While social media offers benefits such as facilitating communication, providing real-time updates, and enabling many people to earn a living, it also presents a journey that most people cannot reverse.
Growing up, I heard different versions of expressions meaning ‘free is expensive.’ Decades later, I can now contextualise that in modern developments in communication, which get sophisticated and proliferate by the day, especially in the area of social media.
While social media is good in that it eases communication, provides real-time updates, and enables many people to earn a living, it is a journey of no return for most people. Firstly, in the sense that many people cannot completely undo their digital footprints or the personal trails of data left behind while using the internet and internet-mediated services. Secondly, because many people will never be the same as they were before, as new habits are developed and embraced as the “new normal”, as behavioural scientists call it.
As a new reality, barely 30 years old, social media comes with its new challenges which impact people of all ages, genders and walks of life. It is too beneficial, too convenient, too private, and too entertaining to be on social media. There are many good things that can be achieved and have historically been achieved from the ease of communication it enables.
Yet many people lag behind in important responsibilities and end up spending hours every day due to the fascination of the random things they see on their feeds, the virtual relationships, and the reward system of likes and comments. We need to explore this area, as, in its worst extreme, it is addictive and damaging.
As compared to actual person-to-person socialisation, there is a lesser sense of responsibility and shame regarding what transpires on social media. Platforms are coming up with even more privacy-supportive policies to give an assurance to the users as regards their privacy. These efforts are reassuring, but they influence the decisions we make given that it is a free world with fewer rules. The same policies equally determine the time users dedicate to these platforms and why.
The free nature of access and use of social media platforms suggests that users are funding them in a different way. We need to know what the catch is so that we can protect ourselves as users. Our usage, our time, is where the catch is; it is where the multibillion-dollar business is. Hence, platforms work hard to keep users on the platforms for as long as possible, exploring as much as possible.
The expectations and attention users give to social media are important for the business of those who create the platforms. This is why they try to gather as much data as possible, to master the behaviour of the consumer (user), so as to keep the user engaged by presenting to them the things they like, search for, or even talk about. This use of data for targeted advertising, or algorithmic profiling, is open to so much abuse in its implementation.
There are data-backed allegations or investigatory findings that social media platforms cross the boundaries of privacy and access, retain, and even resell user data that they should ordinarily not access. Many have limited user transparency, as users cannot opt out of their data being used for algorithms or advertising.
Thinking in context, we need social media, especially with the current trends of both domestic and international migration, so as to keep the social bonds alive. For many, social media has become either a career or an important functional extension to their careers. On the global stage, social media has been a powerful tool for positive advocacy. These are worthwhile.
But when social media becomes enslaving with its constant stimulation, and we become less productive and effective at what we do, then it’s time we dropped it. Many people feel uneasy just sitting and thinking; for example, they would rather turn to their phones to escape the boredom. It is important to remember that social media does not evolve organically; our attention is scientifically engineered. There are, at the moment, complex fields of behavioural design studies, human-computer interaction (HCI) studies, computational propaganda studies, etc., which are integrated to make the most out of every person’s use.
Many young people grow up incapable of normal socialisation with people, even without them knowing, simply because they have been exposed to social media and gadgets too early. More and more young people have developed serious problems rooted in their loneliness, such as depression, suicidal inclinations, and other physical health problems, despite being connected over social media with thousands of people.
Equally, the kind of random content that social media platforms bring to us is damaging to our mental health, especially for children, as there is an endless cycle of mood swings with every swipe, especially with the short videos, popular as ‘shorts’. It is time we changed our priorities in our engagement with social media and built more genuine connections in order to remain healthy and integrated.
Shimbo Pastory is a Tanzanian advocate for positive social transformation and a student of the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University – The Philippines. Website: www.shimbopastory.com
