EC Blog

The “spiral of silence” is something that we have looked at in this course that I had never previously learned about, or even heard about. After learning about this in class, it opened my eyes to how prevalent and easily identifiable this idea was in our society. The spiral of silence is something that is seen all around us everyday. The “spiral of silence,” by definition, is a cause of the filter bubble that refers to idea that minorities do not speak up because of fear of isolation and that they don't feel like their opinion is valued. 

To first analyze the spiral of silence in our own lives, we must first look at the filter bubble. A filter bubble  alters the way we encounter information. We all have a filter bubble and we are alone in our own bubble. The bubble is invisible, and you can't avoid it, and it skews our perception of the world.

So how does the spiral of silence play into our lives in the current day? All you really need to do is look at the media and nightly news. In this day and age, it is getting harder and harder for minorities to speak out when the government is not supporting them and taking rights away. Minorities aren't just ethnic minorities, they are the LGBTQ community, immigrant communities, and so much more. 

For example, Trump saying he was going to build the wall between Mexico and The United States during his campaign put down many of the hispanic american citizens and immigrants of the United States. By fellow Americans supporting this “cause” and rallying against people in need, it shut down the voices of some people who were against it because they felt overwhelmingly rallied against.

Similarly, this happened with Syrian refugees, in the United States and around the globe. By denying them access to safe place, they are stuck with nowhere to go. By doing this, we as a society, are telling them that they do not matter. By telling them this, they shut down and don’t speak out as much.

        There are numerous other situations where the spiral of silence can be identified in the world everyday, but these are some specifics that stood out to me. I think we, as a society, can change the commonness of the spiral of silence. Social media is an awesome way to showcase how people are really feeling. It gives many of these people an outlet to share. Yet, I think humanity needs to be more accepting and use the power of rhetoric for good, to help those who feel they cannot speak for themselves.