The Two-Step Flow Theory: The ways in how I use this theory in my daily life
Throughout mass communication history, there have been numerous theories developed. However, one theory that is still relevant today is the two-step flow theory, which is when the mass media provides information to opinion leaders before it goes to an audience. Then these opinion leaders go through the information they received from the mass media and pull out information they find critical to then disperse it to an audience. Amy Tizio, a Penn State senior studying Public Relations, states that this theory “expands the understanding of how mass media influences decision making through opinion leaders, how messages will have an effect on their audiences, as well as why certain campaigns succeed in changing audience opinions.”
This theory sounds great, but in reality, can cause many issues. One of the main issues that this theory causes is through the potential of spreading false information. Mr. Sinn, a YouTuber, discusses what the two-step flow theory is in more detail in his video as well as how it can be a part of fake news. This theory is becoming “…more and more prominent in the day of fake news and mistrust of the media, more and more people are getting their news from people they trust and less people are trusting the mass media,” he states.
As someone who has been studying communications during my undergraduate career, my graduate studies, and who grew up with the Internet, there are many things that I consider when scrolling through my social media feeds or believing what is being said throughout various forms of media. The first thing that I do is look into various and reliable sources to see when it was posted, if they quoted other reliable sources correctly, and if other reliable sources also had similar information. Factoring out fake news sources is not easy, but it is something that is essential since it helps with believing if something is true or not.
Next, I like to listen to what other people have to say about what is happening. An example of an opinion leader that people are trusting more and more are social media influencers. People may not consider them to be a reliable source, but I like to listen to a wide variety of different influencers who all are talking about a similar topic to hear what their personal opinions are and can also hear other points that major media sources may not have thought of. Neil Patel, co-founder of NP Digital, posted a graphic that talks about what consumers have to say about influencers and influencer marketing. The one point that stuck out to me was that 68% of consumers trust online opinions from consumers. This can relate to news, product reviews, and more. People are trusting the opinions of others more and more rather than trusting the media in general, which relates back to what Mr. Sinn stated earlier. I am aware that listening to other people’s opinions could potentially influence me, but I am also aware that influencers can potentially spread fake news through click bait content just so they get more views from the public.
Finally, I make my own conclusions and then decide if it is worth it to share my opinion and thoughts on social media. How I decide to share with the world is personally up to me. I see what is going on online and the potential dangers of what others can do, so I usually choose to discuss with people about these topics if it is brought up in conversation. However, if it is something very important to me that I believe I need to share my opinion with others online, then I will write my thoughts down, come back to it in 24–48 hours to read it over to make sure my thoughts are clear, ask others to make sure that what I wrote is not confusing, and then finally share it with the world. This process helps me make sure that I am taking the two-step flow theory in parts and making sure that I am filtering out false information, fake news, and coming up with my own thoughts rather than absorbing someone else’s opinion as my own.
