Knowing the Dangers of Speaking Out in the Modern Era

In recent years, there seems to be less apprehension about voicing one’s opinions on public platforms.

Interestingly, social media provides every human being with internet access, an opportunity to promote “their cause” worldwide in seconds. While this would idealistically create an atmosphere where all ideas held by the majority or minority are treated equally, current data contradicts this presupposition.

The spiral of silence was a theory introduced in 1974 that has been used to explain how individuals decide when and where to share their sentiments.

It states human beings concerned with the fear of isolation will regularly monitor their circumstances to evaluate whether their beliefs align or contrast with the majority opinion (Noelle-Neumann, 1993).

A result of constant assessment means thoughts not held by most people are less likely to get shared (Matthes, 2015).

Data consistently displays a negative relationship between one’s perception regarding the favorability of their viewpoint and willingness to speak out on microblogging sites, like Twitter (Miyata, Yamamoto, & Ogawa, 2015), and social networking sites, like Facebook (Gearhart & Zhang, 2015; Jang et al., 2014).

The consequences for going against popular opinions have been steep at times.

For some, what started out online leads to significant changes offline. Many folks have ended relationships, lost their employment, and faced incarceration for attempting to popularize their beliefs on the internet.

Indeed, plenty of these individuals deserve to deal with the impact of their choices.

However, we have all observed those with disliked but not vindictive positions face considerable vitriol from those who oppose them. Diversity of ideas will definitely decrease in this kind of climate.

As romantic as people make thinking out loud today, there is an underbelly to the topic that gets ignored.

You can preach to the choir if your thought process reflects what the masses believe. Anything outside the purview of popular culture faces potential severe backlash and social punishment.

Those who want to critique the modern mentality should employ a strategy around sharing information.

Emulating “the bull in a china shop” online will probably not work out well for folks. Better to make an appropriate judgment about how and what you want to communicate in a public space.

As empirical evidence has already shown, the repercussions of giving an honest assessment on social media sites can be a heavy price to pay personally and professionally.

References:

Gearhart, S., & Zhang, W. (2015). “Was it something I said?” “No, it was something you posted!” A study of the spiral of silence theory in social media contexts. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, pp. 18, 208–213.

Jang, S. M., Lee, H., & Jin, P. Y. (2014). The more friends, the less political talk? Predictors of Facebook discussions among college students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17, 271–275.

Matthes, J. (2015). Observing the “spiral” in the spiral of silence. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, pp. 27, 155–176

Miyata, K., Yamamoto, H., & Ogawa, Y. (2015). What affects the spiral of silence and the hardcore on Twitter? An analysis of the nuclear power issue in Japan. American Behavioral Scientist, 59, 1129–1141.

Noelle-Neumann, E. (1993). The spiral of silence: Public opinion — Our social skin (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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