I have taken a lot of time this week trying to figure out just what to write. I agree with all of the reponses people listed in Dr. Dunlap’s blog, Five Problems with Social Media. I also think I have come across all these problems with either myself or people I am close to. One of my best friends is completely addicted to social media. But I also have another who is completely addicted to Netflix.
What I think Paul Miller found during his year of the internet, is that the internet is not to be blamed for everything. I think that is also true for social media. When the age of the internet started in the 90’s, it’s true that everything started changing and changing at an exponential rate. Growing up with no internet, then easy access to the internet at home and then having basically 24/7 access with the advent of the smartphone has changed people’s lives. But when I think back, we all had things we were addicted to before the internet and social media came. The addictions have changed, it may have even made us a more addictive society, but the basic habits are nothing new.
The one thing I think social media has contributed more to anything else is the level of bullying that occurs. Bullying has a perception of being a school age thing with words and fistfights. But adults bully more often and harsher than any teenager I have seen, especially online through cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is using texts, photos, videos or any other electronic communication to make someone feel angry, sad, embarrassed,etc.
Many people don’t realize they are initiating or participating in cyberbullying when it happens because they don’t see the victim and their virtual friends validate their thoughts, comments and viewpoints. People at a base level are reactionary, but online, this has become even more so. Since you are just putting words out there, they don’t take a beat and think before talking. Instead, whatever is in their head, comes out and it is too easy to hit post. There is also no one talking back saying “wait, let’s look at this another way.”
Cyberbullying reminds me of rioting. You may be at a peaceful march, but then people start shouting, others jump in, and now you have a riot. I like how Molly Edmunds explained this in her article, “How Riots Work.” She explains “They lose their individual values and principles and adopt the group’s principles, which, during a riot, are usually to cause destruction and avoid detection… Being in the midst of a mob can be exciting and powerful, and it can make people feel invisible — they are part of a huge group, and they won’t be detected or held responsible for their actions.”
Riot mentality has been around forever. It’s just much fast with the internet. I think a lot of the problems in social media are around this idea of instant, fast communication. Online communities can be just as valuable as in person communities, they just do not contain the filters you have in a group of people. I think we need to start putting our own filters on ourselves and realize virtual consequences are just as real as in person consequences.