An article on the Pew Research site caught my eye the other day. It was called “Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence.’”

I found the story very enlightening in regards to the Orwellian world we currently inhabit. The study demonstrated the tendency of people – especially young people – to not speak up about controversial subjects in public. Not even among family, friends, or co-workers – if they believe their point of view is not widely shared. The authors of the study referred to this tendency as the “spiral of silence.”

It focused primarily on one important, highly controversial issue: Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelations of the government’s widespread, massive surveillance of all Americans’ phone and email records. Further studies by the Pew Research Center at the time showed that Americans were divided over whether Snowden’s exposing the NSA surveillance was justified and whether the policy was a good or a bad idea.

Pew Research found in one survey that 44% say that the release of classified information harms the public interest, while 49% think that it serves the public interest. The findings suggest that in the Snowden/NSA story, social media did not provide new forums for people to express their opinions and debate issues. Even more troubling were the findings which confirmed that fear plays a big role in people’s unwillingness to express their opinions. If people thought their friends and followers on social media disagreed with them, they were far less likely to state their views on the Snowden/NSA story online or in other social media. The study also suggested that the ‘spiral of silence’ spills over from social media to in-person, face-to-face situations.

I believe the study confirms that citizens are too fearful to criticize the government. Things are becoming pretty Orwellian. Plus, these are issues that young people apparently don’t care very much about. They just don’t seem as concerned about the right to privacy as previous generations were – and they should be.

Unfortunately, the ability to think critically has been completely destroyed by the time most kids reach college.