Whenever I scroll on social media, I typically comment on posts that I agree with or seem a little off to me. I ask questions in the comments section to better understand it or, just leave my thoughts around it.
I also like or love any post that I think is worth more attention. The posts that may help other people thrive better in life are what I usually share, like, or love.
In some of the articles that I read, it came to my attention that what I am doing may be a result of my bias. I totally agree with it and that could be another prejudice on my part, however reading through the article made me understand a little bit more of my behavior on social media.
And, we are all guilty of this. Our tendency to agree on things we read and watch is a result of our perception bias. This is also an accumulation of our experiences and the influence around us. There is a saying, “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” It is very simple and I think it is more than that.
To better understand perception bias and its relation to our behavior on social media, here is what Bing AI has to say about it.
What is perception bias
Perception bias is a type of cognitive bias that affects how we perceive and interpret information based on our beliefs, expectations, or emotions. It can cause us to form inaccurate or distorted impressions of ourselves, others, or situations. Perception bias can influence our decision-making, communication, and relationships. Some examples of perception bias are:
Visual perception bias: When we see optical illusions or ambiguous images, our brains use visual cues or prior experience to make sense of them. For example, we might see a vase or two faces in the same image.
Confirmation bias: When we seek out or interpret information that confirms our existing beliefs or hypotheses, and ignore or discount information that contradicts them. For example, we might only read news articles that support our political views.
Stereotype bias: When we judge people or groups based on generalized assumptions or prejudices, rather than individual characteristics or facts. For example, we might assume that women are more emotional than men, or that older workers are less productive than younger ones.
Perception bias can be reduced by being aware of our own biases, seeking out diverse perspectives and sources of information, challenging our assumptions and stereotypes, and asking for feedback from others.
Okay. That seems generic and not really understandable. I’ll try to break it down and use some real-world scenarios to explain it better, all using my experience on social media.
How we perceive
Perceive is defined by Google Dictionary as “become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.” It has two meanings: The first one is to notice through our senses (as explained by Cambridge Dictionary) and the second one is to attain awareness or understanding (which is from Merriam-Webster Dictionary). We’ll focus on the second one and how is it related to our biases on social media.
We become aware of things and come to understand them based on our past experiences, our expectations, and our emotions. Once it is known to us, our interpretation and understanding start to take over and our brains pull similar or related information in our head to help us absorb the meaning. This process is the most efficient way our brains process information for us to survive the world we live in.
Since it is pulling from our past history to help us understand what we read in the present, it is safe to say that our perception bias always take over when we go scroll through social media.
For example, you will see memes about salary not being enough or about a person or cartoon showing quitting from work because the pay is low but the work is too much. If you are in the lowest part of the organization or company you work for, you would probably be inclined to like and comment. However, if you have never worked your entire life, you mostly ignore it and just keep scrolling.
Another example would be about the articles, blogs, and books that we read. It becomes really difficult to understand the words, principles, theories, and arguments being presented without any prior experience. You are possibly not inclined to read anything that the title does not interest you just simply because you have not experienced it.
If you are not an alcoholic or do not know anyone who drinks a lot, or you yourself do not drink, you will not read or like an article about Alcoholics Anonymous.
Mostly, you’ll just be going through reels and videos on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram enjoying people who dance, make funny videos, and talk about anything that you yourself have experienced or, seems paradoxical, posts that start to interest you and build a piece of historical information in your head.
How to avoid
There are a couple of ways we can avoid perception bias and numerous articles have been written about it. For me, there is one thing we could do to at least minimize it. It would be nearly impossible to avoid it completely as we gain experiences and gain knowledge, it becomes a paradox and a loop.
Since it is a loop, then the only way is to expand the circle. By continually gaining new information, new experiences, and new skills, the core where our bias is based becomes larger. This would in effect help us better understand what is presented to us, react accordingly, and become a better person. Our brains will always try to connect all the information that we have in our heads and disregard anything that we do not need. The more we understand, the bigger the circle becomes.
Read. Read a lot. Even at the start it does not seem to interest you, try to understand what is being said without any prejudice. Read other things. Try to look for similar things. Well, once you spend one topic on social media, its algorithm will give you more of it. So that would not be a difficult task.
Be exposed to new ideas. New ideas for you not for the world. It does not hurt to learn something new. It will only make you better. And once you have done this, you will notice that it would not be very difficult for you to understand and maybe agree with what you see on social media.
Leave a Reply