Proposal

          Social media has created a world of connectivity. Through Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media sites, we are able to share information with the rest of the world almost instantly.  Although this sounds like a great way to interact with the world, it has a few fallbacks. One of the fallbacks I have noticed with social media is the fact that even though you can spread positive information with the rest of the world, the same can be done with false information and rumors. With social media, rumors can be spread faster than ever with very few repercussions to those who spread them.

In my documentary I would like to study the effects social media has on rumors.  I feel like rumors and false information can be spread much easier and to many more people through social media than it can be done through word of mouth. Social media makes it easier to spread rumors because it can all be done by simply “sharing” a status or clicking “retweet.” As soon as you share or tweet this information it becomes accessible to the rest of the world, whereas spreading it by word of mouth is only received by the person who hears the information.

            People can be very hurt by rumors and I believe social media has only made it easier for cyber bullies to hurt others. Cyber bullying is a rapidly increasing problem and spreading rumors is one of the biggest types of cyber bullying. I think by studying the effects of spreading rumors through social media can help us understand how it works and how it affects those involved.

            I wish to interview several people about their thoughts on the issue. I plan on finding people who have been negatively affected by the spreading of rumors and also those that have helped spread rumors by either “sharing” on Facebook or “tweeting” on Twitter. I plan on finding posts that exemplify my theory and using videos of my interviews to understand how my fellow students feel about this issue.