STOP SOCIAL MEDIA??!! IS IT POSSIBLE?
Briefly discussed factors that contribute to feeling connected in social media and the development of homophily.
I had not considered the use of social media for organizing social activities and distributing information as discussed by Mantymaki and Islam (2016). I planned a 90th birthday party this summer; it would have been so much easier if I would have used social media to reach out to the family that lives across country. It never occurred to me or the others, helping with the planning to post the invitation on the family Facebook page. It’s these advancements the younger generations find so inviting while the older generations are still doing things the old fashioned way with addresses and stamps.
Social media platforms are a very active part of our lives. The younger generation utilizes social media to keep in contact with everyone they know at times their book their lives are open books through the platforms they’re writing on.
Tangermann explains how social media, even with the “perfectly curated gardens,” exposes people to a variety of opinions and sources, which could increase our diversity by providing sources of a broader range in our new feeds. Tangermann believes are guided by logic, and because of emotion-based decision making, we reinforce our points of view when we disagree with what we see or read on social media platforms. (Tangermann, V., 2019).
Attached, you will find my blog on feeling connected. It is human nature to want to belong; we want to be “liked” by our friends and family. For some, social media provides that sense of belonging we are looking for; for others it just brings on a sense of loneliness. How does your mental well-being respond to Facebook?
Discuss how algorithms and cognitive biases can intensify homophily and contribute to isolation.
Based on the article written by Ciampaglia and Menczer (2018), Algorithms are used by both search engines and social media platforms to filter what individuals see. Some social media platforms use the information on the friends’ preferences to filter in bias information to their peers, creating an echo chamber of information that others are more willing to believe because it came from somebody they know (Ciampaglia, G. L., & Menczer, F., 2018). The concept of algorithms on social media platforms, which displays items that individuals focus their search on creates a filter bubble that may strengthen confirmation bias, creating further isolation.
There are positives to the use of social media such as building relationships with individuals you usually would not communicate with, reconnecting with family members, high school friends, and keeping in contact with general and acquaintances.
Those individuals that use Facebook or other social media platforms to feel less loneliness by connecting with friends by reviewing their comments for likes or smiley faces may feel less lonely for the time being, but once they close the Facebook or social media apps that isolation feeling will come back with more force.
Cognitive bias, as discussed by Joseph Pennington, explains how social media may tap into ones feeling of loss aversion by using algorithms to present the individual with the items they want but don’t have, which may lead them to focus more on insecurities.
Example: Recently, we were looking at travel trailers; we went to one of the RV shows in our local area, found the one we wanted, started the paperwork, and decided it just wasn’t the right time. We have also been looking at RV’s on various websites, fast forward to this class; not realizing what we saw every time we opened our computers we now see that the majority of the ads on our social media platforms are for RV”s. We are now witnessing the item we want, but have decided to wait until we have some of our bills paid off before purchasing. The RV is an excellent example of how algorithms are being used to make us feel as if we are missing out on something that is within our grasp, according to the “last sale of the season” spectacular.
Discuss some constructive steps people can take to prevent these potential risks in their use of social media.
One step, all bet a drastic one is to step away from social media altogether. I told you it was drastic!! Could you imagine no Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn; the list goes on. Social media has taken over our lives; we have to embrace it! I did not realize how often I was using one social media platform or another until I started the research for various projects.
What it comes down to is, don’t believe everything you read. Check facts, make sure the source is reliable, As described in the article 5 Ways to Avoid Media Bias and Form Your Own Opinions (2015), Make sure your opinions and beliefs are based on facts, with the biased world we live in it is best to be on the lookout for selective sampling and negatives with a positive spin .
The article, which I have attached, provides 5 ways to avoid media bias in our political race this year but can be true in many areas of our daily lives such as: get all sides of the issue, anyone can tell you they think you want to hear (politicians in this article) it is your job to recognize that, watch different news channels to get a broader view of what is really going on, remember what most of our parents told us “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” and read the fine print at the bottom of the advertisements (5 Ways to Avoid Media Bias and Form Your Own Opinions., 2015).
https://lifesmartblog.com/2015/05/29/5-ways-to-avoid-media-bias-and-form-your-own-opinions/
References
5 Ways to Avoid Media Bias and Form Your Own Opinions. (2015, May 29). Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://lifesmartblog.com/2015/05/29/5-ways-to-avoid-media-bias-and-form-your-own-opinions/.
Ciampaglia, G. L., & Menczer, F. (2018, June 21). Biases Make People Vulnerable to Misinformation Spread by Social Media. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biases-make-people-vulnerable-to-misinformation-spread-by-social-media/.
Mantymaki, M., & Islam, A. K. M. N. (2016). The Janus face of Facebook: Positive and negative sides of social networking site use. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 14–26.
Pennington, J. (2018, October 18). The Cognitive Biases That Feed The Social Media Machine. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://www.connected-uk.com/the-cognitive-biases-that-feed-the-social-media-machine/.
Tangermann, V. (2018, April 20). Social media isn’t an echo chamber, you are. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/actually-social-media-isn-t-an-echo-chamber
