Social media is undeniably a huge part of our lives, as Gen Z comprises about 60% of the users on both Tiktok and Instagram. Among these platforms, there is a large space for the sharing of news and political discourse. Many creators on social media have shared their personal commentaries in response to the changing political landscape of America and ongoing global issues. Social media provides an expansive outlet to connect with other people and gain social awareness. The sharing of news and political ideas on social media is inherently a good thing and an exercise of our right to free speech.

That being said, social media is replacing news sources and personal research for many people, as about 25% of Americans report that they derive their news from social media influencers. Dr. Cliff Lampe, a professor with a doctorate in information from the University of Michigan, commented about the issue with relying on social media platforms such as X for news.

“There is a lot of research that shows that social media in general and X in particular are not great for replacing journalism,” he said. “Research on misinformation shows that the speed at which social media is used prevents fact checking, and later corrections never achieve the reach of the original misinformation.”

Misinformation is the price you have to pay for the convenience of social media, and it is rampant across all platforms. Anyone can post anything or speak on any subject regardless of their credentials or validity. Social media algorithms are designed to promote content with the most engagement, and those are often stories that are entertaining or absurd. This makes it easy for false information or limited perspectives to spread.

When looking at posts on social media, you must consider the credentials of the post, the creator and the context of what they are sharing. The best way to do this is to fact check what you are seeing and compare it with other perspectives on the issue. While it is no secret that news outlets exert bias on their news coverage, the Associated Press and BBC are some news sources with limited bias.

Ultimately, it is unrealistic to discredit social media as a whole for deriving social and political news, but its validity must always be questioned. As members of society, it is our duty to be educated and aware of local and global news. This makes it imperative that we do our own research from credible sources in order to form opinions and gather facts about our world.