given that you probably spend more time on social media, you are more likely to stay up to date with the latest news.
As stated in the article, “News Consumption Across Social Media in 2021,” about 48 percent of U.S. adults say they got news from social media. That is almost half of the adult population. That means that the other half gets their news from reliable sources.
You might think that “bots” are the ones to blame for putting fake news on these platforms. But in reality, it is people. The article, “Fake News Spreads Faster than True News on Twitter — thanks to People, not Bots” states that there was a study done. It showed how people are the prime culprits when it comes to the propagation of misinformation through these social networks.
The study showed how tweets that contain fake news can reach up to 1500 people on Twitter about six times faster than truthful information.
Fake news is not always spread purposefully. How many times have you read something on social media and told your friend about it? A lot, right? I am certain that you did not purposefully give that person fake news. The spread of fake news is a domino effect. Someone may see some big news story posted on Facebook and then share it with their friend, then their friend’s friend sees it, and so forth. Oftentimes, we don’t even know that what we shared was fake news.
It is safe to say that social media is a convenient and fast way to stay up to date with the latest news stories. But definitely not always accurate. In today’s society, the average person spends at least two and a half hours scrolling through social media. You can only imagine how fast fake news can spread, knowing this statistic.
Social Media is taking over Journalism. 50 percent of adults do not rely on the news. They receive all of their news from social media platforms that are constantly sharing fake news. What is the point of having Journalists if nobody is going to read their articles?