Fake news

Fake news is a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional news media or social media. Digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news, or yellow journalism. The news is then often reverberated as misinformation in social media but occasionally finds its way to the mainstream media as well.

• Fake news was not a term many people used four years ago, but it is now seen as one of the greatest threats to democracy and free debate. Fake news is not a new phenomenon. Misinformation has been used by governments for ages to control public opinions for generations.
• The rampant misuse of social media platforms to spread fake news has been a global cause for concern for misinformation shared through WhatsApp messages influences the voters.
• Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google are also under intense pressure to do everything they can to prevent their platforms being misused and manipulated, and to stop the spread of fake news.
• Fake news does not make a person change his beliefs. Fake news only reinforces the existing political ideas and beliefs and brings out the worst impulses within us.
• Fake news is only a catalyst, the demon is within ourselves. 
• People tend to assume new technologies will make it harder to manipulate the truth. In reality, new technologies — from photography to the Internet — open up new avenues for faking.
• In India three major factors drive political behavior: security, public goods and economic patronage. Security issues is not just threats of violence against your family or caste, but also about your civil rights, access to police and legal institutions. The lack of people from lower castes in courtrooms and police station has always been a barrier for dalits to get justice.
• There are lot of poor, upper caste people who are not getting any govt benefits. They feel aggrieved and that is where the fake news comes in. Political parties like the BJP are using this predisposed belief of being 'left out' to get people to vote for them.
• BJP is pushing extremely violent messages in their WhatsApp groups, because those things work in getting their voters to the polling booth. They are targeting people who are going to vote for BJP anyway. On the other hand Congress and other parties, which are trying to stitch together much larger coalitions, have a much harder job. 
• With increased accessibility to smartphones and internet, the dissemination of fake messages has become more decentralised and harder to monitor. The government is freaking out because they can no longer control it.
• At present the BJP has the first mover's advantage. BJP is more organised and can influence people -- at least motivate their own voter to go to the polls by sharing something racist or bigoted. Every political party is trying to do the same thing. Once they catch up, the influence of fake news will wear out. 
• Pushing fake news for power & profit, promising to tickle the soured and stale addictions many have developed to deflection, deception and denial is the domain of disreputable organizations. 
• Purveyors of deflection, deception and denial play on people's weaknesses, their cultivated thirst for contentious reporting, their inability to apply critical thinking and practice the proven ability to evaluate their sources of media before positions are assumed and actions are taken. All of this dysfunction, based on faulty information provided/collected.
• Nations have been compromised and wars, some of them world wars, are started when propaganda is permitted to advance, unchecked. Lying for a profit is right up there with prostitution, drug running and gun trafficking in terms of profitability and this harmful practice has been around just as long. 

Social media greatly impacts society

Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the web. Social media has tremendous impact on culture, business, politics, socialization with some negative effects such as cyber bullying and privacy.

• Social websites have played an important role in many elections in many countries.
• Companies are using social media to advertise their products, to enhance brand image and popularity which costs nothing.
• Social networks offer the opportunity for people to re-connect with their old friends and acquaintances, make new friends, trade ideas, share content and pictures etc. 
• Users can stay abreast of the latest global and local developments, and participate in campaigns and activities of their choice. 
• Professionals use social media to enhance their career and business prospects. 
• Students can collaborate with their peers to improve their academic proficiency and communication skills.
• Social networks is the choice for the bloggers, article writers and content creators.
• Social networking sites is to unite people for the achievement of some specific objective to bring the positive change in society.
• There are a some downsides too to social networking. 
• Many introverts and socially reclusive users place too much emphasis on virtual interaction, and ignore the real world outside. 
• If you are not careful, unscrupulous people can target you for cyber bullying and harassment on social sites. School children, young girls, and women can fall prey to online attacks which can create tension and distress. 
• Social media or network could lead to addiction. Spending countless hours on the social sites can divert the focus and attention from a particular task. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students. 
• Many companies have blocked social networks on their office internet as addicted employees can distract themselves on such sites, instead of focusing on work. 
• Kids can be greatly affected by these social networking sites. Sometimes people share photos on social media that contains violence and sex, which can damage the behavior of kids and teenagers. 
• What you post on the Net can come back to haunt you. 
• Revealing personal information on social sites can make users vulnerable to crimes like identity theft, stalking, etc. 
• Many companies perform a background check on the internet before hiring an employee. If a prospective employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can drastically affect their chances of getting the job. 
• Our loved ones and friends may get to know if we post something undesirable on social networks.
• Even with the tight security settings your personal information may leak on the social sites. Downloading your videos or pictures and copying your status is an easy task.
• Social media has its above mentioned advantages and drawbacks. 
• Anther disadvantage of social media is the low control of the integrity of posted information.
• It is up to each user to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure they do not fall victim to online dangers.

Not disputing anything, it leans heavily in favor of the positives. Social media is greatly implicated in increased depression, feelings of isolation and loneliness, spreading of false information, creation of "echo chambers", break down of inter-personal communication skills, break down of intimate relationships and cause of broken friendships/ relationships. Social media  is a prime catalyst of social decay with unquantifiable negative impact.