Recently, a gen Y friend of mine quit Facebook cold turkey. You can read his full 22-paragraph thesis for why he did, but in essence, Facebook became more of a detriment to his life than a benefit. Even more so, it became a matter of principle for him. How could something as benign and fun as Facebook become something that would yield a 22-paragraph reflection by a savvy 27-year-old who chose to cut it out of his life?
Maybe there are many more dark implications associated with social media that most of us would like to admit. Here are 4 questions we should all be asking about how social media impacts our own lives.
1. Is social media making us smarter or dumber?
Some would argue that social media, in its shorter form, has made us less likely to think for ourselves. Many of the world’s concepts and principles are not explainable in 140 characters or even 140 words. As we take in more “status updates” and “tweets”, our appetite for the classic books and longer-form essays decline, and so does our capacity for deeper, more nuanced analyses of life situations and relationships. My friend would argue that “the media IS the message,” not just the carrier of the message, and as such, we are conditioning our brains for quick, short information. I’m not convinced that social media is making us “dumber” as I think different content is best delivered within different contexts. I’ve also seen how my online network has pointed me to just the right information & resources when I needed it most. But I am making it a point to purposely take in the classic long form of communication – books. Some studies also show that twitter and facebook provides a way to increase creativity for the knowledge worker.
2. Does social media dilute or enhance our relationships?
The answer is yes. It all depends on how you use it. I generally follow the principle that social media is a good complement to “real” off-line relationships, not vice versa. Some studies have also shown that our brain really can’t handle more than 150 relationships – any more than that, and it’s like we don’t have room in our hearts to really care. How many pictures of babies of “friends” can you look at and really care? Sure, we can give it a quick “like” and “how cute!”, but really, doesn’t that rob us of making a more authentic connection with that person? Or is a small connection like that better than nothing? Is knowing how people are doing without actually contacting them make us more calloused, or it is just more efficient? For me in this area, the more “live”, the better: when I can meet up in person instead of a phone call, do it. When I can write a real hand-written letter instead of emailing, do it. When I can give someone a call instead of chatting online, do it. I’m also not against building relationships online, so long as it doesn’t just stay online — I’ve made some “real” life-long friends that started on blog threads. Nonetheless, my friend contends: “if one is honest with themselves it is in fact a lie and a selfish thing to think facebook provides a way of community.”
3. Does social media make me more vain or self-absorbed?
You’e got to admit that being able to express something and knowing other people are listening is powerful. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but doesn’t it lead to a dangerous slippery slope? There’s a big difference in wanting an audience and needing one. Probably sounds a little like psychobabble, but it’s something I wonder, too, even as I write this post to you, my audience. What makes me think that what I have to say is better than the 95% of noise that’s out there already? Is this really just a more acceptable form of narcissism? I once heard a professional football quarterback say, “Big money doesn’t make you a bad person, it just makes you more of who you already are.” Bingo. The same holds true for social media. Whether its bigger dollars or a bigger platform, we are who we are. Whether we’re self-absorbed or generous, our platform becomes an avenue to express ourselves – good and bad.
4. Isn’t social media just another vehicle of the whole advertising manipulation game?
Call it whatever you like, but at the end of the day, social media is a tool of influence. You influence your friends who influence theirs about brands, products, services, organizations, and causes. Sure, some of these won’t align with you — in fact, some of it will outright offend you. But some of it will really resonate, and all of the sudden, you’ve got hundreds, thousands of others who are right at that same spot as you.
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So, is it a little weird that I’ve started a social media company and one of my first posts is about all of the potential negatives of social media? Well, I think its best we all go into this with both eyes open – for numerous reasons, social media isn’t for everyone.
When it comes to business and organizations, what I’ve found is that social media at its best is utilized to capture movements already starting to happen. Hence the name of this blog and the type of work I do now. There is power in sharing stories that resonate with people you never wouldn’t found otherwise. There’s power in quickly organizing like-minded people together for brainstorming and barn-storming. Movements are still extremely hard to start, build, and maintain, and yet there’s never been a time in history that its been easier to do so.
I never thought of these before, but you make a good point. I think it’s true – social media just amps up who you already are. So if you’ve got good stuff, it’s great for you. But your flaws become amped up that much more, too.