|
|
Musings Report 2018-39 9-29-18 Why Is Social Media So Toxic?
You are receiving this email because you are one of the 500+ subscribers/major contributors to www.oftwominds.com.
For those who are new to the Musings reports: they are basically a glimpse into my notebook, the unfiltered swamp where I organize future themes, sort through the dozens of stories and links submitted by readers, refine my own research and start connecting dots which appear later in the blog or in my books. As always, I hope the Musings spark new appraisals and insights. Thank you for supporting the site and for inviting me into your circle of correspondents.
Welcome to September's MUS (Margins of the Unfiltered Swamp)
The last Musings of the month is a free-form exploration of the reaches of the fecund swamp that is the source of the blog, Musings and my books.
Why Is Social Media So Toxic?
It seems self-evident to me that the divisiveness that characterizes this juncture of American history is manifesting profound social and economic disorders that have little to do with politics.
In this context, social media isn't the source of the fire, it's more like the gasoline that's being tossed on the dry timber.
My thinking on social media's toxic nature has been heavily influenced by long conversations with my friend GFB, who persuaded me that my cavalier dismissal of Facebook's influence was misplaced.
Our views of media, traditional, alternative and social, is of course heavily influenced by our own participation / consumption of each type of media. Those of us who watch very little corporate-media broadcast "news" find the entire phenomenon very bizarre and easily mocked, and the same is likely true for those who do not have any social media accounts: the whole phenomenon seems bizarre and ripe for mockery.
As for alternative media, many people accustomed to traditional media have never visited a single blog or listened to a single podcast.
Part of my job, as it were, is to monitor all three basic flavors of mass media, and do so as objectively as I can, which is to say, seek out representative narratives and commentaries across the full political and social spectra of each media.
So why is social media so toxic to healthy dialog and tolerance, and to those who live much of their lives via social media? I think we can discern several dynamics that define the entire social media space.
1. The feedback loops within each "tribe" strengthen the most divisive, toxic narratives and opinions.
In the anti-Trump tribe, for example, those calling most vociferously for Trump's head on a stake are "rewarded" by praise from other members of the tribe via "likes" and positive comments on the "bravery" of their extreme language.
Others note this feedback and are naturally drawn into trying to top the extreme language: I want Trump's head on a stake, and then let's set it on fire, etc.
In the real world, expressing such extreme views soon draws moderating feedback from those outside the social media's claustrophobic "tribe." More reasonable people will politely suggest that such extremism isn't very helpful, or they will start shunning the frothing-at-the-mouth firebrand.
But in the social media world, there are few moderating feedbacks. Anyone who dares question the extremism being reinforced by the "tribe" is quickly attacked or ejected from the tribe. Attacking moderate voices increases the potential "rewards" / likes from tribal members.
2. All human social interactions have a potential impact on the perceived relative status level of the participants, and jockeying for higher status is embedded in social animals such as humans. So naturally we're drawn to organizing our participation in social media around the implicit task of improving our status / upward mobility.
In the real world, it's relatively arduous to increase one's social status, especially as the widening wealth/income gap effectively disenfranchises an increasing percentage of the populace.
In the real world, increasing one's social status depends on one's class, i.e. who we hope to impress. Raising one's status usually requires some expenditure: a trip abroad to an exotic locale that few other social climbers have visited; a new fully loaded pickup truck, another graduate degree, a trip to Las Vegas, etc.
In the social media world, increasing one's perceived place in the pecking order of "likes" (or views), number of "friends", etc., depends less on conspicuous consumption / bragging (without appearing to brag, of course) and more on pleasing the tribe in ways that garner more "likes" and "friends."
In the real world, to raise one's status, we need to flash the diamond ring, show off the new luxury car/truck, share photos of the exotic locale, display the graduate diploma, etc. But online, there's very little in the way of verification: we are who we present ourselves to be.
As opportunities to upward social / financial mobility fade and downward mobility becomes the norm for a great many individuals and "tribes," the appeal of a cost-free way to increase one's status increases proportionately.
3. The expansion of the number of "tribes" one can belong to in social media. In the real world, jockeying for higher status is limited to one's immediate circle of family, friends and colleagues, and to a lesser degree, wider circles in membership organizations such as alumni groups, trade associations, etc. It's hard to impress the wider world because very few of us have any access or exposure in traditional media.
But in social media, we can become "known" and "liked" in Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. or within specific online communities within the social media world. In other words, if we can't "be somebody" in the wider world or the real world, we can still "become somebody" in a smaller (but still very real and important to its participants) group online.
The desire to improve our social standing is natural. What's unnatural is the toxicity of doing so through social media.
If we put these three dynamics together, it's little wonder so many people are drawn to living a major part of their lives online, and modifying their behaviors and views to increase their social standing / visibility online by whatever attracts more views, "likes" and "friends."
These dynamics help us understand why social media is intrinsically toxic to civil society: being civil doesn't raise one's status, while reaching for new extremes is rewarded by the "likes" and "friends" all humans crave as manifestations of our social status and worth.
From Left Field
Why Growth Can't Be Green: New data proves you can support capitalism or the environment—but it’s hard to do both
Solar panels replaced tarmac on a motorway – here are the results-- hugely expensive, extremely low output.... not a solution except in magical thinking....
Digital Dictatorship: China Exerts Control Over Population Through "Social Credit" System -- the wave of the future?
The World’s Fragile Economic Condition – Part 1 -- even "cheap" energy might not save the status quo from stagnation...
Everything you've been told about plastic is wrong – the answer isn't recycling: Recycling is an easy cop-out for governments and large corporations, but the truth is that we have to take very different action if we want to stop irreversibly poisoning the planet. -- more magical thinking, that recycling can save the infinite-growth paradigm...
Adam Kotsko: The Political Theology of Neoliberalism: In his new book, Neoliberalism’s Demons, theologian and social theorist Adam Kotsko considers neoliberalism as a form of political theology. -- the description sounds abstract, but this interview is well worth a look....
Divided we stand: identity politics and the threat to democracy -- another thoughtful essay worth a read...
Why Not Socialism? (via Laserlefty)
What's The Most Asymmetric Investment Today?
Fleeing Venezuelans face suspicion and hostility as migration crisis worsens--7% of the populace has already fled and probably 90% wish they could leave....
Want a healthier heart? Eat a steak -- processed carbs are not healthy... but you knew that...
10 Years Since Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy – Did the Economy Really Recover? For the top 5%, yes, for the bottom 80%, no....
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire
Thanks for reading--
charles |
|
|
|
|
|
