Social media has become a major focus for kids, with many spending time on platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. While some kids spend just a few minutes on these apps, others can easily spend hours on them. The amount of time spent on social media can be unhealthy, but it’s not just the time that’s a concern—it’s also the content they consume. Deep fakes, fake news, and misleading content are rampant on social media, and these can easily mislead people, spreading harmful misinformation.
The creators of fake content are getting more sophisticated, with deep fakes becoming increasingly convincing. In the near future, it may be nearly impossible to distinguish real videos from fake ones. As this technology improves, it will make it harder to trust content online, and soon, most of what we see on the internet might be difficult to verify.
This problem isn’t limited to younger generations; even older individuals are being misled by AI-generated content. With advances in AI, tools like ChatGPT are becoming better at generating text that is difficult to differentiate from content written by humans. This makes online articles less trustworthy and more difficult to verify.
Fake content goes beyond AI-generated material. Some people create fake scenarios involving animals to elicit emotional reactions and gain views. For instance, individuals might stage situations where animals appear to be trapped or dirty, only to “rescue” or clean them for the sake of views.
Overall, the fake content consumed by people of all ages can be misleading and harmful. In my opinion, social media does more harm than good, though it’s still an important resource for many. The best thing we can do is be cautious and stay away from fake and misleading content.
Panther Press serves as the voice of the journalism students at Glen Edwards Middle School. The views on this site do not reflect the views of WPUSD or the admin at GEMS. Our goal is to promote student expression and provide a platform for diverse voices and viewpoints within our campus community.