Why Social Media Are Ruining Political Discourse

The effect of social media on the quality of political discourses is a contentious issue. The emergence of social media applications has enabled the majority of the population to voice their political opinions very easily leading to the overwhelming amount of content composed of nothing more than bizarre accusations and inane subject matter. In my opinion, social media has constituted a decrease in the quality of political subject matter for two important reasons.

Firstly, the internet and social media have enabled people to get access to a huge amount of information and resources for free which has resulted in a decrease in the reliability of information and also the emergence of the concept of "clickbait". For example, a newspaper agency which used to get the majority of its income from charging its readers has to now shift to "e-newspaper" which is available on the internet for free thus shifting its income source from the readers to the advertisement on their blogs or articles. This situation has made it necessary for a journalist to misconstrue or publish egregious articles to increase their viewership leading to a poorer quality of political articles.

Secondly, as stated in the reason, anyone can publish political opinions easily which will inevitably decline the standards for covering news. This I believe is already the case, wherein the news covered is more dependent on what people want to see or hear rather than the truth. The emergence of biased news agencies which pander a very specific set of audience is very noticeable. Social media has set this trend that more egregious an opinion is the more attention it will receive.

People opposing my point of view might raise the argument that everyone should have the right to voice their opinions. I completely agree that everyone has the right to voice their opinions on social media, however, it, unfortunately, comes at a cost of a decrease in the quality of political discourses. Even the most inept users making blatantly wrong comments are well within their rights to do so, but such content shifts the public attention from truly knowledgeable opinions and decreases the quality of topics covered.

In conclusion, the social media applications which enable people to voice their opinions might also lead to chaotic situations which might distract people from truly important news and contribute to the increase the schism between people having different political opinions.