Column: Social media and the effects on the public and journalism

by Caleigh Plunkett

Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat… social media is fun to use. Sometimes, however, it can do more harm than good.

Imagine a message is sent out from a popular social media account, containing some hateful opinions about a certain person or group of people.

Within minutes, seconds even, hundreds of people have seen the post. Some strongly agree, some strongly disagree, and others are too incredulous to respond. Some are the people that the hateful opinions are about.

Social media is a fascinating opportunity to see what humans can do with the whole world at their fingertips. With sites such as Facebook and Twitter, ideas, pictures, and videos can be shared around the world in seconds. People from Australia can respond to a post from America using the internet in the same time it would take to pick up the phone, and it’s much less expensive than other means of communication.

People in the world have a voice, thanks to social media. However, that’s not always the best. Quick responses from anyone, everywhere, could hurt people more quickly than ever by spreading harmful and potentially false information all over the globe.

That false information, or “fake news” as it’s so often called recently, has a negative effect on not just the public, but also the journalists who report the real information.

Currently, the some of most famous claims of “fake news” and degrading of journalists is unfortunately coming from President Donald Trump. He most commonly spreads these accusations through social media, specifically Twitter, and so completes the vicious circle of the negative communication.

Those using social media, especially people with power, such as Trump, should be careful what they say. We should all check the facts behind a story before we share it, and make sure we know the whole story before we make accusations. It will make life better for everyone.