Social Media has opened the door to unfettered, extended communication – a rich frontier for an unregulated interplay of ideas. It also provides a playground for uneducated, under-informed rumor mongers and gossip fabricators bent upon upgrading the tried and true methods of the past (whispered lies, faxed inaccuracies, phoned innuendos) with the technology of today.

Add to the mix the power of Optimization (SEO) inherent in well maintained social media sites and you have two possible formulas. One is to provide the world with an intelligent alternative to long hours of research and long-distance correspondence and heavy lifting (as in paper-based media). The other is to open the Pandora’s Box of opportunity for the unchecked destructive campaigns of the aforementioned truth killers.

Take for instance the current presidential campaign as a prime example in this country of both sides of this Social Media coin.

When else in our history have we as a voting population been able to completely vet candidates on their voting records, their history in politics, their lives as citizens and most importantly on their own vocal and written records? Given the power of the Internet expanded with the interaction of millions of the general public, the politicos and power brokers, and the Fourth Estate, there is an opportunity to individually research candidates and their positions without the interpretation of intermediaries (news brokers, friends and family, television and radio ads). All it takes is a little bit of time and an openness to facts – after all, research with a closed mind is actually no more than an effort to collect “documentation” to prove preconceptions.

And therein lays the link that breaks the chain of intelligent discourse; the closed mind – that wall of stubborn belief that many of us form to block out the truth.

As of this writing, there are 130,000 Google pages referencing verifying internet rumors while there are over 8 million pages dedicated to the phrase Obama is a Muslim. If we were to believe the Internet rumors, Barak Obama is a Muslim who attends racist Christian churches and has close ties to radical Communists (atheists). Hate mongers as well as the genuinely fearful are busy making their views known in spite of fact, abundant evidence contrary to their opinions, and most importantly simple common sense.

These search results are indicative of how quickly and easily lies can be spread into the Internet through Social (and other) media sites, and yet how effective intelligently written and truthful content can counteract those lies. The top page results for the phrase “Obama is a Muslim” are in fact part of the website results set for the phrase “verifying internet rumors” – the pages were formed with thought to content and theme. Some of the biggest purveyors of the untruths or half-truths are up there in rankings also, and that is what the battle of SEO is all about. The fact is that hard work in managing SEO through social media will produce results beneficial to the networkers involved and the focus of their writings.

So is Social Media friend or foe? Will it take us all to higher levels of discourse and make us aware of information that is critical to our decision making, or will it enhance the standing of blogging morons and sycophants? Simply put it is a tool. Social blogging is a tool less important than critical thinking and more influential than water-cooler conversation. And like any tool, it can either be a helpful addition to our daily lives or it can be a weapon.

The choice has to be made by each of us but the questions are fundamentally simple ones:

What do you want to be – a provider of information or simply better known?

Who do you want to be – someone who improves the world or someone who helps tear it down?

Why do you want to communicate – to help your audience’s understanding or to prove your point?

Written by Peter C. Erich, Esite LLC