Misinformation Spread Through Algorithms on Social Media and Its Impact on Teenagers IRE

 

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a popular children’s folk tale that dabbles with truth and fear, a story that features a population who refuses to state the obvious because they are scared to be the “incorrect” minority. The citizens choose to believe the emperor has clothes because nobody else seems to believe otherwise, a classic tale about misinformation. Migrating from the streets of the medieval world in the “Emperor’s New Clothes” to the screens of modern iPhones, the topic of misinformation is still prevalent but presents itself as “fake news”, information that is spread on social media platforms and consumed by teenagers on their personally engineered feed that is curated by algorithms, cultivating a new generation which forms dangerous generalizations and stereotypes of the world based off sources online with varying credibility.

It is common knowledge that teenagers of the 21st century are glued to their phones, scrolling through their feed routinely and accumulating a large amount of screentime, but what keeps them hooked throughout the day? The answer is in the algorithms, the same programs designed to keep people engaged are fueling misinformation in the teenage population, promoting videos based on engagement and popularity, not credibility. ^[a]This is because these algorithms are "run by likes, shares, and comments" (Hall). Videos are shown based on engagement, so the more engaging a video is, the more a site promotes it, and that causes more people see it. Consequently, social media is becoming an uncontestable way of sharing a lot of information fast. This is great news if you exclusively use social media to stay connected with your friends and family, but this is made nearly impossible with the current algorithm. Like I stated above, the more interactions a video gets, the more eyes it will reach, but sometimes the most popular information is not informative or even true, it is only entertaining. In fact, ^[b]"Fake news on Twitter spreads six times faster than true news" (Orlowski, 01:02:15-20), this is because "Although information is accessible faster, it does not always tell the entire story" (Hall). For example, the “flood of information on TikTok” is compiled into one-minute segments, only a "tiny little snapshot of a tiny little moment of time often without any overlaying context" (Zurawik, 00:00:23-33). This means large amounts of news will be condensed to fit a short time limit, forcing creators to be picky with what information they choose to include, often creating ^[c]videos compromised of solely the juiciest piece of info or “headline-worthy” media, cutting out context to fit the time limit. Generally, small pieces of information are either blown out of proportion or large pieces are heavily condensed to fit the allotted segment. Either way, "One of the problems with [social media] is that it's devoid of context” (Meinch). CNN supports this statement by talking about a video of Russian Paratroopers preparing to invade Ukraine that went viral on TikTok, but even though it was confirmed to be legitimate, the video dated back to 2015 (Zurawik, 00:03:25-33).^[d] While this video was real, it was not relevant. The algorithms of social media do not “fact check” their information, if there is engagement, it is pushed. “We’ve created a system that biases towards false information” (Orlowski, 1:02:47). Unbeknownst to teens, the algorithm is recommending and promoting popular videos to them that are full of false information. These videos that teens are readily consuming, filter out so much context and information that they become videos created to entertain, not to inform. However, teenagers do not know this. They were not taught this. Algorithms are so dangerous to teenage development because their brains are still developing, they are still constantly learning and consuming information to form cognitive foundations, and with our new age of technology, social media is only heightening the amount of information they consume. Furthermore, teenagers are yet to finish their high school education, which means they lack the critical thinking skills needed to differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources, causing them to be unable to accurately determine the credibility of the media pushed to them. The algorithms used in social media are misinforming our teenage generation, causing them to reach false conclusions about the world based on faulty news gleaned from these sites that spread information based on engagement.

Alongside overall engagement across the platform, the algorithm also pushes new content to your feed by analyzing your personal interests and history, consequently trapping teenagers in their uniquely curated filter bubbles that further enforce their preexisting views of the world, accurate or inaccurate, and almost always biased. Algorithms, like the one used by TikTok, will promote videos based on "previous content interactions" (Hall). This leads to their page being personalized with posts, opinions, or topics that they have previously shown interest in and agree with. Filter bubbles are the result of these personalized feeds and while they keep teenagers engaged; they limit what they view to what they are interested in. Essentially, they are like mirrors. The algorithm will suggest new content based on previous content it knows you like. This is dangerous, especially for teens ^[e]because “Over time you have the false sense that everyone agrees with you because everyone in your news feed sounds just like you (Orlowski, 00:56:38-46). When teenagers see that everyone on their social media agrees with them, they will eventually assume that all their opinions and preferences are universal. Teenagers will believe that all the information they know and believe to be true, are true. Furthermore, they could even develop the mindset that anyone who believes otherwise is wrong. "We are a nation of people who have isolated ourselves to only watch channels that tell us that we're right" (Orlowski, 01:14:26-31) and our present political situation is a prime example of the consequences. Most teenagers don’t watch the news, so majority of the political information they consume is through social media. However, because of filter bubbles, if they interact with a video that is affiliated with one side of the political spectrum, then the algorithm will only provide them with videos that are right or left leaning, never both. Teenagers are narrowing their view through social media, limiting their choices and exposure, leading to isolation and eventually, rabbit-hole induced radicalism. If each party believes that they are right and the other is wrong because they refuse to take a step back and evaluate the legitimacy of what they are consuming, then our current situation will continue. Politicians will continue to denounce the opposing party instead of improving theirs, using logical fallacies like tu quoque to influence the masses. These debates are often radical and “entertaining”, going viral on social media and further influencing teens and providing them with opinions that they do not have the ability nor the motivation to dispute, and eventually, their opinions will reflect the extreme view that they are consuming, “We have less and less control over who we are and what we believe" (Orlowski, 01:09:11-14) "Each person has their own reality with their ^[f]own facts…We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented" (Orlowski, 00:56:20-35). Through social media, teenagers are not exposed to the full picture, and without proper education, will come to conclusions based solely on what they are exposed to. They will not be able to distinguish between what is true, and what is relevant in our new time of digitalization that garners attention towards videos that fuel misinformation because frankly, it sells better. In the end, inadequately educated teenagers are becoming divided and ignorant thanks to the filter bubbles that the algorithms of social media have trapped them in.

