Social – Really?
Remember when you were a little kid when you were daydreaming, and a voice broke through and ordered, “Pay Attention.” Remember when we were asked to “Stand at Attention”. In those days we would have interpreted such commands as an order to focus. Now attention is a feature of the economy.
When I was musing on the role of social media during the pandemic and why a study in process has more or less ignored it thus far, the first thing to do was to have a look at my own Facebook use. Since too much scrolling down is wasting time, I limited myself to the first ten entries which were as follows: ·
Photos from a son on holiday from his university teaching post in Hong Kong in Vietnam. Well worth seeing.
Suggested: People I may know. I don’t.
Suggested: post from Julia’s Violin Academy. Not an instrument I play.
Suggested: An advertisement for a condo coming several miles north of where I live. I am not in the market for a move or purchase.
Pictures from a woman I know of herself and her sisters from several years back.
A cartoon posted by someone I know – somewhat funny
More pictures from the Vietnam visit
A somewhat sentimental piece from a family member about people he has known.
Suggested: A grocery store ad
Suggested: post of famous pianists’ hands
Perhaps 20% of this was worth my attention and time. Half were ads, none of which were appropriate.
Remember when we thought social media was wonderful and would unite us all in peace and “person-hood”. First we grabbed accounts as individuals and shared our dog, cat and children in photos. After our organizations had websites, we had to add links to social media in the hope that our world would expand far and wide. We wonder if we should boost our posts to get better readership – instead of thinking of how were are sending even more money to Meta. But is all our attention to our own bubbles blinding us to how social media has turned us as individuals and organizations into commodities? Do we just think we are promoting our personal or organizational brands while Meta laughs all the way to the bank?
The purpose of social media was never to bring us together in world peace – but to make money. Most it is owned by just one company – Meta – while a few others compete with it. The advantage over conventional advertising is the ability to direct targeted ads to specific audiences. The purpose is not to sell advertisements to us – but to sell us to advertisers.
When we don’t like all those ads they send us, we can pay to omit them or buy premium versions– thereby replacing the revenue lost from advertisers. Then they suggest boosting our organizational posts to wider audiences. Often this will include a headline only – since it is already known that 80% of headlines are the only thing read to get the brand imprinted in our brains. All the while, these companies are engaging in what is termed “surveillance capitalism” – telling the advertisers how many people are looking at their messages. Twitter apparently makes 13% of its income this way by selling the infomation back. Meanwhile the company tries to get the mix of ads and real messages just right in a Goldilocks arrangement; It looks as though from my own above history that I am a real sucker for ads, since mine start right away after the first message.
Studies have already suggested that social media is as addictive as many drugs. Younger inexperienced users are far more vulnerable that older ones to bullying and many of us have never had to endure hate messages. But we might ask why we turn to social media? Are we anxious? Lonely? Or just Bored? Do we need affirmation from others? A need to show off? People I know appear to demonstrate all these characteristics now and then. That’s their choice. But before I log in and scroll down, do I ask myself why I am there instead of somewhere better?