Truth and Falsehood in Social Media
After presenting our research on truth and falsehood in social media, I was left somewhat dissatisfied because we couldn’t fully conclude our thoughts and findings. While I was aware that social media algorithms influence the spread of misinformation, I did not understand the extent of this influence until seeing the MIT study. The fact that misinformation spreads six times faster than the truth and that falsehoods are 70 percent more likely to be retweeted on Twitter is extremely alarming, especially considering that this study was published in 2018. This not only affects our perceptions of reality and what we believe to be true, but it also affects human interaction and behavior more broadly. While this may sound like a bold claim, I believe the polarization and overall social climate today is evidence of this influence. During the last election, my TikTok feed was flooded with videos reflecting opinions across the political spectrum. There wa...