Idiots Are For Social Media
Whether social media is for idiots or not is directly linked to what defines an ‘idiot’ on these platforms. There are two distinctive idiotic acts when it comes to social media; a) people who post ignorant content and b) people who believe ignorant content.
In 2018, 79% of the UK population has an online profile on Facebook (Battisby), making this the most used social media platform with a total of 2.23 billion monthly users worldwide (Statistica).
Although social media platforms are often viewed as controversial and problematic, it is the gullibility of it’s users that is at fault, not the platforms themselves. In 2016 the prospect of fake news was introduced to mainstream media, with both the US Presidential Election and the UK Brexit Referendum being affected by this. In an attempt to win their subsequent elections, both Donald Trump supporters and Brexit advocates used social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to spread fake news to help their causes. The majority of this fake news featured scaremongering regarding immigrants and border control — fears which were shared with many voters.
By December 2018, over 55’s will become Facebook’s second highest demographic in terms of users (Sweney) as younger generations chose sites such as Instagram and Snapchat over this fourteen year old social media site. This increase could impact the content which is published and shared on Facebook due to the political divide between the demographics of 18–24 year olds (Generation Z) and over 55’s (Baby Boomers and Generation X). This political divide was clear in 2016 as statistics show that Labour were 19% ahead of Conservatives within the 18–24 year old bracket but the Conservatives 49% ahead with over 65’s (Curtis).
As of 2016, 28% of 18–24 year olds use social media sites as their primary source of news; with Facebook featuring as the most common social media platform used to access news stories, being responsible for 44% of news articles read via social media (Wakefield). The lack of monitoring on sites such as Facebook means that many news articles may not contain factual information. Snopes is an example of one of the websites which aims to combat this issue by fact checking, allowing people to question the reliability of information they are given. A study carried out by Ofcom revealed that 52% of news consumers believe that it is important for social media sites to be impartial on the topics/news stories shared and published here.
According to a 2016 Ofcom survey, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Sun were shown to be the three most popular newspapers in the UK — both in print and digitally. With these three newspapers holding a right wing political stance, there is little variation in the types of news and opinions which are shared between these. While only 14% of 18–24 year olds use newspapers are a source of news, 50% of those 65 and older use this platform (Ofcom). It is possible that the 18–24 year old bracket — also classified as Generation Z — have a wider variety of news sources as, having grown up during the rise and development of mainstream internet use, they view a variety of online publications on a daily basis through the likes of Facebook and Twitter. This could be said to be advantageous over older demographics whose news consumption largely comes from newspapers who all share a similar bias. With the anticipated increase in older generations having a presence on social media, should we expect the content we find here to alter in an attempt to share the political views of the masses?
As social media usage continues to rise, it is important for it’s user to be wary when using these platforms for their news consumption. But in an age where social media is vital for connecting the world via the internet, it could be argued a more idiotic move to not be using social media.
References:
Battisby, Alison. “THE LATEST UK SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS FOR 2018.” Avocado Social, 2 April 2018, https://www.avocadosocial.com/the-latest-uk-social-media-statistics-for-2018/
Curtis, Chris. “The demographics dividing Britain.” YouGov, 25 April 2017, https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/04/25/demographics-dividing-britain/
Grice, Andrew. “Fake news handed Brexiteers the referendum — and now they have no idea what they’re doing.” The Independent, 18 January 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/michael-gove-boris-johnson-brexit-eurosceptic-press-theresa-may-a7533806.html
“Just how many people use social media in the UK?” Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, https://www.greaterbirminghamchambers.com/latest-news/blogs/2017/11/just-how-many-people-use-social-media-in-the-uk/
“Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2018 (in millions).” Statistica, https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/
Parkinson, Hannah Jane. “Click and elect: how fake news helped Donald Trump win a real election.” The Guardian, 14 November 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/14/fake-news-donald-trump-election-alt-right-social-media-tech-companies
“Social media usage in the United Kingdom (UK) — Statistics & Facts.” Statistica, https://www.statista.com/topics/3236/social-media-usage-in-the-uk/
Sweney, Mark. “Is Facebook for old people? Over-55s flock in as the young leave.” The Guardian, 12 February 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/12/is-facebook-for-old-people-over-55s-flock-in-as-the-young-leave
Wakefield, Jane. “Social media ‘outstrips TV’ as news source for young people.” BBC News, 15 June 2016, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36528256