On social media, the algorithm promotes users with large followings, otherwise known as influencers, and they drive the content of the app, heavily responsible for influencing the opinions and stereotypes teenagers are forming about society as they are maturing. ^[g]For example, the Missouri Government used “high-profile figures on social media to try to reach as many eyeballs as possible" and promote “coronavirus prevention measures” (Erickson). On social media platforms it is possible to follow accounts, guaranteeing that the influencers’ new content will show up at the top of your feed. This means, the more followers an influencer has, the more eyes they can reach, and the more people they can influence and inform. For issues like the pandemic and safety measures, using influencers to promote safe habits is a great idea. However, influencers are promoting more than goods and habits, they are also promoting standards and (unhealthy) lifestyles.

"The intense diet culture of the app has the potential to begin or intensify body image issues for all users, but can especially affect younger teens who are already going through a period of higher insecurity and confusion…The typical female was described by all as skinny, white, good looking, good at dancing and usually showing lots of skin. On the other hand, the typical male was described as average and funny… many young females are getting the impression that what society values are their bodies and looks.” (Peppercorn).

To reiterate, teenagers are at an essential part of their development mentally. They are spending these important seven years of their lives consuming all the information around them and coming to conclusions based on that information, so once they see famous influencers living the lives they want, i.e. being happy, healthy, in a relationship, with a skinny body, they conclude that if they had some characteristics of these influencers, like being tall and skinny, then they would consequently have all of the other characteristics, like being happy. Teenagers are also forming conclusions about the expectations of the society they live in, like how girls should be “skinny”, and guys should be “funny” to be popular, successful, and happy. What they don’t understand is that "Social media allows people to only present the best versions of themselves” (Peppercorn). Again, social media does not provide the entire context of the situation but only shows carefully selected snippets, and in an influencers case, the best parts of themselves. Posts show influencers as pretty and naturally skinny, but behind the scenes these influencers may workout to achieve their “natural” body or use filters to enhance their beauty. Social media misinforms teenagers about the lives of influencers, when, they are just humans who happen to post specific snippets of their lives online. However, if an influencer happens to post something that is considered offensive, then ““The person who has done [the offense]…may be a lost cause,” Cohen explains. “But, by making him an example, it sets the standards for our society. Moral codes. What is acceptable and non-acceptable behavior”” (Meinch). Through their successes or failures, influencers define both what is “good” and should be sought after in society, and what should be shunned and deemed as “weird” or “bad”. They influence teenagers in more than their desired physique and characteristics, they also set standards, and teenagers who desperately want to fit in are heavily susceptible to these influences and may change themselves to fit the unreachable standards that social media and its influencers have set. In the end, while influencers can quickly spread a message and prevent or encourage misinformation, they are the ones defining the societal expectations that developing teenagers build into their foundations.

Now that we’ve established our issues regarding social media and its influence on teenagers through misinformation and societal expectations, how can we be proactive and educate this young generation on how to avoid these influences and develop healthy habits to determine credibility? ^[h]

Within the last decade, a study by Stanford University showed that "Some 82% of middle-schoolers couldn't distinguish between an ad labeled "sponsored content" and a real news story on a website… Many students judged the credibility of newsy tweets based on how much detail they contained or whether a large photo was attached, rather than on the source" (Shellenbarger).

This statement supports the fact that students are unable to accurately determine the credibility of a source, and with our current technology, they do not have the proper education nor the motivation to take the time to research each individual source. Teenagers are exposed to a plethora of information while scrolling through fast-paced social medias like TikTok, so it would be absurd to ask them to research each individual creator that they watch. Instead, we should educate them on becoming critical thinkers and target the problem at its root, starting with the parents. The parents can start with simple actions like encouraging their kids to research the author or creator of a specific piece of information by asking their kids leading questions like “Where did you find that information?”, anything to encourage them to verify the credibility of the source before they decide whether it should be trusted (Shellenbarger). Parental units are the key to a developing child’s mindset, so by encouraging critical thinking through questions and developing healthy habits for determining reliability early on, they can cultivate teens who will be adequately prepared to face the onslaught of information in mass media. On the other hand, if they are teenagers already, as a "generation fully entwined with digital media" (Hanes), the teenagers themselves should learn concepts like media literacy, or “lateral reading" (Shellenbarger). This involves verifying the credibility of each source by running background checks on the author and keeping their motivations in mind. Questions like “What is the author trying to express?” and “What is their background?”, can aide a teenager in developing their media literacy and developing healthy habits before adulthood. If we educate our teens on how to identify credibility and put these practices in place, hopefully we can curb the detrimental influence misinformation on social media has on the teenagers of this generation.

Social media is shaping young teenagers’ perspectives of the world by misinforming them through its personalized algorithms that are imposed on teenagers during a crucial period of their cognitive development. These algorithms fuel misinformation on the platform by promoting information based on its popularity and engagement, causing teenagers to form faulty opinions, expectations, and stereotypes about the world based on the uncredible information they accepted as reliable because they lacked the education and critical thinking skills needed to effectively evaluate the credibility of the information they are consuming.  Thankfully, social media was not present in “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Otherwise, it would have taken more than a little kid to lift the spell of misinformation.

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Works Cited

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