OPINION:
The odds are good that you have encountered WeRateDogs posts somewhere online. They have more than 9 million followers on Twitter and a million on Facebook. They have millions more on TikTok and Instagram.
They recently racked up over 500,000 views in a single week on a video featuring Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is part of the Democratic presidential ticket this year. In the video they talked, of course, about Mr. Walz’s rescued dog.
I like his dog. Scout seems like a nice pup. But Mr. Walz’s dog isn’t going to influence policy.
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And this is part of the dilemma we face when we as social media users try to make important decisions about pretty much anything that overlaps with online content — which is pretty much everything. Gen Z in particular get their news almost exclusively online. They simply do not get information the way previous generations did. More than half get their news daily from social media. Cable news, local newspapers, national newspapers, and even digital news sites just aren’t an important part of their news diet.
That can be an advantage, in some senses. Social media platforms are tremendously effective at humanizing people or making new perspectives compelling to us. They help us figure out whether or not we like someone, or whether or not they like us. Many social media platforms are also quite good at capturing and disseminating breaking news, or news from citizens on the ground.
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But it’s also a marked disadvantage. Social media is not effective at providing us with the full picture. We’ve seen this time and again as different platforms struggle with the question of how and when to manage misinformation. But we need a complete and accurate picture of the world in order to think well and make well-informed decisions.
Note that I didn’t say social media is a bad thing, necessarily. Using social media as your source of news isn’t wrong. It just requires additional stewardship of your consumption habits, and this is part of what I try to impress upon my students at Calvin University.
For anyone hoping to ensure their news diet is well-balanced during this election year — Gen Z or not — there are a few practices I always recommend.
Firstly, be aware of the dangers of passive scrolling. You are at your most vulnerable to the negative effects of social media’s emotional and intellectual influence when you are consuming content passively. Stay active. Think critically and proactively about what you encounter, no matter how plausible it might seem. Think about who you’re encountering, why they’re saying what they’re saying, and what they and you might be getting out of the content at hand.
Secondly, think beyond entertainment. Most of us consume social media content as a diversion — but its effects appear in every part of our lives, and even influence our political and cultural milieu. It’s a pastime that has desperately real ramifications for our lives both individually and collectively.
Thirdly, remember that your friends, family members and community members are people. You do share important values with them, no matter how hard they might be to see at times. And as Christians, we are called to love them. We are called to love ourselves, our neighbors — even our enemies.
SEE ALSO: Jeff Myers: Should Christians avoid politics?
It is essential that we strive at every moment to make sure we are not only fully informed, but making decisions rooted in love and prudence. Social media has the power to inform and unify us as families, communities and as fellow citizens. Preventing it from becoming a tool for division and deceit starts with every one of us, today.
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Kathi Groenendyk (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University) is a professor of communication and department chair at Calvin University, teaching a variety of communication classes, including courses in new media and persuasion and propaganda.
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