Every time I open my Facebook newsfeed, pretty much all I see are political posts. I can see videos, articles, statistics, primary election updates, as well as status updates regarding someone’s thoughts on the current election. Regardless of one’s political standing, I think we can all agree the 2016 presidential election has created a media storm unlike anything we have ever seen. Obviously, each election draws massive media attention, but the candidates of all parties have contributed to some pretty incredible news since this past summer, when the campaigns were just getting started. I see most of the news about the campaign on my Facebook newsfeed, and I am blogging now as a way to decide the role Facebook should and is playing in modern politics.
For good or for bad, my Facebook friends are a relatively homogenous group of people, politically speaking. I don’t think it is relevant to discuss my own personal political beliefs, but the majority of my Facebook friends are fairly liberal, and very vocal. I certainly have conservative Facebook friends, but the vast majority is liberal and are constantly posting. Because most of my Facebook friends who consistently post are liberal, nearly all of my newsfeed is anti-Trump or Cruz articles and pro-Bernie or Hillary videos or news clips. In this way, the news I receive is incredibly one-sided and biased. My perception of the current happenings on the campaign trail is largely because of what I see on my Facebook newsfeed. I look at the headlines on the Washington Post usually once a day as well, but each time I check Facebook, which is more frequently than I would like to admit, I am bombarded with political news.
I think it is great the younger generation is becoming more and more politically inclined, and I think Facebook has contributed to this rise in political engagement. It is our right and our duty to vote, whether that vote is Republican, Democrat, or even a write-in candidate. Seeing so many of my friends being interested in politics is great, but it definitely leads to me having a lop-sided view of what is actually going on. Should I just block all of the posts about politics so I am not gaining a bias? Is it important for me to immerse myself in what my peers are feeling about the election? Should I un-friend people who are posting things that are the opposite of what I feel, or are those posts useful too? I guess this is the case with other news outlets as well. If you only get your news from Fox or CNBC, you are probably going to have fairly one-sided views of the presidential race. But Facebook especially seems to be an increasingly polarized news source. It also can be problematic because if someone just shares an article, the author of the article could potentially not be a reputable source for news, and therefore could be spreading false information and influence anyone who sees it on Facebook.
In reflecting on the role of Facebook in politics and spreading news, it becomes clear to me that in order to be an educated voter and member of society, it is imperative to try and get news and information from multiple sources. It is impossible for any one news outlet to be completely objective, and it is highly unlikely individuals on Facebook will only share objective and fair reports of a candidate or situation. Now that the primary elections are drawing to a close and the general election is approaching, I will try and immerse myself in multiple sides of every story in order to reach my decision on which candidate I should vote for.