Credibility Crisis: Social Media’s Impact on Learning, Credibility, and Fact-Checking
Written by Avery Davenport, Blue Valley Northwest High School Sophomore
Initially published in “P.O.V. Publish Our Voices,” a student-run magazine showcasing the perspectives of young writers.
Credibility in media is an increasingly relevant issue, especially in today’s digital age. Chase Dernier, a senior at Raytown High School, agrees, describing his belief that social media should not be trusted.
“I think that credibility of media is a big issue,” Dernier said. “That’s why I think fact-checking and censorship need to be improved so false information isn’t being spread.”
Student views false information on the internet. With false information becoming more prevalent online, it is harder to differentiate between real and fake.
Disinformation can be spread in various ways, ranging from bent truths to completely unbiased claims with little to no evidence to back them up. Although the reliability of much of the content on social media is questionable, it can be a great way to share information with the 2 million users on Instagram alone.
“It gives you multiple points of view,” Dernier said. “You aren’t just seeing one source, you can look up as many sources as you want, get a bunch of different opinions to form your own opinions.”
The lack of guidelines that allow people to express themselves online also leads to misinformation becoming rampant on social media. After Meta removed fact-checking from Facebook and Instagram on Jan. 7, Dernier expressed his disapproval of this decision.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Dernier said. “It’s just another way for people to spread out false for people to spread false information and push out media that’s just completely false or not correct.”
As more and more false information is spread online, it’s becoming harder to differentiate between factual and fraudulent information. Zion Porter, a sophomore at Raytown High School said he views misinformation frequently.
“I view false stuff all the time, and I don’t even realize until I see a Tik-Tok and it will say something,” Porter said. “I’ll look it up, and I’ll go down a whole rabbit hole, and it turns out it is completely fake.”
While no one person is spreading false information, everyone can do their part to prevent rampant misinformation and protect themselves from being exposed to false information.
People are always going to try and push out fake information. I think it is a factor of yourself being diligent, the company’s promoting different fact-checking sources, and then also the creators, not posting false information.
Chase Dernier, Raytown High School Student
