Social Media and Suppression of the Human Voice

Psychological ramifications and solutions to groupthink

“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.” Albert Einstein

Since I wrote my last article, I have been engaged in many conversations about the controversy around the HBO documentary on Michael Jackson. There have been many differing opinions discussed on social media.

For instance, Oprah Winfrey used the issue to showcase the very important matter of sexual abuse and Maureen Dowd opined, “If you want to know what really happened at Neverland, watch this documentary”. Yet, Michael Jackson’s biographer Mike Smallcombe questioned the truth of the documentary. He provided documentation to prove that the train station in which the alleged victims said they were abused was not even built at the time of the abuse that they said occurred here. And Macaulay Culkin defended Michael Jackson’s character, having spent a lot of time with him.

These differing opinions help us all assess social media opinions more critically. And if we happen to only come across one-sided views we are at risk of groupthink.

What are the risks of groupthink? And how does this impact our brains and the ways in which we think?