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Mindful Journey through Social Media

Twisted Mind

Social media is a platform used for personal gratification and can be very productive; however, this productivity isn’t is always as positive as everyone may think. As stated in Pollard’s blog, “When feeling alone and bored, associating with like-minded people lifts a burden” (2020). This is a common truth, but there are some downsides to only listening to likeminded people and organizations.

Beneath the Bias

The algorithms used add to individual’s bias as it floods their sites with ads and posts that are likely to encourage their likes and viewpoints. If you base your feelings on one side of a spectrum, then there is a whole other side of valuable information that you could miss out on. This add to a personal bias and makes one ignorant to adequate details needed to give fair judgement. Unfortunately, people use these reflections of homophily as confirmation to what they believe and if the information is of bias or just inaccurate, it can place on the wrong side of a debate without facts. (Bessi, Zollo, Del Vicario, et al., 2016).

Turning in Truth

Debating various views can be a particularly good thing in finding solutions and common grounds of action and support. So, as you have your personal feelings, it is always a good thing to be open minded to others and fact check all of your references for authenticity. Fairmindedness and intellectual humility is a rare commodity, but can keep one in possession of the truth (Paul & Elder, 2012)(p. 267-268). Even though you maybe flooded with like material, remain openminded and search for the facts.

References

Bessi, Alessandro; Zollo, Fabiana; Michela Del Vicario; Puliga, Michelangelo; Scala, Antonio; et al. (2016, Aug.). Users Polarization on Facebook and Youtube. PLoS ONE 11(8)(e0159641). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159641

Paul, Richard and Elder, Linda. (2012). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life. (3rd ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pollard, Frank (2020, July 25). Sanity Through Social Media. https://fpollard35.wixsite.com/mysite/post/sanitythroughsocialmedia