Kevin Curry

[Commentary] Because social media is so young, political science hasn’t fully explored the political implications of how citizens use it to get news. Research has found that consuming news makes people more likely to vote. In theory, democracy should benefit from the presence of more information sources. But we don’t know yet exactly how social media influences its consumers. Here are three things to think about as you read your social feed.

1. More and more people rely on social media for news and information.
2. Despite its growing popularity, social media’s influence on political participation remains unclear.
3. Gathering political information via social media brings an increased risk of digesting information from questionable sources.

[Kevin Curry is the director of integrated media at Linfield College]