Thursday, September 04, 2014

Social media users are more likely to conform to the perceived group opinion, censoring their own unpopular views...

For any number of reasons, more and more people are beginning to shun social media, but nevertheless, billions of people continue to depend on it for a "daily fix" of interaction, much of it done anonymously.

Increasingly, we are finding that, while aspects of that interaction, such as reconnecting with old friends and staying in touch with relatives, can be positive and productive, social media also has a dark side, and researchers are continuing to find out more about it.

For instance, so much of social media has done nothing to foster a robust and comprehensive debate about the political direction of our country.

In an interview with ABC News' Dianne Sawyer in 2010, on the occasion of Facebook gaining its 500 millionth member, its developer and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, said this about how his site and social media in general made for better political discussion:

"Well, what I think it's doing is giving everyone a voice, right? So, back, you know, a few generations ago, people didn't have a way to share information and express their opinions efficiently to a lot of people. But now they do. Right now, with social networks and other tools on the internet, all of these 500 million people have a way to say what they're thinking and have their voice be heard." Full story...

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