Would you rather eat a Twinkie or a bowl of ants? Most people would choose to eat a twinkie, but maybe a small percentage of people will choose to eat a bowl of ants. Twinkies taste amazing, but they are terrible for one’s body with its thirty seven sketchy ingredients. However, ants are rich in iron and provide much more protein than eggs provide.
Most of us will automatically choose to eat a Twinkie because we view ants to be a vile insect that is probably hardly edible, and merely thinking about eating ants makes one lose their appetite. Unconsciously, we are using the status quo bias to make our decision. The status quo bias arises when we take a safer option and often takes less effort, often relying on what the norm dictates. This bias leads people to avoid out-of-the-box options such as eating a bowl of ants over a Twinkie. Who knows, if you close your eyes and grind your teeth onto those iron-rich ants, you’ll be on track to better sleep and a stronger immune system. The decision to eat a Twinkie rather than eating a bowl of ants is not based on common sense, but instead comes from our perception that insects are disgusting and not edible. Bias is all about perception, which is influenced by our background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes, and cultural context (Imperial College London).
Here’s another hypothetical question that you will 100% encounter on the internet. Would you rather watch a political video titled, “NEW: Canadian leader apologizes, walks back electricity tariff after Trump threat”, or would you rather watch a political video titled, “‘Confusion’ and ‘betrayal’: Canadians respond to Trump’s tariffs and 51st state talk”. Now, this is where one’s choice may lead to arguments at the family dinner table, not an obvious choice like eating a Twinkie over a bowl of ants. These video titles are real videos posted on Fox News and MSNBC. These two videos clearly showcase the bias that we all are familiar with. Citizens who perceive Trump as a hero may watch Fox News more often while citizens who hate Trump will watch MSNBC more often.
This bias is called the conformity bias, where people search for information that reinforces their beliefs. Imagine if a die hard Democrat suddenly debates a die hard Trump supporter. The debate might get ugly because the two sides refuse to accept what their opponent is saying, and because they are entrenched in conformity bias, they will continue to feed themselves from biased news sources like MSNBC and Fox News.
As humans, we use bias all the time because we all naturally develop perceptions, but we must remain open minded and constantly skeptical of online news sources. To aid the reader to avoid biased news sources, here are some useful tools that check the credibility and accuracy of a source.
- PolitiFact
- News source that has little bias that also contains bias meters to evaluate a politician’s words.
- FactCheck.org – A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center
- Might’ve been introduced by your elementary school teacher. Facts checks politicians, podcasts, and journalists.
- Snopes.com | The definitive fact-checking site and reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.
- Unbiased journalism that fact checks politicians, podcasts, and journalists too!
Media Savvy Teens 
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