This week I noticed a routine that I have which is to log onto Facebook and always glance to the right side of my screen. “What is trending today?” I ask myself and this week I saw some of the most random topics. Headlines that captured my attention this week were “Justin Bieber Shades in Tattoo of Ex-Girlfriend” and “Vanessa Hudgens Jail Time?” Don’t get me wrong, I can see why these topics are trending, but is that really important? Does it matter that Justin Bieber decided to shade in a tattoo of his ex girlfriend or if Vanessa Hudgens did something she wasn’t suppose to do and may go to jail? Why are we invested in other peoples lives?
The media puts in our heads that the idea of celebrity is sacred. These are people we are suppose to praise, look up to and to have some sort of connection with. What the media doesn’t shed light on is the fact that they’re just like us. Yes, maybe they’re rolling in tons of money, get recognized wherever they go and have a talent. Is that honestly enough to be the trending news this week? What about things that actually matter and affect us as a whole population?
Out of all social media platforms you would think that Facebook would put trends that actually matter; put the news that we should care about. A lot of my friends tell me that they get their news mainly from social media and the first news source for them is Facebook. The issue with social media platforms is that information is not 100% reliable. Yes, Facebook has the trends section, but if you select a trending story you may get an article from CNN or another news source, but what do you also get? Criticism and opinions from other Facebook users as well. People can write their thoughts so easily and bend the real truth. They can persuade other users to believe incorrect information. On the other hand, I get the New York Times in my email everyday and for some reason I don’t gravitate towards it as my first news source.
I realize that social media is attractive for news because when we read the news on social media we are connected by everyone else on social media. People reacted to the Pairs Attacks on social media and what happened? You got tons of Instagram’s with #PrayForParis and a bunch of tweets expressing thoughts and opinions. Social media connects us and that is why we gravitate towards it more. While other news outlets are reliable, they don’t hold that same connection. If you read an article you don’t see anyone necessarily posting an Instagram about the article or a status all about it.
The media is blurred in the sense that it gives us its own definition of a trending subject which leads to us being more entertained than informed. The only time the media seems to make a big deal of something is when the given topic can physically harm us.
So, I hope that we can start looking for real news rather than the news that social media only highlights to us as “real news”. Take the time to be informed about real world issues instead of what celebrity feud is rising.