In the example we saw in our text, where people from different countries were placed on an island alone together became friends. All was well until newspapers were dropped off. After reading about hostilities in Europe, the islanders became at war with each other.(Coutts et al., 2016)
If you have noticed anything happening around you the past few years, you could see there is a huge political divide. The media can be at fault for this. A Report by New York University’s Stern School of Business sheds light on the relationship between tech platforms and the kind of extreme polarization that can lead to the erosion of democratic values and partisan violence. While Facebook, the largest social media platform, has gone out of its way to deny that it contributes to extreme divisiveness, a growing body of social science research, as well as Facebook’s own actions and leaked documents, indicate that an important relationship exists. Although Facebook owners deny that they play a role in the divisiveness, a range of experts have concluded that the use of social media contributes to partisan animosity in the U.S. (Barrett et al., 2022)
We can see in our personal lives how the media has created divides among our peers. We see friends feuding and or no longer speaking to each other over their political beliefs. Facebook has even gone as far as “facebook jail” for offenders posting things that go against their political agenda. News stations will broadcast different views and will bash other reporting stations. We now not only do we see our peers behaving unkindly,but we see our leaders doing this to each other as well. I wonder if it will ever end and we will close the divide.
Barrett, P., Hendrix, J., & Sims, G. (2022, March 9). How tech platforms fuel U.S. political polarization and what government can do about it. Brookings. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/09/27/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polarization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/
Coutts, L. M., Gruman, J. A., & Schneider, F. W. (2016). Applying social psychology to the media. In Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. essay, SAGE Publications.