Social Media and Fake News

Social media are interactive computer mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. Some of the common use social networking sites are facebook instagram whatsapp twitter etc. But one of the main draw back of this type of idea in this era is missue of it and sharing of manipulated data. Manipulated data means "Fake News".The word "Fake News" was not a term many people used two year ago but it is now seen as the greastest threat to democracy,free debate and western order. As well as being a favourite term of US president "Donald Trump" it was also named 2017's word of the year raising tension between nations and may lead to regulation of social media.

Fake news  may seems new but the platform used is the only new thing about it. Propaganda has been around for centuries and the social media is the latest means of communication to be abused to spread lies and misfortune. Just like "Fire" which need three things to burn 'oxygen heat and fuel' . Similarly "Fake news" require three different items to succeed- "tools and services ,social network and Motivation."Tools and services" for manipulating data and spreading data with the use of social media platfrom for trageted audience.

Some of the recent examples of this missue is are- In july a rumour that gang of men supposedly abuducting children in central indian state of Jharkhand was spread via whatsapp. It soon mobilised mob of several hundred of people who ended up killing of seven men.But rumours on investigation was turned to fake. It has not only had its imapact on general public but well known world organisation UNESCO was also not left behind this menace. It was rumoured that "Indians and "indian National anthem" was adjuged best by "UNESCO'.Fake news is not just limited to social networking site it has also invaded in some reputed media channel. Just as ins case on reputed india media channel  circulated a story of taht india's renowed novelist "Arundhati Roy' had criticized indian army. All the pundits of nationalist section of society started to lash out Roy. But was the story true absolutely a big no. It was aslo a fake news to create propaganda in public.

Real news and information is increasingly getting buried in spreading of false news and hoaxes. The scale of information with which we bomb our minds is beyound our capacity to equal analyse all to it. What is needed is that educating people of what fake news is having imapct on them by running awareness campaign.And creating penal code for source and people where the  fake news is emmerging.The more streotype are countered the lesser the chance of spreading fake news will be countered.