The level to which social media has permeated our culture is, quite frankly, scary. Despite dabbling in the field of journalism, I am not an avid news reader. This changed with the events surrounding the election and inauguration, specifically the events at the Capitol building on Jan. 6. 

As much of the country affixed themselves to their various news sources, I did the same and noticed a troubling reality. Not one news article that I found was written without some mention of social media in its various forms. The most common of course being Twitter as former President Trump and other lawmakers offered their guidance, or lack thereof, to the population. Facebook was also abundant in the form of comments addressing chat rooms and pages on which these rioters had planned their attack. I began considering the societal ramifications of these various platforms in a broader sense.

The “buy-in” to social media is non-existent. Anyone can make an account that can reach any number of people, with little to no actual credentials to support the validity or expertise of said individuals. We see it with Instagram “influencers,” who are merely attractive people who know how to use Photoshop and portray themselves in a glamorous way. We see it with conspiracy theorists, such as Jake Angeli, the self-proclaimed QAnon Shaman that took part in the events of Jan. 6. Most of us probably see it to some extent on our own social media pages from relatives, friends, or acquaintances. 

There remains no definitive fact-checking algorithm to many of these platforms, which has allowed false information and baseless theories to run rampant in our society. People are able to find things that support the reality they choose to believe and share it without a second thought. Social media is also malleable. 

After Trump was elected in 2016 there was a deluge of posts stating, “If you support Trump unfriend me now.” While this is a perfectly acceptable stance to take, it means that people are able to filter what they want to and are able to see. 

This reality of social media is precisely what led people to believe that the election was truly “stolen” from Donald Trump. People filtered their reality to only receive information from sources supporting this false-narrative, egged on by tweets from Donald Trump and his supporters. All of these factors, and others not mentioned, led to the attack on the Capitol and democracy. 

Social media has infiltrated our very perception of reality, causing two incredibly different ideas of what is true to emerge and deepening the divide already present in our country. To some extent, this article is meant to urge readers to take a step back from social media; however, that would be hypocritical as I use it as well. 

Instead, I call you to simply question whether the information you are receiving is true and accurate. We all learned how to verify the credibility of a source in elementary or middle school, and now more than ever those skills need to be implemented.