I took a 4 week break from Facebook (I never posted but would like to keep up with friends and families). And visited Facebook today by accident and had this sinking feeling inside about social media…
Perhaps social media has some benefit I’m not seeing today so excuse me please while I have a moment of truth, because I’m wondering if anyone else feels the same way…
Anyways- the sense of dread came back as I read the first few posts- from people I really do like etc… But all I could picture in my head was a friend on a stage dramatizing or telling a story to and empty theater and waiting for people to clap “like” what they said.
What in someone’s soul would reach out to people in such a public manner?
Social media is not real…
So beyond my personal bewilderment over my theater image of social media. Why on earth are schools teaching kids to broadcast their thoughts to a large group- it’s so fake and what is the point? How does this teach kids to listen to other people’s ideas and collaborate when being taught to make a broadcast to a group of people. What is the social part of that? Especially when people tweek things to make them prettier and better.
Please excuse my negativity here;). I meant to delete this as I was really frustrated with Facebook but while deleting I accidentally pressed enter! But recently I’ve been wanting other people to post an uncensored version of their thoughts- a vent here and there can provoke thought and ideas too… I’ll take it down if it’s too negative.
Studies on social networks like Facebook showed: 1.PSYCHOLOGICALLY ADDICTIVE ( time not well spent) 2.HARMFUL TO DEMOCRACY ( fake news ) 3.SOCIAL COMPARISON ( “can cause people to feel their own lives don’t measure up to those others, according to studies this is more pronounce to young people” ) 4.FoMO (fear of missing out )“Can also make us miserable by convincing us that whenever we’re away from our friends, we’re missing out on social bonding occurring among us.” In addition “Studies suggest that how much you use social media is at least as significant as how you use it.” In the end LESS IS MORE. More time for real life experience. The real world, and real human interactions, are just so much more beautiful, interesting and meaningful.
And in addition according to former facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya said people on facebook “curate our lives around this perceived sense of perfection” to get rewarded with “hearts,likes, thumbs up” and conflated that with value and truth.
“Instead, what it really is, is fake brittle popularity that is short term and leaves you even more vacant and empty”, needing another hit he suggested that this “vicious circle” drives people to keep sharing posts that they think will gain other people’s approval. In other words FAKE EXPERIENCE…
This is an interesting article. Facebook Generator of Envy and Dread
“Long before the data breach that led to Mark Zuckerberg’s Congressional testimony this week, during which the Facebook chairman acknowledged that he was unable to keep even his own personal information secure, we suspected that Facebook was something less than a net positive for civilization.”
Social networks can have their merits… you will just not find them on Facebook.
I like the small-scale initiatives where you just hang out with (remote) friends and have no incentive to make yourself seem different than you are. Like the example of Scuttlebutt presented in the video here.
Many people will find lotsa things missing when looking at the bare UI and comparing that to FB. But they have to ask themselves what are the true reasons to use a social network (or at all) - as you rightfully ask also @healthyswimmer - and then take it from there.
Interesting video, thanks for sharing. I have to remind myself all of this is a complex evolution/journey… I have strong opinions about social media and don’t think another platform will solve the social separateness and isolation concerns- it does solve other big issues though. And no complex problem can be solved overnight. This world is a free market so people are free to choose to spend time the way they want. It would be nice to have warnings regarding consequences of not using the platform the way it was intended- or guidelines for mental health and safety for very young adult and teens (and vulnerable populations). That way people who are interested can make informed decisions. Like I said it’s a journey, and climbing out of the rabbit hole is the next step;).
Some are trying to educate kids about social media without giving warnings about using it for socializing with friends. Schools broadcast themselves and post pictures for a reason- to be seen- and they are unintentionally exploiting kids and showing them that public exposure online is expected and normal.
The difference between advertising a business or school and broadcasting personal information must be separated and taught to kids.
Kids must understand they have a right to privacy- and just because innovation and technology is a freight train we can’t stop- they have choices.
