Many college students, including myself, pride themselves on being open-minded and perceptive to a variety of opinions, ideas and backgrounds. However, when our receptivity is tested in the classroom, we often fail to examine statements that we agree with in the same way we examine those we disagree with. And when faced with disagreement, many students become defensive, hostile and confused as to how someone could think so differently.
Our beliefs are the cornerstones of our identity. Thus, when we are challenged, it can feel personal. When we begin to doubt our views, we become more stubborn instead of considering a change in our perspective. Social media has made it incredibly easy to retreat into our opinions and silence open dialogue in real life. Despite this influence, we need to acknowledge that civil discourse will vanish if we are unable to effectively communicate our ideas in the classroom in a way that others don’t necessarily have to agree with, but can understand.
Driven by social media algorithms, college students become trapped within the tailored feeds specific to their preferences and opinions. These social media echo chambers can not only limit what information students see, but they can also increase political polarization. By only being exposed to people who think like us and engaging with posts that validate our ideas, we are given no chance to engage with opposing viewpoints. Likewise, getting the majority of our political ideology from social media, an increasingly common practice, is comfortable — not reliable…