Spiral of Silence and Knowledge Gap are interconnected theories that are mainly concerned about the unequal distribution of information that leads to the “silencing” of specific audiences. Knowledge gap theory or hypothesis states that the higher levels of education of the population tend to have or acquire faster and more information than the lower portion. This class of the population are somewhat being left out that’s why they become silent of their opinions and ideas. These are the reasons why media, its content and the way it is sent is important to the society.

Back in 2012, the Reproductive Health or RH Bill became a huge controversy. The said agendum was debated by many church hierarchy and lawmakers of different religions. During that time, mainstream media is considered to be a “pro-RH bill” and despite the belief that majority of media especially social media workers are Christians, only some have come out to openly criticize the bill and defend the values and virtues of their church primarily the Catholic Church, for example, in their radio programs (e.g. Radio Veritas) or editorial columns.

Monsignor Tan, a Catholic priest, upheld the teachings of the Church in relation to the Spiral of Silence theory. According to him “If the majority of those who hold a particular belief do not make noise about it, sooner or later they will lose their own beliefs. Silence will create an impression that they are alone and the fear of isolation further weakens their conviction,” This testifies that spiral of silence and knowledge gap theories can cause people to think that they are isolated and their opinions are considered to be in the minority or of no importance.

Just like what’s happening in the Philippines right now. Many believe that extrajudicial killings are unlawful and immoral but what do the masses supports? President Duterte’s idea. The president has been very explicit in his interviews that purging the Philippines by killing drug users and pushers is the only way to salvation. Garnering over 86% approval ratings, clearly he got the support of the Filipino masses. But can it be concluded that those number of people believes that killing is right and virtuous? No. Only a few approves to the fact that Duterte is famous and his firm and superior leadership attitude is suitable for a president but they disregard these allegations mainly because they were silenced. Silenced that they may be killed by the “Davao Death Squad” or abused by their co-supporters especially online.

Social media has become the platform that evidently shows the application of the two theories. Users tend to become more afraid to be isolated that of committing an error, consequently, they join the masses or the majority even though they did not agree with them. This statement of Tocqueville made it clear that users nowadays just go with the group of society that is relatable and relevant even though it’s not. To illustrate, think of the case of the Facebook users here in Metro Manila compared to those in the province. Yes, both of them are given the same information and content but the one with daily access to the internet tend to obtain information faster and easier. That’s why when points of discussion merge at a newsfeed section in Facebook, others express their opinions in English language and some just sit there and be quiet because they know they have this valid argument but they feel inferior of the language and the knowledge they have.

In conclusion, spiral of silence and knowledge gap theories are important for us students of this course to be discussed and identified because as designers and media contributors, we should be aware of those people who has the tendency to be silenced of the idea our designs are implying. We should see to it that every audience and recipient of the message of our art receives it with full knowledgeable and understanding and has the voice to criticize and dictate what’s not right.
References:

Apalisok, M. (2012, September 17). Spiral of silence in media. Retrieved from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Matei, S. (2012, November 2). Is Social Media a Spiral of Silence Machine? From “Daily Me,” to Homophily Bias, Filter Bubbles, and Echo Chamber Effects. Retrieved from http://matei.org