In the 24/7 news era, with countless hours spent on political coverage, it seems easy to believe our generation is more informed and more aware of the politics of our time. With the advent of social media, many in our generation are inclined to advocate for their values.

And groups in our high schools and at this university do so. Indeed, with the numerous internships and jobs available in political advocacy and campaigning, it may seem we are destined to lead well-informed, logical debates over public policy. However, according to a 2007 Pew Research Center poll, less than one-half of the population age 18-to-29 is considered to have “medium” or “high” political knowledge — a number which has not improved since the late ’80s. Older generations have a more vast knowledge than ours by as much as 34 percentage points.

While this trend is not surprising, especially because those 18-to-29-year-olds feel too busy to be interested, it is worrisome. In this day and age, it is infinitely easier to share our opinions and advocate our beliefs through social media. If young people advocate beliefs without being well-informed, they are more likely to perpetuate false ideas and misguided opinions.

Social media has made it so easy to simply spout off ideas, regardless of whether the ideas being spread are valid or not. And it has also become easy to forget arguments are stronger and more believable with support. When that support is based on misinformation, it can snowball into widespread misconceptions.

The more people we can have involved in political and societal debates, the better it is for all of us. If they are forced to research and find support for their ideas, their conclusions can be much more beneficial to society overall.

However, access to social media and lack of political knowledge have magnified political ignorance and vitriol — some of the most serious side effects of failing to find support for one’s views.

Political ignorance is the art of expressing one’s opinion when it is supported more by emotion than hard fact. Social media exacerbates this problem because it allows uninformed views to spread more quickly.

For example, many of those “quotes” by celebrities and Facebook users are actually fabricated. We, as college students, must be careful what we post on social media websites. If we post untrue or unfounded claims, not only do we contribute to misinforming others, but we also make ourselves look uneducated and uninformed.

Instead of just spouting opinions or false facts, we should take time to educate ourselves on the issues. This will lead to a more informed generation of people who will greatly and positively contribute to the politics of our time. It is our responsibility as citizens to learn what we can about the issues of our day.

Political hostility represents a disparaging, personal attack on someone because of his or her beliefs; rather than attacking an opponent’s views, many choose to disparage peers personally. We should all take special care to avoid personally attacking our peers with opposing viewpoints. I saw one Facebook post in which a girl called my good friend “ignorant” (among other worse things) simply because the girl disagreed with her politics. The two did not know each other. Instead of fostering a reasonable debate on the topic, it led to a divide — each girl harboring resentment toward the other.

Again, social media magnifies the effect of disparaging comments. We do not need to agree with each other’s views, but we need to respect them.

Political ignorance and vitriol divide us. If we truly want to cross the partisan divide in our country, we must be willing to educate ourselves and respect each other. Students at this university must set the example for logical political discussion. Before we post that unfounded claim or disparaging comment on Facebook, we need to ask ourselves whether we are solving the problem or just causing more conflict.

Matt Dragonette is a freshman accounting major. He can be reached at mdragonette9@yahoo.com.