At San Luis Obispo High School, most students have some kind of social media they use. Whether it be Instagram, YouTube, Google, or Pinterest, social media has become a big part of how students learn about the outside world. However, the media is not the reliable source some people think it is.

  In general, social media can be a difficult place to navigate. All of the gossip and drama that students find on social networks may feel overwhelming. Some students don’t know what to think of these social networks because of it. 

  “Oh, it’s nice, I guess,” said sophomore Sofi David. David is someone who has had social media for about a month.

  In addition, social networks are often the best places to spread rumors and false accusations. Celebrity deaths are some of the most common rumors out there, with memes and posts that can trick a fan. This makes one of the most incredible parts of social media is the fact that there is no filter. 

  “People can say and post whatever they want. There are no rules as to what you post and where,” said sophomore Karliana White. 

  Finding out what is true on social media is a big challenge. Especially when multiple networks try to cover one topic. It is almost impossible to discover what those networks leave out or add in. It makes the media have questionable credibility. 

  For example, when covering US House Representative Eric Swalwell’s accusations of President Donald Trump’s betrayal over the famous phone call with the president of Ukraine, two news outlets made their biases very clear. 

  Fox News seemed to be defending Trump using words such as “alledly” and put quotation marks over betrayed. CNS News, however, doesn’t make much effort to come to Trump’s defense.

  Since the media itself isn’t reliable, students need to find some other way to find credibility.     

  “Find multiple credible sources online that say the same thing as what I found on social media,” said sophomore Stella McSween.

  The fact that searching up multiple sources is the best way to confirm credibility from the media proves that there is no credibility in the first place. There is no point in trying to get reliable information from social media since it usually isn’t true. Social media is very unreliable and should not be listened to unless it is fact checked.