Explain The Negative Impacts Of Fake News Posted On Social Media Sites (Essay Sample)

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Explain the negative impacts of fake news posted on social media sites
Social media is a platform for people to interact with each other. Individuals receive news updates, which are posted by various people. However, sometimes the information that is posted is fake and is not channeled from credible sources. Previously individuals were happy with the news which was provided within the social media. However, this has changed over the years as people are no longer sure of what information to believe (Uscinski 57). The problem has created a negative effect on users of social media platforms that include Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Do you know that social media has an impact on our culture? Currently, people have changed their belief and culture due to the impact of social media (Rowan-Kenyon et al. 11). The information provided on the platform has changed the way individuals behave. The paper explains the negative impact of social media on people’s lives and provides various ways on how one can identify fake information.
Uses of Social Media
Individuals are addicted to social media and some even stay awake overnight to retrieve and update information on the platform. The platforms are used for several reasons, which include interaction and making advertisements. Most firms take advantage of the number of users of social media to make their products famous (Safiullah et al. 10). The sites are used globally, hence, once an advertisement is placed, it will be accessed by everyone who opens the sites. Such firms will then gain greater economies of scale, which will give them a competitive edge over their rivals.
Moreover, social media can be used by politicians in campaigning. The politicians can post their agenda on social media where they can easily be accessed by a sizeable number of individuals. The strategy will help them gain popularity. Moreover, people will have a chance to make their decisions and choose the best leaders that they prefer by reading their agenda.
Another use of social media is for education purposes. Students can access online libraries to obtain books that they need for their studies (Spratt, Hannah and Denise 19). Some students can also use digital learning to pursue their educational dreams. E-learning enables people to attend classes at their preferred location and time.
Finally, the social media can be used by individuals to post real-life events and other personal information that they want to share. It can also be used to communicate with friends and to share ideas and information with others globally (Kim et al. 264). People, who are bored and need someone to talk to, can resort to social media to interact with various people and create new relationships.
Why is fake news used?
Fake news refers to deliberate misinformation displayed on the news media. Such news is written and posted with the intention of misleading individuals to gain politically or financially. Fake news is created with more appealing features to encourage readability. Moreover, fake news is used to gain fame. Someone may post fake information about a given product to make it popular. People in business mostly apply the strategy in advertising their goods and services.
How to identify fake news
Fake news can be identified from real ones by considering various factors such as the primary source of information. The authenticity of the website sponsor or an author of a given book is crucial. The source should be credible and can be traced (Kugler 21). The history of the site is also important since it enables one to decide whether it had been reliable previously.
Moreover, the time and place of which the story was posted should be considered. Some people post expired information that may mislead others. As an example, information about attending a given meeting can be outdated. If the date of the meeting has passed, then such information can be considered as unreliable. Also, a place where the information was published should be considered since some individuals may make posts from an unrecognized location that cannot be traced. Hence, in case of any damage caused, they will not be held liable.
Another factor to consider is the feeling which is evoked by the information. The real information provides with the facts that can be verified as either false or true (Kugler 21). On the other hand, propaganda will portray a different emotion. Therefore, users of social media should analyze the displayed information to determine their accuracy.
The last factor to consider is the literacy of different users of social media. A sizeable number of individuals are not aware of the existence of fake news on the social media. With the pervasion of technology, there is a need to teach students on how to identify fake news from real information published on social media platform.
Perceived realism of fake news
Fake news can be used by politicians to change people’s perception. The attitude of cynicism, inefficiency, and alienation can be achieved by using fake news. The given strategy helps politicians to change the attitude of individuals towards their agenda (Uscinski 44). They will exaggerate their agenda to make themselves more appealing to people, who will then believe in their leadership. The strategy is not proper since it influences people’s judgment and it is called political satire.
How to Fight Fake News
The war against fake news had been long. Various organizations have tried to fight it and some have succeeded, while others have failed. Facebook tried to fight fake news by putting a feature at the right corner of the page where people can flag fake news. The strategy did not and people protested against it. There are some companies that have created robots to filter out fake news from their articles (Ting & W.H. 662). The use of robots to filter out fake news have been implemented to detect counterfeit currencies. A counterfeit money does not have certain features that is available in legal money. This security feature enable the authorities to identify counterfeit from legal money.
Akpan (8), acknowledges that the fight against fake news has been hard and yet many people can still fight it. His recommendation is that people who want to fight it must decide on the types of news sources they follow. They should particularly follow news from reliable sources.
Consequences of fake news on Social Media
False information on Social media has greatly shown negative effects on people such as loss of privacy (Herther 34). As individuals become more active on social media, they expose their personal lives by giving out critical information that they would not have revealed in a face-to-face conversation.
Another consequence of social media is the false sense of connection that can be created by users. As people interact, they become more closely connected with each other. The problem is that the individuals whom they are connected to are imaginary. Can you remember an instance where you dated an unknown person on the social media? Social media can make someone create a relationship with other people internationally. Therefore, they will tend to interact less with their neighbors and more with other individuals whom they do not know.
What is more, social media can lead to a rise or a fall in productivity. Social platform incre...