Ferguson opinions depend on Internet experience; social media sites feed your viewpoint

As Americans are increasingly getting news from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, they’re often getting slanted information.

“It’s tied to this idea of narrowcasting that once you find this sort of sphere that you feel comfortable in, most of the news and most of the information is going to be tied to that sphere,” said Richard Pineda, Ph.D., the Director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication Studies at UTEP.

A prime example is the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. On social media – some say the story is about racism and an unjust justice system. Others say outside agitators have seized the tragedy to advance a political agenda. The portrayal you see depends more on you than you might think.

Sites like facebook, yahoo, and google, use algorithms or formulas to suggest content you’re likely to click. For example, if you’re liberal and you click left-leaning articles or like left leaning posts – websites pick up on that. “Even if you’re using yahoo or a regular internet site, that site will have links and hyperlinks to similar sources so what ends up happening is on the internet you really have this space that’s crafted to your perspective,” said Pineda.

Sites like yahoo, gmail and facebook then put content – where you’ll see it – that feeds your viewpoint. So you’re only getting a limited angle of the story. Same thing goes the opposite way for conservatives. “Unless you actively sit down to say I have a liberal perspective i’m going to sit down to find a conservative perspective, virtually everything by the way the internet is tailored will feed your particular perspective,” Pineda added.

This creates more polarizing outlooks and fosters very shallow engagement, according to Pineda. “It’s not a conversation about race, it’s not about a conversation about the dynamics of policing, it’s not a conversation about socioeconomics it’s essentially this – he was right, he was wrong. It also encourages a lower level of critical thinking because people aren’t really saying okay this is the perspective from the left, let me go look at the perspective from the right and make a critically informed decision.”

Pineda said social media can be a tool for positive engagement if its used to connect people in person and to organize movements.