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Week 9 - Social Media & Opinion

How has the online landscape transformed the dynamics of public opinion formation and communication strategies?

The online landscape has actually transformed the dynamics of the public opinion formation and communication drastically over the years. For example, we have changed a lot of how we express our opinions from many decades ago to now. We have social media apps such as Twitter, TikTok, or YouTube. These social media apps allow the public to formulate their opinions with each other. There have also been sites that news channels such as CNN utilize to spread awareness about an issue that happened recently. It allows others to be informed and have a large audience. 
Despite the benefits of the online landscape and its affects on public opinion formation, it does have its cons. When you allow users online to engage with each other, it can lead to the spread of misinformation and negativity. We explored a bit about this in my previous blog post about communication fallacies. 
Using the same Twitter post from my previous blog post as an example, this would be an example of spreading misinformation. There were no information at the time about the shooter's gender identity and it was revealed later on that the shooter was not transgender themselves. There were also no official statistics that backed him up about 98% of the shooters being transgender or being gang-related. This would also be an example of spreading negativity as Alex Jones uses "trans wack job" to spread transphobic rhetoric.
This is where the next question comes in: How do the Narrative Paradigm and Gatekeeping theories apply to these platforms?
The Gatekeeping Theory was developed by Kurt Lewin who explained that information is kept locked away from the public or filtered from the public (think about social media apps' algorithm). It is applied in any online platform and is decided by an AI tool or the person themselves who are creating the content. This can be harmful as gatekeeping can prevent important issues being let out to the public. For example, limiting the knowledge of where a wildfire is can be dangerous. It can also contribute to misinformation online. It also contributes to managing what you see on your feed on social media apps such as TikTok. 

The Narrative Paradigm theory was developed by Walter Fisher. This theory suggests that humans are natural storytellers. This is seen in a lot of areas on online platforms. This utilizes Aristotle's rhetoric especially pathos as it appeals to emotion. This theory on online platform is usually persuasive and can be positive. Examples of these can be a victim sharing their story on online platforms or movements such as Black Lives Matter. 
This video titled, YouTube: Racism and Favoritism, by CoryxKenshin would be a good example of the Narrative Paradigm theory. 
From my own perspective, both of these theories rely on the public's emotions and trust. They tend to create an environment where the public share their views and create emotional connections. It allows people to know what is going on in the world. 

The online landscape is really complex and can be perceived differently as it is not just one person witnessing it, but a large population is. The online landscape is a good tool to communicate with others, to provide opinions, build trust and connections, is beneficial, and can be harmful sometimes. 

References:

CoryxKenshin. (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaHcnPDcUOE

Crusius, T. W., & Channell, C. E. (2016). The aims of argument: A text and reader. McGraw-Hill Education.

Pearson, J. C., Nelson, P. E. (Paul E., Titsworth, S., & Hosek, A. M. (Eds.). (2021). Human communication (Seventh edition.). McGraw-Hill Education.

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