Misinformation is spreading faster than ever with a prime source of it right at your fingertips. Fake news is exploited in order to draw in more attention and views on social media. 

Many Americans get their news through electronic devices, and emerging from that is the spread of news through social media. These posts can be misleading or even flat out false. Social media allows anyone to act as a journalist, sharing their own idea of “news”, which compromises the integrity of their reporting. An example of this was seen when the submersible OceanGate got stranded at the bottom of the ocean. In summer 2023, creators took to TikTok sharing unseen clips of the passengers final moments, which ended up just being other random audios that had no connection to the submersible. 

The more unbelievable a story is, the better it will trend. Deceiving headlines and clickbait stories pull large audiences in, but not everyone on social media thinks to fact check. Fake news can be a divider, separating people by their differences and adding to people’s closed-mindedness. 

Misinformation is a serious issue, but it can be avoided if people become more aware of the news they consume.