Is Free And Independent Media Important For Contemporary Democracies In The Age Of Social Media?

Annotated Bibliography

Allcott, H. and Gentzkow, M., 2017. Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), pp.211-36.

An article by Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) assessed the role of social media in spreading fake news during electoral processes especially 2016 elections in the USA. The researcher argued that false information is easily spread through social media without filtering as compared to traditional media. The data was acquired through an online survey that was conducted after the election among US citizens aged 18 years and above. The sample of 1208 people was selected from 30 million individuals who filled in the SurveyMonkey website. The study concentrated on evaluating a number of social media platforms which were popular in the spread of fake news and which candidate benefited from this news. The study is important for my research because it demonstrated the way social media has an impact on the electoral system especially when the fake news is generated to sway voters. The main limitation of the study was that the sample was interviewed through the online mechanism, which may fail to deliver the reality from the participants. Therefore, the authors suggested that more research should be conducted to analyze effective measures to eliminate fake news. The article will be beneficial for my study because it adds new insights on the topic.

Sunstein, C.R., and Sunstein, C.R., 2017. # Republic: Divided democracy in the age of social media. Princeton University Press.

The book by Sunstein (2017) explored the concept of “Daily Me” which refers to the social media technology, which has given power and freedom to the user to interact with the media content of their choice. The author indicated that in any electoral outcome, there are divided emotional reactions among the stakeholders because it produces winners and losers. The researchers used previous data to arrive at their reasoning. The researcher pointed out that they also create fragmentation in various democracies. In addition, they play a critical part in severe political polarization. The research focused on assessing the various challenges posed by social media especially due to polarization such as division. The book is important in my research topic because it provides a glimpse of the negative impacts of social media in the democratic process. The main limitation of the chapter is that its discussion was restricted to the negative impacts of social media in a democracy. Therefore, the authors noted that further studies should be performed to deliver an understanding of the strategies of eliminating polarization during elections.

Young, S., 2010. How Australia decides: Election reporting and the media. Cambridge University Press.

Chapter I of the book by Young (2010) examined the digital technology used in contemporary elections.  The study indicated that when elections were held in the early 2000s, the reporting mechanisms were quite different from the contemporary system. By then the digital communication and reporting mechanism such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and MySpace were not developed and could not be used in an election. The author utilized reports and data on the use of a digital mechanism in the election to assess their significance in reporting an election in Australia. In this regard, the researcher focused on the assessment of the impact of emerging technology in electoral processes in the country. The book is very important in my research topic because the author has noted that modern elections are characterized by the use of technology in reporting and journalism. Traditional media failed in their role to promote democracy by the emergence of the digital system has upheld accountability among leaders. Additionally, it is used to sway on undecided voters in Australia prior to their elections. The main limitations of the study are that it was based on Australia alone, hence there was a need to conduct comparative analysis in order developed countries to obtain an in-depth understanding of effects of digital media in the elections. The chapter will form a foundation for my research.

Essay Plan and Introduction

Question

Is social media a threat to democracy in the modern world?

Argument

Although social media is quite crucial in the democratic processes especially in elections, it also threatens it since it is used as an avenue to spread falsehood hence leading to a compromised electoral outcome.

Introduction

Various scholars attempted to analyse the adverse effects of social media in a modern democracy. Precisely, social media is robustly damaging some of the social factors that have traditionally promoted democracy in the world. Democratic societies rely on the mutual feeling of commonality. It helps to create national policies, which enable citizens to consider their interest linked on some matters. However, social media exposes persons to information that third parties think they want to receive. For instance, the newsfeed in Facebook is often used in advertising, which operates by identifying the interests of the users depending on data it generates from their likes and browsing leading to confirmation bias. It also delivers information that the people agrees with. Social media can be a source of polarization in the nation since persons are persuaded to deduce new evidence based on beliefs linked with their social groups. Social media is a source of fake news, which is frequently utilized that they seem to be legitimate. It increases partisan divisions in the country, which significantly destroy the social realities. They are also used to spread propaganda, which cannot be verified by the users leading to choices that do not reflect the will and needs of the people. Therefore, it is pertinent to introduce different practices in social media intended to reduce polarization, which would lead to better democratic processes in the country.

Key points

There is a positive association between digital media and accountability of leadership. Sharing information enables the people to understand facts and hence make informed decisions about their government and leaders. It also promotes transparency since Facebook and Twitter are used to disseminate information about their leaders, hence promoting honesty

For instance, social media has been utilized to discuss candidates vying in an election, their manifestos and to raise concerns about the activities of the government. It also facilitates political debates about pertinent issues

Nevertheless, the emergence of digital media has contributed to unexpected negative effects on the electoral process, particularly through the fake news.

Fake news refers to falsehood information about a candidate spread through the social media but it appears to be real. It is frequently distributed hence the social media users are unable to authenticate.

It can be used as a mechanism of polarizing the country along party lines. Explain: it has the power to manipulate the users’ emotions towards other groups of people

Social media also have a tendency to establish severely divided groups of persons who are more likely to believe every type of information they come across regardless of how it is far from reality

It is destructive because it interrupts the social reality. Explain: it creates a feeling where opposing groups could differ on the actuality and what to do.

References

Allcott, H. and Gentzkow, M., 2017. Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), pp.211-36.

Sunstein, C.R., 2017. # Republic: Divided democracy in the age of social media. Princeton University Press.

Young, S., 2010. How Australia decides: Election reporting and the media. Cambridge University Press.

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