Framed by the Feed: How Social Media shapes our opinions

Ahana Majumder, EOI, 23 May 2025 : Today, we cannot imagine our life without social media. Instagram, Facebook, X, WhatsApp, and other such platforms have become integral parts of our lives. Social media has connected people all across the globe. It has undoubtedly made the world smaller and more easily accessible.

People can voice their opinions, ideas, and views with the whole world and also learn new things. We can speak to people from different parts of the world with different cultures and beliefs. Since we can easily see the happenings in different parts of the world and raise our voice against any injustice, we can say that, in a way, social media has empowered us.

But everything has its own pros and cons. Today, we are so much dependent on social media that it strongly influences the way we think, feel, and act.

Most of us today are familiar with YouTube, Instagram reels, and other such platforms that provide information about different incidents occurring in the world. Unfortunately, not all social media users understand why we see what we see. This is because they do not have a comprehensive idea of the social media algorithm. A social media platform, like Instagram, takes into account what kind of content one is viewing and how long one spends on it. 

Then, only similar kinds of posts are suggested, and the unaware users often feel it is the only truth.

Another important factor here is that generally, emotional, extreme, and polarized content spreads faster. More than fact-checked posts, it is fake news that spreads like wildfire over social media. This type of content increases hatred, generates extreme reactions, and often appears more frequently on a person’s social media feed. If someone keeps viewing such posts, a pattern is eventually formed. These algorithms show us what we already believe, thus strengthening bias and limiting exposure.

A person who does not know how social media works ends up becoming a puppet of the manipulation. This process ultimately filters out opposing views, and seeing the same ideas continuously strengthens one’s belief. But as one becomes extremely rigid and stops accepting other’s opinions, the practice of thinking critically eventually dies. Everyone gets stuck in their own “personalized feeds,” and their minds are radicalized. Since the algorithm prioritizes engagement over actual truth, sensational and extreme content gets more attention. This spreads a lot of misinformation, which ultimately leads to rifts, hatred, and mistrust that ends up dividing people.

Unfortunately, this filtered social media has become more like a room where everyone sounds the same and no one questions. It is an “echo chamber” that constantly reassures that one’s opinions about everything are absolutely right. As these echo chambers continue to spread the same lies repeatedly, they begin to sound believable and like universal truth. We become so habituated to hearing the same views over and over again that people with different opinions start to seem wrong or even dangerous. This is what creates a dangerous “Us Vs Them” divide. Not many social media users are aware of how harmful these echo chambers can be. They can lead to political polarization, communal unrest, violence, riots, and spread immense hatred.

Social media is designed in such a manner that it feels natural and personal. Over time, we stop questioning and exploring. We just keep scrolling. We blindly accept everything that our “feed” feeds us with. It simply shows us what we already believe, in a loop, and ultimately the opposing voices fade. In a way, social media has blindfolded us. We are so comfortable in our bubble that we no longer want to know the actual truth. We are so convinced not only because we are right but also because we don’t want to hear any other opinion other than ours. We are almost at a stage where our social media feed reinforces our beliefs, triggers our emotions, and controls our actions—just like a puppet on strings.

Healthy disagreement is the backbone of a strong and stable society, and today, we are almost on the verge of losing it. Hence, we must follow voices different from ours. We have to remember that just because someone has a view different from ours, it doesn’t necessarily imply that the person is wrong or brainwashed. As responsible people, we must verify everything before we believe it blindly and share it with others.

Everything that “feels” true is not always the truth. We must keep in mind that social media is meant for empowering us, not controlling us. Social media is a brilliant servant but a terrible master, and if we do not start questioning the feed, we may soon stop realizing the difference between truth and the “fabricated truth” that is being shown. 

(Views of the author are personal)