Social media platforms serve as powerful tools for challenging dominant narratives, amplifying diverse voices, and fostering critical discussions. However, they also contribute to the rapid spread of misinformation and reinforce existing biases through algorithm-driven content consumption.
Editorial By Dhiren A. Sadokpam
Factual inconsistencies and under-representation are related to the creation of stereotypes and biases. However, it has become increasingly difficult for all to understand the creation of stereotypes in an age of globalisation and digital technologies.
Since the global media industry is deeply involved in the production and circulation of information which has the potential to influence individual and group choices and decisions, the increasing usage of social media plays a pivotal role in countering not only stereotypes but also biases. Social media platforms serve as powerful tools for challenging dominant narratives, amplifying diverse voices, and fostering critical discussions. However, they also contribute to the rapid spread of misinformation and reinforce existing biases through algorithm-driven content consumption.
This does not mean that there is a uniformity of impact of communication technologies worldwide. There are growing influences of provincial and regional areas as centres of cultural productions. Adaptations and localisations of culture have challenged scholars to come up with new understandings of communications. Additionally, social media has enabled grassroots activism, allowing marginalized communities to present their perspectives and counter historically ingrained stereotypes.
Here, it is worth recalling that the emergence of communications coincided with the emergence of modern democratic nation-states.
Nation-states have now become increasingly aware of the fact that if democracy has to work, it has to also intervene in how the citizens perceive the nation-state, its constituents, and the functioning of the same. Social media platforms have thus become both a battleground and a tool for shaping public perception and political engagement, influencing democratic processes in unprecedented ways.
For any society that seeks to achieve a substantial degree of democratic participation, the structure of communication systems has to be enlarged keeping in mind the functioning of the political system. This is imperative for a meaningful debate on the creation of perception. But how is the health of democratic order helpful in minimizing bias or the creation of stereotypical imageries or in closing the gap based on social distance?
This question can be adequately addressed if one can grasp how culture, politics, ethnic background, and socialisation in a media environment influence content. Here, it is important to note that a media person’s understanding of his/her location in the given socio-cultural-political environment is crucial to understanding the creation of flagrant distance which further deepens stereotypes and bias. The role of social media in shaping these perceptions, either by reinforcing or dismantling stereotypes, underscores the need for critical media literacy and responsible digital engagement.