Social Media and the Decline of Truth

In media history, there exists a perpetual cycle in which humanity’s innovation of communication technology shapes world culture and political climate, eventually resulting in humanity’s delayed response to these changes. Using this framework, this paper addresses the recent innovations of the social media era and the spread of online communication in regards to their impact on behavioral conditioning, democracy, and generally how people process information. The discussion takes a nuanced stance between two popular ways of imagining social media’s effect on the world: arguing for both an oppressive, authoritarian reality, likened to Orwell’s 1984, and a senseless, over-stimulated one, likened to Huxley’s Brave New World. First, the paper addresses themes in human reasoning that have contributed to the success of social media as well as the ways social media exploits and reinforces certain aspects of human behavior. The discussion then turns to the politicization of social media and the ways society has used current media technology to shape political climates and additionally frame news, both internationally and domestically. Lastly, the paper addresses the deviance of social media platforms into problematic uses, including the empowerment of authoritarian regimes and the incitement of polarizing, extremist sentiments.