The internet uses blogs to indulge opinionated writers and coach curious leaders. Even though most blogs contain deeply personal and thoughtful content, the content's value cannot be understated as professional bloggers possess sufficient power to influence business decisions and political moves. Despite the blog's significance, while interviewing P.W. Singer and Emerson Brooking on FRESH AIR, Dave Davies indicates that he does not view his country as largely swayed by political opinions promoted through social media accounts ( Davies, 2018 ). However, Singer and Brooking opine that social media blogs are weaponized in ways that alter people's perception of the world, thus their ability to fuel popular uprisings, such as the Arab Spring, and affects the paths taken by popular campaigns and even wars.
According to Singer and Brookings, social media blogs are powerful to the extent of rewriting narratives, gaining leverage, and influencing politics. This was seen in the 2016 elections when an Israeli company manipulated social media through fake online accounts to defeat Donald Trump's rivals during the general elections ( Davies, 2018 ). Another example is illustrated by Brookings when he describes how ISIS fighters used social media to launch their Northern Iraq invasion ( Davies, 2018 ). They propelled propaganda that caused a contagion of fear to sweep through Mosul as they declared their victory.
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Notably, social media has been weaponized because of being a consequential form of communication. Social media's weaponization has caused social media bloggers and content creators to lose the ethical, credible, and authentic attributes over time as they engage in their daily content creation chores ( MOR10, 2009 ). Real social media bloggers and social media content creators should compete with social media's weaponization by realizing their responsibility of being respectful, honest, and fair towards fact and fellow society members ( MOR10, 2009 ). Thus, real bloggers and content creators need to remain true to their codes of ethics by presenting opinions as opinions and facts as facts, knowing that their content will outlast their relevance and their own lifetimes.
References
Davies, D. (2018). The 'Weaponization' of social media — And its real-world consequences . NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2018/10/09/655824435/the-weaponization-of-social-media-and-its-real-world-consequences
MOR10. (2009). Code of ethics for bloggers, social media and content creators . https://mor10.com/code-of-ethics-for-bloggers-social-media-and-content-creators/
