Bias in Mass Media Is an Acute Problem Today

“...When social media is manipulated to show bias and facts that are not so true, there becomes a problem. Social media, when used in a negative way, can have major repercussions.” (Graubart, par. 10). Bias in the media [social, and otherwise] is a rampant problem of this technologically-involved day. Can we fully trust any news source to give us, the people, the honest two sides of the very self same coin? If so, where can we find it? In this work I want to and will focus and hone in on one particular medium where one this day-in-age might find news, and heavily biased news, at that: Snapchat. Anything from celebrity happenings to the newest of memes, crazy stunts to fun facts, the domain is riddled with news articles that have nothing but liberal origin and intent.

The popular social media platform, Snapchat, has an extremely apparent political agenda: Feed its whopping 186 million users (as of Q4 2018) (Snapchat Statistics, Par. 5) left-leaning content; and not much else. In this paper I hope to bring a little light to this particular subject. In the “discover” section of the app used to find news, general current info, and adverts, users are granted access to a wide variety of subjects to read from.

Dragging the President of the United States Donald Trump throught the mud, where he has been constantly libeled, talking about and encouraging pre-marital sexual relations, and normalizing the abhorrent and murderous practice of abortion, it is not up for debate where on the political spectrum Snapchat firmly plants its foundation. While these topics are inherently not conservative, this does not mean everyone who has participated in/with them is a liberal. While it might not look like it at first glance, Snapchat and their news, ads, and articles is politically biased - something not conducive to actual news.

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Since its release on the app store and google play store in 2011, the current social media giant, Snapchat, has been doing its best to be up and keep up with the “big dogs” of social media like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook in the world online. The basis of the app is/was to share photos that disappear eventually. The app has evolved into a “story” sharing platform in 2013, right before its popularity boost in 2014, letting users share a picture or video recording to all of their following that lasts 24 hours. In 2015, however, the app received the function we know today as “Discover”. This aptly named “Discover” area is used as a space to advertise and promote, to inform and to entertain. Most often, these are shared as “Stories” and users can rifle through articles, videos, pictures, among other media.

In his article, “Snapchat News: Why does liberal media rule Snapchat?” author Brenden Miller steps up to home plate and hits the fastpitch with: “Some of these stories are simply entertainment but many are Opinionated articles written from a liberal POV that could mislead the common user” (Miller, Par.3). This is true. As of March 2019, Snapchat boasted a whopping statistic that they: “reached 90 percent of all 13-24 year-olds and 75 percent of all 13-34-year-olds in the U.S” (The Top 10, par. 5). Everyone- most everyone knows/might agree that 13-24 year olds are extremely impressionable and have a tendency to sway with the pressure of their peers or what they see, hear, and partake of in the media. How many of these people are being fed one side of the political story and running with it? Sources say, an astounding amount, but perhaps we cannot know… yet.

“Snapchat may be a smart way to inform young audiences about a candidate's platform…” (Lapowsky, Par. 7) This argument makes sense, but if there is no report on both sides of an issue, how can one make informed decisions on a candidate, or for controversial topics? The answer- you cannot. “So far this year, Snapchat has carried about 1,200 political ads in the U.S...” (North, par. 13).

With 75% of its users being under the ripe young age of 34, and 90% of its users being between the ages of 13 and 24 (Snapchat by the Numbers, pts.1 & 2) , the media platform accesses a large demographic of impressionable, involved, and youthful people, most of whom have the right and ability to vote! By the testimonials of [surveyed] users, 41% of US teens say Snapchat is their preferred social media platform (Preferred Social Networks, p.1). With astonishing numbers like these, biased media is reaching thousands of readers’ minds and warping, shifting their opinions. While ads are bought space, Snapchat should strive to have both sides of the political spectrum to promote choice making and accurate news.

Snapchat itself has something to say on the issue: “At Snap we strive to create a safe, transparent, and trusted platform for our users. Our Political and Advocacy Ads Library is one of the many efforts we’ve taken in doing that. This gives the public an opportunity to find out details about all political and advocacy advertising running on our platform.” (Snap Political Ads Library, p. 1).

Snapchat here states they do not have nor do they stand for political bias in its featured media; in fact, they unmistakably and boldly claim that they are “safe”, “trusted”, and “transparent”. On the apps Political & Advocacy Advertising policies page, we are told how the social media figure maintains its trustworthiness pertaining to political adverts. While this may be true, in many user experiences it is found to be only half-true. While not a credible source, one Reddit user with the alias Jackleboyle questions in a public online forum: “Why does fox news not have a discover page on snapchat?” (Jackleboyle, p.1).

This is just ONE example of a real person wanting snapchat to promote more news content on the conservative side, as well. It simply is not having enough conservative content for its many users. With a quick search of “Conservative Snapchat Stories” on Google you don’t have an east time finding a single article (Google Search, p.1). Why is this? Why can we not see the other side of the fence? Searching terms on the built-in Snapchat search bar terms such as “right-wing”, “conservative”, and “republican” bring up meager results.

A couple of accounts with the words ingrained in their names, and maybe a story or two. Do the same thing but with antithetical searches such as: “Left-wing”, “liberal”, and democrat” and you’ll be pleased (or not) to find a whole slew of articles, accounts, stories, advertisements, and so on. “Snapchat empowers self-expression, including about politics” (Snap Political & Advocacy, Par. 1). How can this official Snapchat statement be one-hundred percent true when all we are fed on the app is liberal propaganda?

In my own experience, I have seen nothing but liberal media on my Snapchat account. I can't say that I'm ultimately unbiased on this subject as I consider myself to be a conservative person, but I like to see that I have more than one option available. I would much rather see both points of view represented than just even my own. Having only one option limits what I can think and know about specific issues. Nigh upon every article I've seen on Snapchat having to do with political issues such as gun control, abortion, immigration, has been on the left side of things. This is completely fine, however, I would like to see just as much right - wing media as I do for the left. I would like to know what's going on in the political Arena and be able to choose for myself after reading, viewing, watching, seeing and otherwise partaking of both sides to every issue.

Connecting all of these various dots on how biased snapchat truly is, I have come to see that my thesis has been fully supported. Snapchat, through all of its “efforts” to be unbiased and transparent is extremely biased. It is a severely liberal, left-wing-centric social media platform that does no justice in informing its users of all of the options out there for them to have.

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