The Vicious Cycle of History Repeats Itself: Does the impending oligopoly of social media have potential to become as much an influence over its publics as newspaper and television has in the past?

Media’s presence in today’s society plays a big role on how things are perceived nowadays. It surrounds us and our everyday thoughts and actions, through the television shows we watch, the music we listen to, and our use of the Internet. With the media becoming embedded in our modern day society, we have now adapted to its various ways of carrying out different tasks and retrieving information. With our lives now virtually dependent on media and technology, it is becoming more and more difficult to picture our day-to-day activity without it.

      The media today includes television, radio, film, newspaper, magazines, and the Internet and its various forms. The progressive form media has taken on today has caused us to center it in our decision making process. It effects how we gather, process, and distribute information. Television, radio, and Internet reach mass amounts of different types of audiences so I would have to say these media outlets are of most influence. The media now has the ability to persuade and expose mass amounts of audiences to different issues in the world. 

Growing Internet outlets such as Facebook, blogs, and the ever so popular Twitter have given people access to quick and simplified information or communication with another at the touch of a button. In the beginning, new forms of media can be very helpful to us as a people. The media and its different outlets accomplish an array of things for us. It saves us students plenty of time in researching. It helps us as citizens stay aware of what’s going on around the world, in our society, and with our government. 

Amongst an immeasurable list of things, the media’s current state ultimately simplifies life for us as we know it, but this can be a threat to the freedom, fairness, and accuracy of it as well. Various occurrences in the history of media will prove to show that with the formation of an oligopoly of the industry, comes a rise to the one in power’s pockets but a setback to not only the freedom, fairness, and accuracy of the industry, but to the consumer. A prime example of this is the oligopoly of the industry held by sellers like Disney, CBS, Comcast, Time Warner, and Rupert Murdoch.  In recent years, the question of Rupert Murdoch’s FOX news corporation’s fairness and accuracy has increased. His corporation has hurt reputations on a bias basis yet it remains one of the most popular news stations and continues to sway a mass of people’s opinions. This is similar to what already occurs with social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. Everyone from your “average Joe” to celebrities to the president of the United States have a Twitter account. The immediacy and overwhelming popularity of Twitter has hurt many reputations in the past. People have tweeted very incriminating statements that have the potential to ruin careers or the reputation of others. For example, Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner lost his position after a Twitter controversy this past summer. Imagine if FOX News Corporation had the opportunity to take over Twitter and regulate as they do on their cable network? Significant events such as the presidential election would be greatly affected considering a wide range of age groups now depend on Twitter as one of their prominent sources of information.  Nowadays, a reputation could be ruined at the click of a mouse. Opinions can be swayed by a simple Facebook post or advertisement. Solid facts aren’t even necessary anymore on social media forums. With the option of “re-tweeting” or reciprocating one’s post, information, whether it is fair or accurate, has the potential to reach millions in a matter of minutes. If the social media industry becomes an oligopoly, it could be the end of fair and accurate reporting.           

The constant flow of information in today’s society is necessary for the formation and development of people’s ideas and opinions. However, media’s allowance of freedom and accuracy is definitely important as well. With the rise of oligopolies in the social media industry, freedom and accuracy will become a thing of the past.