Social media and misinformation

With the recent US election result, there has been quite a lot of soul searching on a result that seems to have surprised many people. Over the past weeks there has emerged an overload of commentary about social media’s role in the campaign and more specifically social media misinformation.

The Guardian, BBC and the New York Times are three newspapers among many who have written articles on this very topic.

In what seems to be a rush to ‘blame’ something or someone for an election result that seems to be unpalatable to many, it seems that social media is being held responsible for the result in some way. Now, I am no Trump supporter, however, to use social media as a ‘reason’ why Clinton lost is a very simplistic argument. There is no doubt that social media is influencing politics more and more particularly in the USA where there has been good research by the Pew Centre Research. A majority of adults in America, (some 62%), get news on social media. And social media’s role in politics throughout the world is impacting no doubt. However, it goes to a larger picture of shifts that are occurring in the world: media and communication changes, political discontent, an increase of distrust of politicians by voters and the impact of globalisation which is only just beginning.

According to the Oxford dictionary, misinformation is “false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive”. If this is the case who is doing the deceiving – social media platforms, individuals, political parties? Is this a media argument, a communication or a political one?

The Guardian, Australian edition said in their editorial on the 16 November 2016,

“More troubling is social media’s role in weaving wild, baseless attacks into the warp and weft of political life. The right in American politics has long peddled conspiracy theories, paranoia and not-so-coded attacks on racial minorities. Hillary Clinton has been smeared for decades.”

Now this may be accurate, however, this is not a social media argument; this a political point of view which is completely different to blaming social media for influencing an election result.

It seems in our rush to blame something or someone we do a disservice to those who actually took the time to vote. Since when is voting for who you believe in, considered a mistake? There are a number of reasons why people vote for who they do and over the years individuals usually vote for those who they believe will make their lives better, regardless of whether this is achievable, possible or practicable. When it comes to voting, people are selfish and aspirational; it is human nature.

Now, I am no political expert, however, I do know something about social media. And it is too easy to blame social media, particularly Facebook for an election result. This argument fails to look at the bigger picture of what is actually happening in politics, in media, in communication. The media actually disrespect the voting public when they simply blame and don’t look fully at the ‘why’ people voted as they did. What is happening is not a technology issue, it is a political one.

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Tags: social media and misinformation • social media and political campaigns • social media communication