In the wake of last week's election we've all been talking about the phenomenon of the social media echo chamber. There is a widespread belief that the immediacy of illegitimate news spreading on social media led to Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States.
It's already been proven that fake news spreads like wildfire and worse, people don't fact check. It's lead Google to ban fake news sites from using its advertising network to make money, and while Facebook has followed suit, the social media website has come under fire for refusing to pull fake news all together.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Facebook made it clear that it will no longer make their advertising tools available to sites that peddle fake news, which could mean a loss of revenue for other websites that promote those stories but is that enough?
There is reportedly a difference of opinion within the Zuckerberg empire where many believe the social media giant must eliminate fake news all together. If these reports are true (it would be perfectly ironic if they were fake), employees at Facebook are already making the efforts to pull fake news from site with or without the blessing of the company.
Fake news shouldn't be allowed to spread just to gain traffic. It's clearly misinforming people and has allowed politicians to fuel campaigns based on fear. It's time we drained the social media swamp and pushed for a more fair representation of reality on social media. Let's step out of the echo chamber.