I Took a Quiz

I took the quiz.

Solid Liberal.

I was surprised.

But at the same time, I wasn’t.

I’d predicted my result based on a few things. First of all, as I’m learning in class, it’s easy to pretty accurately predict how a person will vote based on his or her sex, race, age, education, and other cleavages. As a young, female, first-generation American, I relate to liberal values more than conservative ones, which I associate with unrelatable old white men. And in general, children tend to be more liberal than their parents, regardless of their beliefs.

So the liberal leaning makes sense to me.

However, what really surprised me was how my friend reacted. She was more mixed in her results, and comparing our ideologies, I wondered just why my result was so “extreme.” I don’t think of myself as far left; in fact, just considering that surprises me. My opinions feel casual yet firmly embedded in me. I’ll support a cause based on what I think is right, yet apparently I’m a “Solid Liberal,” a fact I’ve barely thought about until I realized that most people are not. My question is, why do I think the way I do?

The most obvious answer to me is social media.

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and all the other social media many of us use daily work to customize users’ experiences based on what we pay attention to the most. The longer we’re on their sites, the more money the companies make. They don’t care what we’re looking at so long as we’re looking.

Clearly, this has an effect.

Think about it:

Where do most of us voice our opinions?

Where is it easiest to find people who share our values?

Where can we choose to overlook others’s opinions and arguments in favor of those we want to see?

The Internet can be a useful source of knowledge. I read and watch the news every day, so I am up-to-date with the news. The problem is that few sources represent non-politicized facts. I read the news, sure, but it’s often on Twitter, which shows you content based on your recorded preferences. It reports news through tweets, which are usually absolutely drenched in opinion and bias. One news headline on Twitter might be about a recent natural disaster, but the next Twitter Moment will be about the cutest gosh darn puppies you’ll ever see. I turn on the TV to receive news updates, but with such a split nation, CNN and Fox News aren’t exactly the most unbiased sources, and most of the time it seems like either news outlet is attacking the other.

Then there’s Instagram. Its explore feed is meant to cater to your every interest so you’ll spend hours scrolling through it. At first mine was full of memes and animals. It was probably around last year’s presidential election that it transformed into a feminist’s haven. Today, about twenty percent of the first 100 posts on my explore feed were related to politics, all but one in favor of liberal views.

As a seventeen-year-old, I can’t say I’m the most politically conscious person ever, but until recently, I’ve never felt such a huge divide in our nation. It has many people picking sides — to support Trump or be against him? To be full on conservative or liberal? To be Democrat or Republican? To be a “feminazi” or a “neo-Nazi”?

This split has left some people expressing their strongly-worded opinions more and more online. Many others, upon reading an online article, immediately see other readers’ takes on the subject directly below the article, in the comments section.

Some people take some of those comments as fact. Then, they feel the urge to take a side. Then the cycle continues.

Now comes the question you may be asking yourself: How do I avoid such extremes?

It’s easy to fall under the assumption that everyone thinks like we do, and to feel surprised, or even offended, when someone doesn’t. You don’t have to completely change your beliefs just to be neutral, but you shouldn’t blindly follow any half-assed argument you see.

Being self-aware is crucial. Take a step back and ask yourself why you think the way you do. After taking that quiz in class, I reflected on why I’m a “Solid Liberal,” and if stepping back and blindly allowing social media to pick and choose my values for me is the way to go. If you’re truly passionate about a cause, that’s great. If you’re doing it because you aren’t seeing the bigger picture, the one that includes everyone’s perspectives, not the ones cherry-picked by social media companies, then it might be time to find some more news sources.

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