Social media platforms have been more tarnished because of the spread of misinformation and even ... [+]
It would be wrong to suggest that 2020 is the year of social media's influence on elections. It was used successfully by then candidate Barrack Obama in 2008 and even more so by then candidate Donald J. Trump in 2016. It will likely be used by both President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden – as well as candidates in races at all levels – this year.
However, the social media platforms have been more tarnished because of the spread of misinformation and even disinformation. .
Such factors could even limit the power of social media this election cycle.
"People are definitely losing their trust of social media and rightfully so," said Jason Morgese, founder of Leavemark, an ad-free data storage social platform. "We've seen how easy it is to manipulate the population with the way current social media companies are set up and how they are using consumer data to persuade large groups of people."
Unfortunately bad actors can more easily exploit social media.
"The platforms have certainly seen a decrease in public trust because of persistent issues," said Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential, a social data firm that matches influencers with brands.
"For example, there are bots used by foreign governments and political groups to create fake accounts with divisive content," Detert added. "The platforms have had to step up, along with third party technology, to identify fake engagement and followers. But despite all this, there are significantly more people on social platforms, who are spending more time than ever before. Content creators who earn the trust of their audience are able to shape opinions, including political issues. While some platforms are calling out misinformation, the onus is now on the individual to do their research and seek out their own trusted voices."
However, technology also makes it easier for misinformation to spread, and harder for the individual to seek out those voices.
"Content can easily go viral because of how algorithms push that content to the top of your newsfeed, whether true or not, if it’s getting a lot of attention through likes, comments, etc.," noted Morgese.
"Today, more than ever, we are seeing an uptick in censorship across social media platforms which is alarming and causing even more distrust for the average voter or person," Morgese added. "This is ultimately subduing our right to freedom of speech. From a factual perspective, yes, it can be important for larger media platforms holding much of the industry’s power to control the spread of fake news, but users are entitled to personal opinions despite their political affiliation. With emerging social media platforms across the board advocating for data privacy and freedom of speech, it is not an impossibility that our current political and social climate may result in the demise of social media as we know it with users flocking to more private and less monitored platforms."
Disinformation Campaigns
Another and more insidious effort could be those foreign actors – including ones that are state sponsored to sow dissent and only widen our digital divide. It isn't really about electing one candidate over another, but disrupting our election process to the point that both sides are left convinced that the other side was part of the problem.
Instead of seeing agents in Russia or China as the enemy it has come to the point that the fingers point first across the political spectrum in the USA.
"It's true, there's a lot of misinformation happening on social media right now and a lot of it comes from targeted disinformation campaigns designed to confuse and misinform certain groups of people, predominantly young people and people of color," explained Carolyn DeWitt, president/executive director of Rock the Vote
One advantage however is that generation Z isn't trusting of everything they may read.
"As digital natives, young people are incredibly savvy when it comes to using social media and vetting sources online," DeWitt added. "This is why trusted messengers, like Rock the Vote, are more important than ever. Followers want vetted and accurate information that they can rely on and share with their friends and family. This election cycle we launched our ambassador and volunteer program that trains and organizes young people to mobilize their peers through social media, and other digital platforms in an effort to arm them with the facts and prepare them to participate in the November election. The threat misinformation information on social media poses to our democracy is real."
