Disclaimer: This article is based on the author’s opinions and experiences. It is not supposed to be construed as fact or research based.
Social media is a mode of communication (and specially mass communication) which is social in nature, i.e., open for all to participate. Unlike other forms of mass communication like newspaper or television which is held and owned by a few for communication, social media opens up a channel to the masses to connect with the audience without hurdles. So, let’s explore the good, the bad and the ugly effects of social media.
# The Good
With the event of internet technology becoming mainstream primarily to urban culture, social media democratized access to information. Anyone willing to share their knowledge, experience, information, etc. (collectively content) can do so without almost no hurdles. Depending on the type and form of content, there are some channels more suited than others. Due to access with almost no obstacles, it relieves content creators to be themselves and share their content to their audience without being under the clutches of mainstream publishers and other media companies. Such democratization has created an unmatchable value for the lesser privilege to become something or someone, only the elite can think of.
Historically, social media has also given a voice back to the creatives. Before social media channels became mainstream, there had been a dying economic value of fine arts like sketching, painting, crafts, etc. and performing arts like music, dance, theatre, etc. It has given a voice back to such artists and has made such arts a viable career option. As long as there is an audience and a creator, one can always find a medium where both can exist together for one to create and others to consume.
Finally, it has created a digital marketplace to sell and buy goods and services. Unlike the brick and mortar markets where the reach is limited, digital marketplaces’ reach is vast. A farmer in principle California (US) can get their seeds from Kansas (US) and maybe learn some new farming techniques from a farmer in Mexico (Just a thought!). Similarly, a person in UK can discover and hire a competent digital marketing professional from India through social media channels.
Social media has democratized knowledge, information, experiences, etc., given a voice to artists’ creations and created a digital marketplace to buy or sell tangible or intangible commodities.
# The Bad
The ability for anyone to create content has led to a deluge of content on these platforms where each piece competes with other to gather attention of its audience. Quite often then not, this competition forces the content creators to depend upon click-bait titles and refresh and dump content from popular topics just to gain the attention of the consumers. As a result, the potential to bring out the unpopular or niche knowledge to life stays under the rug. Also, this may lead to content creator eyeing for quantity over quality of content.
Communication through social channels may be vast, but it lacks connection. This may be on different levels for different media like text media would connect less than the video media, but none of the channels can compete with a physical fact-to-face communication individually or in a group. Hence, getting a live audience feedback is almost impossible and therefore, views, likes and comments form the metrics of audience engagement which will eventually reward the creator as per the quality of content, but it still is a victim of manipulation and popular content topics.
Social media becomes a medium of click-bait and substandard content. The content may lack human connection and feedback and engagement might be subject to manipulation and encashment of viral topics.
# The Ugly
Most social media companies run on advertisement model where along with the content, ads are also served to the audience. Ads create a revenue model for the provider and a way to support the creator. There is nothing wrong or unethical with the revenue model, however, it creates a motive for these companies (and hence the creator to create) to serve the audience with content which makes him / her stay on the platform as long as possible. Every social media providers compete with each other to grab the audience attention for as long as possible. Due to their psychology research which goes on behind the glass walls, a common people unaware of such practices spend hours behind their smartphone screens consuming content unaware of the impact it is creating in their lives. It grabs the attention and through repeated ad dump, it creates a perception on the user the need for a product and leads them to take the financial purchase decision. Sometimes such decisions are quite derogatory to their financial capability leading to tougher situations in non-social media life.
On similar lines of financial impact, it also creates a mental impact consuming content of people portraying their happy life. People start comparing their life with their idols and then get into depression due to lack of its relative vitality. Social media is one of the most significant factors of depression leading to other health issues. It creates a hole in self esteem and self confidence and may also lead to extreme or irreversible damage to lives.
The deluge of possibly correct but irrelevant information plays with people’s emotions. Consider a title, ‘Here is what happens when you poop in the airplane’ and the content is a well researched and correct. The title grabs your attention and creates curiosity, you read through the content and feel contended with the information, but what you’ll not realize is, the information is as useless as it can be for any common person.
Finally, the ability to create content can also make the opinions disguised as misinformation. Misinformation may create chaos and has the ability to guide and rally people for propaganda whether for good or bad. Cornucopia of such content in our social channels enforces us to think a certain way and sometimes conform to opinions which we may hold. This is a dangerous proposition to law and order of any state.
The content on social media may impact an individual negatively in terms of financial impact, mental impact, irrelevancy and misinformation.
# Choose Good, Limit Bad and Eliminate the Ugly
Here are some of the ways:
- Use the media to learn and engage where you want/need and not where you’re led to. It has an amazing ability to find people teaching music, science, cooking, etc. which can enhance your lives in multiple dimensions. The keyword is what ‘you choose’.
- Take you career or profession to next level by networking with like minded people in your industry or searching your next set of clients for your goods and services.
- Share what you wish and would be helpful for others and not works well.
- Before consuming any content, think of the value it’d provide to you in terms of information, knowledge or even entertainment and evaluate if it’d be worth it.
- Choose a moderated source for information and not the open social media.
- Embrace the privacy filters like not accepting cookies, disabling cross app tracking, etc. which prevent the profiling / personalization of advertisement and content. This will prevent from getting deep into a rabbit hole.
- Apply the screen time limits on their consumption. Or at least, make it hard to consume content.
I hope, one can stop the social media menace in our mental, social and emotional spheres of life and enable the good parts of its existence which enriches our being.
