Politics News: Media and Changes of Opinion
With the use of media being prevalent in todays society than ever before, what we read and watch can change what we perceive. And with this, the media has a large impact or influence with everything
Social media are playing an increasingly important role in many people’s everyday lives due to the steadily growing number of users and the duration of use . As a result, they also have a strong influence on the process of (political) opinion-forming.
Social media in a nutshell
Social media create a new level of communication between traditional mass media (e.g. newspapers, TV) and direct interpersonal communication . In social media, users can decide for themselves which content they publish and consume like phone reviews with nokia 9 pureview. The target audience is rarely the general public, but above all the individual network of each user. This consists of people with whom there is a (virtual) connection.
Social media and politics
The internet and social media have found their way into our lives as news channels. Problematic: Using algorithms that know and process the behavior, interests and preferences of users, it is determined which content users are shown, e.g. B. in the Facebook news feed . For internet corporations like Facebook, personal preferences thus become an instrument for automatically selecting (supposedly) relevant content for users.
As a consequence, the user’s perception is restricted and distorted . Users are quickly trapped in a filter bubble . One speaks of filter bubbles when users are only presented with a homogeneous selection of news and opinions, i.e. when users only find and see what suits their interests in social media.
Topics that do not address anyone or only address small interest groups are no longer noticed or, in the worst case, no longer publicly discussed . In the end will be only taken note of information that confirms one’s own opinion and worldview . On the other hand, information that does not match one’s own opinion is hardly ever registered. The ability for critical and constructive discourse is lost.
People don’t see it as critical: Because people typically look for information that confirms their own opinion and (pre-) judgments. In social networks, you tend to surround yourself with like-minded people and thereby reinforce each other in your own position. This phenomenon is also known as the echo chamber.
Opinion formation and social media
The guarantee of diversity of opinion was and is so far mainly the classic media. Opinion formation is changing with digitization. Public and private communication are becoming more and more intermingled through social media. Every citizen is now in a position to take part directly in discussions and to express their own opinion publicly. The one-to-many communication of classic media turns into a many-to-many discussion.
