Dear Readers,
I have taken a stand. I am no longer relying on social media to communicate with the rest of the world. I have started my own blog. Why? On social media there are rules to follow. This includes a limit on how many characters we can write, limits on what we can say, and even limits on the words we can use (depending on the social media platform of choice.) There are also algorithms, which are used by platforms to manipulate our thoughts and perceptions by controlling what we can or cannot see. Algorithms have the power to manipulate what we believe or don’t believe based on what it’s programmed to show us (of note, I don’t believe anything I read on social media). Social media has become a tool of mass manipulation and deception. It’s dangerous—and society is inextricably trapped in a state of hyperreality.
While it may seem like free entertainment, if you think social media is free, I’ve got news for you—it isn’t. You’re the product…specifically, your data. The entities that own these social media platforms make massive amounts of money selling your data to advertisers, but that’s not the only cost. Billionaires have the ability to control our interactions, visibility, and voice. They even want us to pay them for a blue check mark—never mind that they make plenty of money advertising products to us. So we’re both product and consumer—and we’re doing it for free. If you choose to opt out of paying for a blue check mark, the platforms will hide your replies, content, and interactions from other users, creating a sense of invisibility for anyone who chooses not to pay them even more money than these entities already make using our likeness and content. Sadly, people are desperate to be seen and participate in this virtual simulation of life, so the blue-check mark strategy works—you pay, or disappear.
Even worse than the greed is the toxic nature of social media and the overall lack of civility, which is putting the mental health of social media users at risk. There’s the mental exhaustion and pain of getting attacked by an online mob, getting doxxed (did I mention that social media is dangerous?) You’re always one wrongful comment away from losing your reputation, job, and livelihood if you’re not careful (or anonymous enough). So why do normal everyday people subject themselves to this abuse? Even celebrities have fallen prey to the toxic nature of social media, where rumors about them can rage like a California wildfire and has the ability to destroy careers faster than the blink of an eye. My advice, to everyone in Hollywood—cancel your social media accounts and don’t look back. It’s not serving you. You’re giving access to people who don’t like you and get some sort of perverse pleasure participating in your downfall. Social media simply isn’t fun. Seriously, what’s the fun in gaslighting, lies, hostility, and raging angry cultural or political debates where no one is listening to each other? I’d much rather communicate in my own space, in my own way, and I hope others will follow suit. We’ve given these entities more power than they need or deserve to have.
In the olden days, when the internet was still the wild wild west of technology and corporations had not fully figured out how to maximize its control over not just the internet, but the masses… social media wasn’t really a “thing.” At least, at the level of addiction that it is today. People actually went outside, and interacted with other people—in person. Unfortunately, that’s isn’t the case today. Social media has warped personal interaction so much, that friendliness or even a friendly gesture in the real world can be perceived as crossing someone’s personal boundaries. We live in a world where everyone is proudly anxious, anti-social, “an introvert,” or “neuro-divergent.” They wear it like a badge of honor. Others have increasingly unrealistic expectations (re: Hollywood standards) in romantic situations (ideals ranging from absurd financial requirements or beauty). This is what people have learned from social media influencers.
In the olden days people also had their own websites, message boards, chatrooms, and blogs that other people could visit and enjoy because there something of interest there for people to see. We experienced each other’s creativity. And when we were done looking, we logged off and went back to living our normal lives in the real world. Some of these platforms were still owned by big companies, but the algorithms were not as manipulated to control what you could or couldn’t see, nor were they used to lure you back to the platform using alerts that are designed to notify you whenever someone has engaged with your content. Have you noticed how every single company out there is practically forcing its users or customers to download their app? If you go to a website on your computer, they’re also sending a popup asking you to allow desktop notifications? See a pattern here?
If you buy a computer you must now log into the web service for the operating system’s parent company. Now they can legally violate your privacy and monitor where you go, and what you do, on the internet at all times. How much freedom are we losing as a society? It’s a vicious cycle isn’t it? Well…I mastered tuning it out a few years ago. I don’t download apps, I don’t allow desktop notifications. I shut off social media notifications. I use an alias on just about every platform that I have used (as a writer, I don’t even use my first name). It’s not that I have something to hide—but that I simply value my freedom. At some point, we have to break the system of control, and it starts with us, right here, right now, today—who’s with me?
Happy Holidays!
– E