The Gloom Of Social Media
Since the Harvard launch of "TheFacebook" in 2004, social media networks have steadily grown in importance in the everyday lives of billions of users worldwide. Over two thirds of US adults now access Facebook daily, and 88% of young people use some kind of social media every day.
While social media undoubtedly brings many benefits to the lives of its users, its complexity means there may be more going on than is clear on the surface. A growing body of research suggests many potential
"dark sides" to be aware of.
Categorising the Risks:
The researchers categorised the risk areas into the following seven segments, related to the activities carried out within social media applications – which tend to be similar across platforms and networks:
1. Sharing: links and content can be passed on to exponential numbers of followers and friends so easily that medical metaphors for contagion are often used. The risks include deliberate or accidental spreading of "fake news", non-consensual sharing of private content, and being exposed to upsetting or undesirable content.
2. Presence: the ability to see when others are online is fundamental to the synchronous social communication flow, but frequently default settings combined with user ignorance leak surplus information unknowingly. The risks range from helping brands target your weaknesses and preferences in ways you never dreamed possible, to accidental disclosure of associations or even your physical location.
3. Relationships: arguably, social media has transformed and, in many cases, enhanced our interpersonal relationships. However, it has also made possible risks from bullying, harassment and over-sharing, which have had an incalculable cost for many individuals.
How to Manage Social Media More Safely?
Simply using social media less is one option, and a range of apps and tactics exist to provide a "digital detox" or just a bit of phone-free downtime.
But the best way to manage our use of these networks is to take control of our interaction with them, which starts by understanding the relationships we are in. As Facebook would say, "it’s complicated." Back in 2011, media theorist Douglas Rushkoff first pointed out that because it is ad-funded and free at the point of delivery, we are not the customer of social media; we are in fact the product. More recently, in The age of surveillance capitalism (2019) Shoshana Zuboff refined this to point out that our behaviour – deliberate or surplus – is actually the monetisable asset in question.
But the best way to manage our use of these networks is to take control of our interaction with them, which starts by understanding the relationships we are in. As Facebook would say, "it’s complicated." Back in 2011, media theorist Douglas Rushkoff first pointed out that because it is ad-funded and free at the point of delivery, we are not the customer of social media; we are in fact the product. More recently, in The age of surveillance capitalism (2019) Shoshana Zuboff refined this to point out that our behaviour – deliberate or surplus – is actually the monetisable asset in question.
The Future of Social Media Risk:
By investigating how people feel about social media risks and the practical strategiesthey can use to overcome them, this research is part of a growing wave of evidence that sheds light on the dark side of these tools, which have come to pervade our lives and influence our relationships in ways their initial creators never dreamed of.
The authors learned that people differ widely in their views of the risks involved, even while limited to a US sample, and they also acknowledge that this area is a fast-moving target, with new networks appearing and evolving continually.
The authors learned that people differ widely in their views of the risks involved, even while limited to a US sample, and they also acknowledge that this area is a fast-moving target, with new networks appearing and evolving continually.
- Hrishabh Jain
Comments
Post a Comment