The increased dependence on social media for the coverage of news has been reported to lead to a decline in critical thinking skills.
This is mainly due to the fact that most people are using social media irresponsibly. They blindly consume and digest news without any second thought. This habit eventually leads to more people being coaxed by fake news and may even further worsen its spread. On top of that, the sheer mass of available news on social media and its accessibility enables reliance towards it. Lives that revolve around social media will inevitably grow reliant, and the biased nature of social media will therefore affect the general public in that exact manner. In addition, the fast moving nature of information also leads news to be treated as less of a tool for information and instead more of a trending subject. This causes the plethora of information given to be vague and treated as less urgent a matter than it usually would be in a real-life scenario.
Despite the above-mentioned negative implications, there are steps that can be taken to promote better news consumption. We can start by filtering the news that we come across by double checking to verify its validity. For instance, when certain news go viral, we should make sure it comes from a reliable source and is beyond a mere rumor. Furthermore, lessening the usage of social media is encouraged as to not grow an unhealthy addiction towards it. This will eventually lead people to become less dependent and more sensitized to serious news topics.