”Does social media promote or undermine democracy?

A democracy, defined literally, is power that is vested in the people. In the contemporary world, social media plays a critical role in the dynamics and exercise of this power. Whilst recognising social media's clear modes of strengthening democracy, I think the past half-decade is characteristic of how social media can also catalyse the deterioration of democracy.

The English language, among others, has two pertinent accounts of a dystopian democracy: Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’. The former depicts a triumph of authoritarianism through manipulation of truth and facts and the latter through the manipulation of people’s desires. Yet both authors miss another kind of dystopia, created through the power of one’s very own ‘echo chamber’ or ‘information cocoon’. In this people’s natural disposition to homophily begets them to hear certain topics and ideas in advance and engage in discourse that conforms only to their views. As such, people are devoid of competing views. Members of a democracy will not fare too well if they shun the views of their fellow citizens, if they believe in ‘fake news’ or identify their compatriots, who align with a different political party, as enemies in some kind of battle. As John Stuart Mill exclaimed, placing people in contact with others dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought or action, unlike those with which they are familiar, is one of the primary sources of democratic progress.

The past half-decade is rife with examples of social media creating this sort of problem. Algorithms, such as those used by Facebook and Twitter, can accurately predict your political convictions, and, as such, can personalise your feed with other people and posts that conform to those political viewpoints, essentially creating the ‘echo chamber’ or ‘information cocoon’ that is so harmful. We need not look too far back in time to find, arguably, the most pertinent example of this in action: the storming of the US Capitol. In this the dissemination of false and divisive information (an ostensible ‘rigged election’) through, primarily, social media created ‘echo chambers’ of hatred, which transpired into an attack on a beacon of democracy, and ultimately an assault on democracy itself. In the absence of social media and, consequently, the ‘echo chambers’ and ‘information cocoons’ they create I think this event, among many others, would likely not have transpired.

Ultimately, I think social media’s role in democracy is like a multifaceted prism. There are undoubtedly many means by which it promotes democracy, such as through democratising information and allowing all people to have their voices heard, but there are also ways in which it can harm democracy. Here I have explored one of the many sides of this prism; one that I think in the past half-decade has been the defining way social media influences democracy. This is, of course, not an impact we want social media to have on democracy. I think the more light that is shed on this issue the sooner it can be rectified, and the sooner social media can be used as a force only for promoting democracy.

What would winning a Crowd Scholar scholarship mean to you?

Despite the personal and financial difficulties I have faced, I have been able to achieve some of the best academic results in my school and, among other academic achievements, have worked with a professor at the University of Oxford on research. While working on this research I was described by the professor as already performing on the same level as some of the best Oxford undergraduates he had met. As a result, I have been lucky enough to secure conditional offers from some of the best universities in the country.

Consequently, receiving a Crowd Scholar scholarship would help me to fund some things at university that I otherwise would have not been able to afford. Moreover, it would allow me to devote all of my time to my studies and not a part-time job which I otherwise would need to take to make ends meet. It would also allow me to continue my interests in academic research and access work, in which I tutor others from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their ambitions, such as that of applying to a highly selective university.

[This short answer was edited to remove certain private information.]

Physics Teacher, Maiden Erlegh School:

I have known Aalyan as one of his Physics teachers since he started his A-level courses in September 2019, where I also acted as his year head during year 12. During this time, I have got to know Aalyan as an exceptionally talented student who has the drive and intellectual capacity to succeed at higher education. Aalyan attained an excellent set of results at GCSE, including grade 9s in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography and Religious Studies, and grade 8s in English Language, Literature and Mathematics. He is studying Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics at A-level, where he is predicted to gain A* grades as well as Economics, where he is predicted a grade A. Aalyan has kept up a consistent record of attaining highly in any in-school assessments, towards or at the top of his cohort, thus making the school confident in these predictions. Aalyan’s achievement relative to his peers is of particular note as he was eligible for free school meals, as a main school student, and is in receipt of the highest value of post-sixteen bursary that we can award due to coming from a low-income family.

As a student, Aalyan is mature and thoughtful but shows a flair for his studies. He has an ability to quickly take on new knowledge and consider the links between other areas of the course. In my lessons, I do not have to teach him anything twice and I can rely on him to work his through the applications to unfamiliar contexts. Aalyan will ask those questions that show that he has synthesised information and is already testing the bounds of his own understanding. He reads widely, outside the bounds of his studies, particularly in Economics where he has been stimulated by seeing the poverty whilst growing up in his native city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

During his studies, Aalyan has always sought out ways to positively extend his studies and to gain an insight into the academic environment beyond school. As such he has applied for, and gained places on, several competitive summer schools including the Sutton Trust, LSE’s Choice programme and a Nuffield Placement based at Oxford University. He has a genuine thirst for Economics as a discipline and this is evidenced by the work that he has carried out on these placements. On one such project; the Nuffield Foundation’s Future Researchers Programme, Aalyan produced a report studying the relationship between the Inter-American System of Human Rights and the Ford Foundation, one of its main financial supporters. His supervisor on the project, Dr Gonzalez Ocantos, has described how quickly Aalyan took to the academic level required to research and produce his report. He described how Aalyan worked and thought as a true scientist and remarked on his ability to read and systemise thousands of documents obtained from the Ford Foundations archives. The final project, which has formed the basis of his Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is of the highest standard and could have been produced at Masters level.

Aalyan will thrive in the academic environment open to him at University. He seeks challenge and has the talent and intellectual curiosity required to succeed. As such, it is without hesitation that I recommend him to you for your most serious consideration.