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Social Media represents a platform where anybody can speak their mind, well that's what they tell us. But with all the new Facebook algorithms more and more posts and articles are being censored, Facebook now controls what it wants you to read....This is Freedom of Speech?
It is because I agree with Jack Smithson of NeonNettle l that I stand in Affirmation of today’s resolution that, the use of social media as a news source undermines the marketplace of ideas.
Before I go into the contention level of my case I offer the following definitions:
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
Social Media - defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
News Source is defined as journalism…, or other record or document that gives timely information.
Undermine - Erode the base or foundation
From the website Conservapedia.com:
Market Place of Ideas – A theory that, in a free market of ideas, bad ideas will be subordinated to good ideas in the long run as good idea will win more adherently in the absence of government pressure to adopt one idea.
I offer the following Frame work for this debate:
First, my value for this debate is freedom of speech, as the resolution asks us to examine those institutions in which free speech is vital to insure a free flow of information as it is essential to the marketplace of ideas.
Second, The affirmative will show that social media undermines the freedom of speech and thus undermines the marketplace of ideas. Thus, the Negative must show that social media DOES NOT undermine the market place of ideas.
Contention 1
A.Social Media is big Business Ryan Connors B2C July 28, 2014
The reason social media investments are booming comes down to three core driver: Ecommerce, Customer Lifetime Value and the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT). Simply put, social media marketing allows companies to build an owned following and have the ability to reach out to customers without interrupting them like a radio commercial would. This reality is why social media cannot be matched by mediums like PPC, SEO or content marketing alone.
Social media now even allows companies to sell products beyond their websites and on Facebook or Twitter, a revolution for ecommerce and a great reduction in friction for conversions and sales. Social is growing into a powerful tool, and in the right hands, it produces both short and long term value for businesses.
B. Facebook can control its content as reported by Erin Griffith from Get Wired Magazine September 26, 2017
This echoes Facebook’s own defense against the rising backlash it faces. If Facebook is beholden to algorithms, it cannot be held fully responsible for the activity on its network. Announcing new tools last week to police things like Russia’s purchase of political ads, CEO Mark Zuckerberg s...
