Title: All Too Easy: Spreading Information Through Social Media - The Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public Service
Headings: All Too Easy: Spreading Information Through Social Media
All Too Easy: Spreading Information Through Social Media
Content: News sources are known for tracking down sources to verify the authenticity of the information. Un-truthful information can be spread purposely or accidental. Un-truthful information that is spread purposely can be done as a satire or to instigate an emotional response. Un-truthful information is also spread un-purposely by the thousands of users of social media. Social media users can share information or spread the information that shows up on their news feed without checking to ensure the information is accurate and truthful. Recent studies have shown that an estimated 59 percent of social media users will share information without actually reading an article, but will share information based on the title alone. An opinion can be disguised dangerously or spread as truthful when it is solely the opinion of the writer or speaker. Social media has the power to affect a social change on society. Social media has allowed thousands of people, if not millions, to have a voice and spread the information that the user feels is relevant and important. Unfortunately, a side effect of giving so many people a voice is the spread of false information disguised as truth.