Post-Truth

Regardless of what social media platform people prefer, for some people, the truth may not matter.  McIntyre (2018) explained that we live in a post-truth era, where “objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief” (p. 5).  He argued that information could be introduced within a political framework to support one meaning of truth over another.  For example, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway said that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had given “alternative facts” regarding the size of the crowd (McIntyre, 2018, p. 6).  Much like confirmation bias, this newly coined phrase suggested that other information can be used to challenge individual facts that may be hostile to one’s preferred point of view.  Benkler et al. (2018) affirmed this notion of post-truth, suggesting that audiences and Internet users have a much more difficult time today differentiating fact from fiction: “They are left with nothing but to choose statements that are ideologically congenial or mark them as members of the tribe” (p. 37).  The authors added that, in the absence of truth, the most entertaining or shocking conspiracy theory often fills the void.

McIntyre (2018) adds that according to the post-truth phenomenon, “facts are subordinate to our political point of view” (p. 11).  On social media, space limitations are a factor, and arguments are condensed to just a few words.  As a result, users are likely to ignore facts that do not prop up one’s position and data to be cherry-picked to support one’s point-of-view.  Indeed, in a post-truth world, our shared objective standard for the truth does not exist.  Facts are merely interpretations through a political or emotional lens, and social media platforms are primed to help propel the discourse forward.