I believe social media has heavily
decreased the quality of news, due to the fact that any every day citizen can
post anything. There have been many times that rumors and untrue facts have
been posted on Facebook, Twitter etc. There have been multiple times via
Twitter where people have posted that a celebrity has died. An example of
complete chaos was the Justin Bieber death rumor which started on Twitter on
May 23rd 2012. As his masses of fans were completely distraught, it turned out
to be nothing more than a hoax.[1] Though social media has allowed people to
receive news instantly, it has the disadvantage of allowing people to post lies
and start rumors. Why some people believe there is nothing wrong with posting
whatever they wish, they must realize they should not post things that are not
true. It is unfair to purposely cause misinformation to others and cause
unnecessary confusion.
Even though social media is an
excellent tool, it has the disadvantages when it comes to people being able to
post information in order to deceive others. When posting news on social media,
it should only be used to post true facts and not something that a person has
made up. News on social media spreads rapidly and it is only a matter of time
before it becomes something that is
completely negative in society. This can be prevented when people watch what
they write and only post things that are completely true. Some people see
posting fake information as a means of entertainment, because they like to see
the reaction of others. We have seen numerous times already the devastation
false information has caused other people. As the majority of us use social media
every day, we need to be mindful of what we post when it comes to news and
always make sure we are writing the truth.
[1]
N/A “Justin Bieber Victim of (New)
Death Hoax” Gossip Cop. 2012. Web. 17
March 2013.
<http://www.gossipcop.com/justin-bieber-dead-may-2012-rip-death-rumor-twitter-died-dies/>
