The Spiral of Silence Theory

 The Spiral of Silence Theory is that people often censor their opinions based on whether or not they think they are in the minority of the majority. The theory is that people will share their opinions based on how they think others will react if they think others will agree they are more likely to share their opinion. The more controversial the opinion is the more likely it is that people will stay silent in a group. This idea is why people have censored themselves more and more over time as they fear being perceived as having the "wrong" opinion. 

This theory goes hand in hand with the fear of cancel culture because people fear if their opinion is in the minority they could be "canceled" within a group. This applies to the workplace, family groups, or just in a group with friends. Surprising studies have shown that social media like X or Facebook was where people were least likely to express opinions they felt were controversial. People were more open to sharing opinions face to face rather than on social media despite it being largely anonymous. People's willingness to share their opinions also increased if they knew more about a topic or had a strong opinion. 

The increase in self-censorship in society leads to less discussion and more people agreeing so as to not cause conflict. It causes media to avoid covering stories that might be dissive and it truly just prevents a lot of free speech because people live in fear of being "wrong". We are lucky to live in the most free country in the world and that does not mean people are always safe to say what they want without consequence, but they are more free here than anywhere else. An article about media freedom in Europe talks about governments in Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia having control over media. It allows those governments to control narratives and make journalists self-censor. 

In America, it is almost the opposite where most big media outlets are politically affiliated but are not controlled by the government so at least you can know every opinion you hear is biased or politically charged. The problem with this is that the two-party system limits any consideration for other opinions as many people just take the opinions of their political party at face value. Of course, there are people who are moderate, but any opinions or issues raised are somewhat ignored. I believe this is what leads many people to self-censor if they have an opinion different from Democrats or Republicans because then they are not on either side. This leaves a smaller group of people stuck in the middle which is likely leading to many not using their voice. Another reason is that many people seem to struggle to be objective and get very easily offended. I think that the idea that we have to avoid saying things that offend people is a weird new societal norm that might cause more self-censorship than anything. 

In conclusion, the way people perceive opinions in media and the desire to not offend anyone because God forbid we have different opinions has lead to the Spiral of Silence we see often. I think eventually we will reach a breaking point where people will have to voice their opinions for society to be able to advance, but for now many will chose to stay quite as it is the path of least resistance.