Schools should not say social media is a way of the future- but a tool to communicate information to mass amounts of people- so we really want to broadcast personal information do everyday? No we don’t- it’s exhausting and risks our connection to humanity-
Walt Whitman, the visionary poet of identity and individualism, wrote: “I charge you forever reject those who would expound me, for I cannot expound myself.”
After the example set by Mr. Whitman, I refuse to distill myself into a profile. I won’t allow my self worth to be quantifiable - whether by likes, number of followers, or any other social metric. I won’t allow a profile to be part of my identity whose structure and rules have been decided for me by someone else. I won’t waste time curating that profile in an effort to make it reflect what I want others to see of my life.
Social media asks us to do all of these things, with no consideration for what it is doing to society, or for the terrifying implications of all this being supercharged with the Internet of Things and Augmented Reality.
People > Profiles!
I am not a profile, neither are you, and neither are any of those desperate souls on Facebook who have been tricked into thinking they are.
This thread on the spot. But why only social media? It’s all media that is a theatre.
The internet, the news, books, films, magazines, radio, they’re all shows.
Usually when media is trying to emulate reality such as social media, the news, a travel guide or a reality TV show, it’s fake because reality isn’t interesting enough.
And unfortunately, the more time we spend with the media the less time we spend with reality.
The solution is to limit our time on all media, especially any screens.
Could you limit your time on the media to 5 hours a week? 10 hours a week? 15 hours a week?
A recent study of teens found that the happiest ones spent 5 hours or less per week with screen media. Note they were actually happier than teens who spent no time at all with the media. But over 5 hours a week, and the teens became progressively miserable. I don’t know if there is a study yet involving adults, but I’m think the results would be about the same.
You make a good point here, but people post here about their concerns usually and that was my grief or concern. I don’t post to educate people about broad topics usually, or at least I don’t think I do;)
I was posting here about social media because “social” media in particular is displacing people’s time with each other.
People’s usual goal of reaching out to social media is to connect with other people- right? And my points are that the connection isn’t happening.
Screen addiction is a very big topic but on CHT we try to break down the topics to learn and develop. It’s overwhelming indeed!!
So I encourage you to open your own topic on media- because you have a good observation here. Media is all over the place and that connects with one of my original points is that is media for broadcasting to lots of people at once.
I would encourage people to use social media to broadcast to large audiences- but only if you are ready to be distracted or disappointed with the responses (or no responses). If you really want true human connectedness don’t do this by broadcasting on social media.
Social media should be called something else., with your media thoughts here- I challenge you to come up with a new name for social media- I like your perspective on how similar this is to regular media.
Social media engagement can create passivity, depressed states, anxiety.
Or it can create pleasure, camaraderie, support, and so forth.
I think there is a marked difference in generational uses of social media. Do we use it as a mirror in which to gaze at ourselves? Or do we use it as a window to lean out of and talk to our neighbors?
Defining this is important to help people reflect on why they use social media- and the realities- a beginning piece or extension of regular human contact.
I think there are some personality types that compartmentalize the experience of social media emotionally very well- so honoring differences and educating people is important.
I’ve noticed people that are good in groups socially do very well with social media- they enjoy the experience and don’t suffer consequences. They can see pitfalls at a distance.
Introduction: Given the breadth of correlational research linking social media use to worse well-being, we undertook an experimental study to investigate the potential causal role that social media plays in this relationship. Method: After a week of baseline monitoring, 143 undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania were randomly assigned to either limit Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat use to 10 minutes, per platform, per day, or to use social media as usual for three weeks. Results: The limited use group showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression over three weeks compared to the control group. Both groups showed significant decreases in anxiety and fear of missing out over baseline, suggesting a benefit of increased self-monitoring. Discussion: Our findings strongly suggest that limiting social media use to approximately 30 minutes per day may lead to significant improvement in well-being.
