We live in a digital world where every headline begs for clicks. Whether you spend five minutes or five hours on social media, you’ll come across a multitude of punchy headlines over graphics that depict a breaking news story. Social media can create polarizing environments that leave little room for gray. We often default to taking online content at face value, which lends itself to a black-and-white type of thinking that doesn’t take the full picture into account.
Short infographics tend to make generalizations, exaggerate or include false statements. 25% of people claim they “often” turn to social media as their news source. However, a lot of social media content leads to misinterpretation. Maintaining a “both/and” mindset when reading news on social media is more important than ever.
Here’s an example: You see a headline that says, “Study Shows Drinking Coffee Daily Increases Heart Attack Risk.” Your first reaction might be panicked–every cup of coffee you’ve had flashes before your eyes. You start wondering if your morning routine will need to change now that coffee has been deemed bad for your health. Headlines like this are meant to be shocking–and while they might be vaguely based on new research, ask yourself, Do I know the source of this study? Could this headline be making a generalization? What other context might I be missing?
Oftentimes, sweeping statements like that headline are not as conclusive as they appear. By doing more research, a more nuanced perspective might emerge. Here are some examples of what applying a both/and perspective might look like for understanding this headline:
- Correlations have been made between high caffeine intake and increased heart issues, and it is unlikely that coffee would be the sole cause of a heart attack without other contributing factors.
- There is both a new study that found evidence of coffee increasing heart attack risk, and when doing additional research, multiple other studies provide conflicting evidence.
- Coffee was correlated to increased heart attack risk for participants in this study, and the research was only conducted on one small group of people who had various underlying health conditions.
- Coffee is a healthy antioxidant and contains a stimulant that should be consumed with caution. Both have different effects on people depending on their body chemistry.
If both/and statements were published headlines, maybe the headlines would be less click-worthy, but they would be painting a more truthful picture. We can all fall into the trap of believing half-truths on social media; it’s hard to avoid. Remember that it’s a very human response to take things at face value; however, before you text all of your friends this breaking coffee news, take a moment to pause and make room for the both/and. Not only will it reduce your own anxiety–it will help contribute to a more informed and truthful social media landscape.
