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Social media offer an excuse not to engage in real politics
To claim that social media tells us what the public think is surely impossible if we know that some opinion is invented, writes Steven Friedman
Most of us know now that we need to guard against fake news in cyberspace, but few of us know to avoid fake politics, too. The ANC’s election "war room", it is alleged, used "influencers" — people who are paid to punt a product or cause — to promote it on social media. Earlier reports claimed that a British public relations company working for the Guptas went one further, using "botnets" — manufactured social media users programmed to create phoney public opinion. This, of course, means that some (many?) voices on social media are paid or imaginary, and so as false as some of the fake "news" that is now spread in an attempt to fool people into supporting causes. We do not yet know how big a role fake news and opinion play in distorting democracy. Democratic systems run well only when citizens are informed: clearly, if what they hear or see is manufactured, democracy is stunted. There is also evidence that social media can polarise politics as people listen only to that which, true o...
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