While scrolling on Instagram reels the other day, I was bombarded with images of Iranian citizens who had lost their lives in between a friend’s celebratory birthday post and Katseye’s performance at the Grammys. Overloaded by these complex issues, I felt a sense of helplessness take over instead of a call to take action.
According to the Pew Research Center, 53% of social media users ages 18-29 say social media proves essential when getting involved with political or social issues that matter to them. While this suggests an increase in awareness of political issues, studies have shown that biased news with a high arousal negative effect is more likely to go viral than balanced news sources. The same study also found an increase in the prevalence of news sources that follow the high-arousal negative content.
“There is some evidence in the research literature suggesting that consuming news on a mobile device where you’re going more rapidly through it does make it more challenging for people to cognitively engage with the same depth that they would if they were consuming on a desktop,” said Natalie Stroud, a professor for the Department of Communication Studies and director for the Center for Media Engagement.
Because national news impacts a larger constituency compared to local issues, social media users are more likely to engage with national or federal content. While engagement with this type of content may create the illusion of a large demographic of fully informed individuals, many may not see content about local policy impact.
Getting involved with groups like Students for a Democratic Society, a progressive organization composed of social activists who fight against conservative changes affecting UT, can help individuals recognize local impact.
“We explicitly try to focus on university-specific issues that students can directly see are locally affecting them,” said Ryan Lowe, a linguistics and mathematics freshman and SDS member. “Currently, our campaign is consolidation, which directly involves professors getting fired, getting pay cuts or having their departments completely dissolved.”
Nowadays, most news outlets use fear-mongering tactics to receive strong engagement. However, SDS’ method of connecting university-level changes to a broader progressive agenda shows how solutions-based media can help combat the “news avoidance” or paralysis that people feel when solutions feel out of reach. By explaining the direct effects on an individual’s day-to-day, these specific changes are more digestible.
“We’ve done some research at the Center for Media Engagement (that shows) there is an appetite for solutions(-based) journalism,” Stroud said. “There is a negative inference that just because moral outrage (in social media) works, everything needs to be of that nature. I don’t think that’s accurate. In fact, I think we have good data to show that other journalistic forms, like solutions journalism, can also have a payoff on social media.”
By focusing on the impact that local initiatives make, we can overcome the helplessness induced by the fast-paced news cycle on social media. When individuals focus on solutions-based messaging with smaller but more achievable goals, it can increase mobilization and motivate a call to action for larger issues in the future.
Chatterjee is a government sophomore from Allen, Texas.