The Role of Social Media in Shaping Perception

- Tanaya

Today, social media has become an integral part of daily life. It has changed the way we live, think, and interact. It is also shaping our views and opinions, whether political, social, or otherwise. Previously, people only had media through which they received messages. Today, we don’t just receive, we have the convenience of participating in the spread of the message, which is a view, an opinion. It has given a voice to everyone willing to express and share. This also gave people the chance to share with a wider audience and bring attention to their views in seconds.

​When we say that social media impacts our opinions, it's often argued that one’s opinions cannot be influenced by external factors, especially (social) media, and are formed based on their personal views. Unlike traditional media, which is expected to maintain neutrality, social media contents are tailored to the netizen’s existing values. Also the ones that generate more engagement are prioritized, leading to more production of similar content. Algorithms push the favoured contents and play a crucial role in forming our perspective. These perspectives further help in forming our views and opinions. But everyone has an algorithm that agrees with them and their perspectives, confirming their opinions to be the “truth”. This re-establishes their beliefs and doesn’t give netizens new topics to compare, evaluate, and choose what's right. 

The problem occurs when these opinions we form through social media are not based on facts but opinions of other people good at convincing, with millions of likes, giving us a sense of validity. But in reality, the number of likes (number of people agreeing to it) don't create facts. The moment their false opinions, and also rumors, are validated by millions online, people tend to perceive it as factual. Even when there are enough facts to prove us wrong, we still hold on to the created “reality”, without the urge of the need of fact checking. It results in a part of society not being able to agree to basic facts.

​Social media not only shapes our views but, at the same time, creates divisions among people, and these different viewpoints lead to polarised groups, and the ones who disagree are often faced by trolls online. Social media gives people an unfair advantage of hiding their identity behind screens, being able to say whatever they wish after a minor disagreement, dislike or disfavour, that they wouldn't have been able to say in real life. This results in a conflicting environment, minimizing solidarity among people.

In today’s day and age, the constant attention and validation on social media often gives birth to people’s opinions, sometimes outweighing factual accuracy. As a generation, growing up with social media, we must question why we allow these networks to influence and define our lives so profoundly. Social media should only remain a tool to connect with others, not a source of education. Disagreements and having different opinions are natural, but they should not arise from misinformation or lack of awareness.