Pessimists outnumber optimists on social media

PUTRAJAYA: These days, the public turns to social media platforms to get information on breaking news.

That is also where they seem to prefer expressing their opinions and venting out their frustations on any issue.

On an open platform like Facebook, Twitter or online forums, such freedom of expression can either result in a healthy debate or heated arguments among users.

Last month, netizens hotly debated the issue of monitoring children’s activities at night, following the death of eight teenage cyclists in Johor Baharu on Feb 18.

While some expressed condolences to the families of the deceased, there were also those who spared no sympathy. The families were instead blamed for allowing their children to go out at night.

Yet there were others who lambasted the driver, accusing her of carelessness. There were also those who played the racial card, eager to stoke racist sentiments.

Lately, the attention has shifted to the murder of the North Korean President’s half-brother, Kim Jongnam. Speculations have been rife on the online sphere, so much so that it has even affected the relationship between Malaysia and North Korea.

Information Technology Youth Movement President Khaireel Azlee Abdul Aziz, 33, explained that there were two types of social media users, namely the optimist and the pessimist.

Both types would express their opinions based on the perception formed by the content creator, he told the audience who attended the “Bicara Ilmu: Pemikiran Media Sosial” talk organised by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia on Feb 21.

“The pessimists usually outnumber the optimists. We can recognise them by their comments on hot issues. They tend to display negativity and will sometimes use foul language,” he said.

A situation as such could be easily manipulated by certain quarters, especially when it comes to issues that involve bribery and corruption, misuse of power or those that require explanation from those in charge, which often takes time.

Khaireel cited the example of the accusation of gambling activities during the Malaysian Agriculture and Horticulture and Agrotourism (MAHA) expo in December, last year.

A competition to guess the weight of a bull turned into an issue that went viral after accusations surfaced of it being a gambling ploy, when what it actually was was a fundraising activity for a club.

“Despite the explanation by its organisers, netizens continued to bash the competition and those involved. They refused to accept the explanation of the organisers due to their pessimistic attitude,” he explained.

Khaireel Azlee also shared an important tip on the goal of social media content providers.

“Social media content providers do not really care about the comments in response to their posts on Facebook, Twitter and other online platforms. They only look at the numbers. This is what they will use to convince potential clients to advertise on their websites or negotiate the price for those interested in buying their pages.”

The “numbers” he meant was the number of likes, comments and shares a post garnered on social media. The higher the number, the more money generated by the manager of such pages.

He therefore advised the public to be wary when receiving a piece of news that has become viral over social media because its contents might have been sensationalised simply to garner more likes.

Khaireel Azlee said one way to identify such articles was by the usage of clickbait images and headlines.

A clickbait is social media content designed to encourage visitors to click on a link, such as eye-catching thumbnail pictures or sensationalist headlines that may be totally irrelevant to the content it is linked to.

He added that social media users must use their discretion to differentiate whether the content was based on facts, opinions or speculations. This would prevent them from falling prey to irresponsible content providers.

In their chase for higher numbers, many social media content providers do not think twice about using sensitive issues as fodder for their posts as a means to provoke reaction from readers.

Readers would then either ‘like’ a post, express their feelings on the matter at the comment section and then share it with their friends on social media.

“Religion, race and culture - these are the three issues that are often used to provoke readers. We call these people cultural provocateurs,” he explained.

These cultural provocateurs usually comprise individuals who identify themselves or those who hide behind anonymity.

“The anonymous ones are the most dangerous because despite their lack of accountability or authority on a subject, their comments are still accepted by other social media users. It has come to a point that people are even looking forward to their comments on current issues,” said Khaireel Azlee, adding that that was how unverified information easily became viral, triggering unwanted chains of events.

Social media content providers do not really care about the comments in response to their posts on Facebook, Twitter and other online platforms. They only look at the numbers. This is what they will use to convince potential clients to advertise on their websites or negotiate the price for those interested in buying their pages.

Khaireel Azlee Abdul Aziz; Information Technology Youth Movement President.