Social Media isn't just a reflection of human nature
Social media isn't just a reflection of human nature. It's a force that defines human nature, through incentives baked into the way products are designed.
The title is from the book No Filter. Where the author argues that Instagram not a neutral piece of technology. But a tool that provides incentives to users to use the product in a certain way. This line reminds me of Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Where Neil Postman argued that a piece of media changes how the user sees the world. In the book, he had the example of television. In which TV is a visual medium. So things are done on TV. Where done with the express purpose to entertain. Things on TV are supposed to be visually nice or shocking. Like good looking TV presenters. Or explosions in movies.
This reminds me of a YouTube video I watched. Talking about beautiful people who dominate the music industry. And less good-looking people are locked out. Even though they may be more talented. The Youtuber explained before music videos. Most musicians did not conform to social standards of beauty at the time. Also, they tended to be rock and punk bands. Which tended to be anti-establishment.
But music videos started to be introduced with MTV. A lot more production started to be put into music videos. So storylines inside the music videos. Stunts. And whatnot. After that pretty soon the music directors and industry men. Worked out if they added attractive people on the front of the cover. Then the music started to do well. So then the process started. Where good looking people. Men or female were chosen. To do music videos. And music in general. (This affected females more than males I might add.)
This is why if you look at the top acts right now. Especially female. They tend to be good looking. A good YouTube comment in the video said. “You don’t see any ugly female musicians but you may see male ones”. So you could argue there is some sexism baked into this system. Where a female is more judged on her appearance compared to her male counterparts.
Back to the title at hand. Social media changes human nature because of the incentives. Like the TV example, I gave earlier. People will start to morph their behaviour to fit the mould of the medium. Instagram is a place to show off social status. So people will do things that look like they have a high social status. Like showing off wealth. Travelling around the world. Being beautiful. Instagram is designed to be visual. So people put in a lot of work editing photos. Making sure the backdrop is good. The lighting in the photo is good. To have a great photo.
YouTube is a place where watch time. Is rated highly. So people do around 20-minute videos. With a few emotion spikes here and there. To keep the watcher hooked. Due to YouTube’s design. You choose from a selection of tons of videos. So YouTubers have eye-catching thumbnail and title. To make the user click onto the video.
As people try to please the various algorithms of these social media sites. They become less of a neutral force. And more of a way that the services push people into one direction. To view content. How Neil postman explained with the TV. Which people started to fit content for TV. More focus on visuals and entertainment. Rather than detail and thoroughness.
For example, on Twitter. You can’t write essays on there. So short statements are necessary. In some ways short statements are good. As they force the writer to compress their thoughts. Into its most bare components. One of the advantages. Smart people distil books worth of knowledge into a tweet. Think of James Clear and Naval.
But if you want to bring attention to yourself. Outrage is the way to go. Due to Twitter’s design. People can share and comment very easily. Making the tweet go viral. Outrage works because it’s hard to make nuanced statements. Due to the 240-character limit. So its easier to make a statement thats not true. And let people fill in the gaps. Or try to correct you. This is why many Twitter users say you want to add a spelling mistake to your tweets. So people comment on your post. When they try to correct you. Because outrage is so helpful. Therefore, Twitter can be known to have a bad culture around it. As people use these tricks to bait people into talking about them.
This is not to say outrage is only Twitter. I think I talked about this issue in other places. YouTube for the longest time. And issues of conspiracy theory videos hitting the suggestion feed. Facebook still has an issue with outrage content.
But while they have their issues. I would call these a negative force. The social media services I say are a net positive. But users do need to take extra actions to make social media a net positive. Digital minimalism by Cal Newport talks about this. Some services like YouTube are highly on the net positive side. But has issues like being a serious tool for distraction. I’m fully convinced that social media is not all negative. Contrary to what people think.
People say Twitter is a great networking tool. People use Facebook to keep up with friends and family. Instagram is a great way to show off your hobbies. You can argue that they may better ways to keep up with friends and family compared to Facebook. But it does the job.
But I think we should avoid moral panic. Yes, these tools have issues, and they need to be fixed. But we should put some responsibilities on the individual to use them correctly.
Like disabling notifications. Having limited times on their apps. If they have an issue with outrage bait. Unsubscribe to any content that produces and shares that content.
I learned that if we are more mindful on how to use social media. The experience becomes a lot more pleasant.