Entry #3: Social Media Biases

 It is a common fact that on the internet, everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt. As much as that is repeated, it is often forgotten. With the increased use of AI and with a more divided political status, we need to remember this and always try to look at both sides of the coin before we get blindsided and become bigoted towards one idea. 

In politics, slanted reporting is extremely common. It is hard to find a source that is neutral and explains both sides. The news outlets will use pathos, appeal to emotions, to twist what was said into something that caters towards what you want to hear. This will cause a person to continue to come back to that news source since it is aligned with their views and thought process. 

TikTok is especially guilty with this and most social media systems. If you like a topic or watch a video on it, it will push that type of content out to you. The more you consume this content, the more your videos become slanted and push your opinion towards one side until the view falls down the steep slope with a little chance to return back. 

I have had a similar experience with TikTok and their more slanted algorithm. Whenever I like a video, I see an influx of that specific content. For example if I like a post about flowers, the next dozen posts will be related to flowers. This has its pros and cons. It makes it so that people like me will continue to scroll through all the videos and see what I want to see; but this greatly limits what I am able to see. Instead of showing more videos of the opposite, like trees for example, I am limiting my knowledge and only seeing one option which is more favorable. 

People need to be better aware of the type of content that they are consuming and making sure they see the greater picture. It is nice to focus and the fine details are nice; but without the whole picture, there will never be a complete world. A simple solution is to always fact check and make sure what you are viewing is accurate and see if there is another side to it. Slanted reporting will only be harder to spot as one matures because of a crystalized way of thinking, but starting young, you will be able to see.