Fake News And Social Media Uproar: Who's To Blame?

Have you ever compared the life we see today with the life for the past few years? We used to live the days where no one would even know where we were and what we were even doing at the moment – the days where we all didn’t care about that. We used to live in the era where we didn’t have to let people know if we were on a vacation to somewhere. Well, say goodbye to those days because now we are living in an era where almost everyone we know can know where we are and what we are doing (and even with whom we are spending time)… that’s if we are involved. Yes, welcome to social media world – a place where we can express ourselves, gather information, interact with our friends and family, as well as ‘explore’ the world. While social media was originally made to catch up with some old friends or maintain communication with friends or family, somehow it has become the platform for business promotion and ‘news media’. Most people nowadays no longer receive information or news solely from TV anymore, they can directly read news on social media platforms, whether it is Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I’m not saying that the development in technology is bad for the future – not at all. Technology today is made easier for people to catch up, especially social media. Back then it was so hard to keep in touch with our friends after graduation, now you only have to follow their Instagram accounts and there you go, you can hang out with them anytime and plan a schedule with them anytime. However, just like the saying goes, “when something is shining, it has to be in the darker place to shine brighter,” there are always drawbacks even in everything good. You would never find a hoax as dramatic and exaggerating as today’s hoax or fake news. I mean, fake news and hoaxes are everywhere nowadays, on social media, no less! Yes, I’m sure you know you never found something like this on the internet a few years ago. In today’s social media, it (sadly) works like this:

Let’s say there were three people who wanted to spread false news or hoaxes in order to disrupt the peace between users or achieve their own objectives. Let’s identify them as Person 1, Person 2 and Person 3. The three of them would make the fake news first and then once it was perfectly made, Person 1 was the one who would spread the fake news. After the fake news gained attention from many people, this is where Person 2 would take action; comment on the fake news to exaggerate things and ignite fire between users. This was the bait to add more hatred to the argument. After the bait was taken and many commented on it with anger, that’s where Person 3 came in. Person 3 would back up Person 2 to trigger emotions and fights between the other people who commented on the fake news. That’s how it works when it comes to fake news or hoaxes.

If the perpetrators had objectives, one of the real life examples that could be the cause of this action is usually voting or elections meant to manipulate people’s doubts and choices as well as falter their minds so they would think twice and hesitate about who they wanted to choose. Either way, whatever it is that caused them to spread fake news, spreading fake news or hoax is something unacceptable and immature. People end up bullying each other and saying mean things to each other. But then again, who is to blame; those perpetrators or those getting involved? In my opinion, both may have their part in this and both may be in the wrong, but the ones who are mostly at fault are the users. I am a strong believer that there is no such a thing called “grumpy nature” or “hot-tempered nature”. Being angry is a choice – it is never a nature in a person. When they feel triggered by something that is supposed to make them angry, they can choose to let it go and move on or they can choose to be angry.

Social media companies have started waking up to the potential threats on their platforms. However, what can we do to protect us from fake news? Well, I can’t really say much because everything that comes from our mouth starts from our mind and brain as well as the way we process things. Social media is only the platform, the one using it is us. We are responsible for everything that we start on social media. Fake news is started by humans, not the social media platforms. The only one who can stop negativity on social media is us. If we find some misleading information, our job is to remind people and if we don’t care, our job is just to ignore it, not spreading the fake news or misleading information. Sure the one who shares fake news is mostly at fault here, but we are also involved if we re-share it and spread it especially if we don’t know whether the information is reliable or true or not. It starts with our self. If some of us have this kind of mindset, I’m sure the rest will follow and the world will be better because with this mindset, even if it is done by some of us, we have the chance to reduce the negative impacts on social media today.