In our current society, broadcasting opinions online is not only normalized, but easily digestible for content consumers. When a new opinion is produced, especially if extremely controversial, media consumers often watch “think pieces” from various creators that further builds viewers’ inclination to believe in that opinion. In turn, with so many opinions floating around the internet, heavy media consumers often join the bandwagon of opinions without consulting their own true feelings. This leads many people to believe that an “unpopular opinion” is a thing of the past since you can easily watch an opinion video and click the comments where everyone seems to be agreeing to one consensus.

Additionally, the constant reliance on the internet to craft our opinions often divides social media users against one another and creates what we know as mob mentality. When a claim is disagreed with by the minority, the majority in the situation often retaliate and bash those with an opinion differing from them. Not only does this practice strip us of our autonomy, but it also creates a distorted narrative, known as the false consensus effect.

The false consensus effect leads us to believe that those around us share our beliefs and attitudes, even when our viewpoints are not so common. With media consumers receiving such traumatizing hate, people who share the minority opinion will be hesitant to share their stance. Therefore, those of the majority opinion will continue to flood the comments and boost the posts that align with their own beliefs. This fabricated reality does a great disservice to our sense of community in media-centered spaces and also creates a sense of hierarchy that affects the trajectory of our opinions.

Specifically, on the platform TikTok, our “for you” pages tend to prioritize videos that the algorithm thinks we will like based on our previous interactions on the app. This fact means that some media consumers will never get to hear about alternative opinions on TikTok because of the information that is collected on their behalf.

As a result of this, we should take initiative to do more research outside of the opinions crafted on social media. Our accessibility to the library and conversations with highly educated individuals, like our professors, should encourage us to share our opinions and indulge in healthy debates.