THE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE - BY:ARC. D. BONAVENTURE

 

The influence of social media (SM) technology is wild and far reaching. It's vast and globalistic attributes is one that have brought both joy and pain, love and acrimony, a facade of peace and a backdrop of anarchy and many more to the world. 

While it has been all fun, free and full with varieties - SM has shown over time that the magnitude of its potential to be effectively weaponised (or used as a tool of influence) is exponentially inundating. 

No matter the jurisdiction of application, the factor to exploit and influence are embedded. 

Social media for all its benefits tend to have pushed us farther apart from reality. 

We became interconnected across the globe ; yet we are more distant than ever in human history. 

People fancy taking a picture than saving a life that's in danger. 

We have had more evidences to show yet little justice. 

We have more opinions but are more divided than ever before in history. 

Yes we have made work easy with Sm, yet we have complained the most.

People now leave in the virtual world more than they do in the real world. 

We live in the most prosperous times in human history, yet we have the highest rate of depression and suicide. 

We claim to love but we can only show it when there is a camera. 

The family time has been replaced with the "Phone time". 

We have more standards yet less value than ever before. 

We want privacy yet we give out our private life all on SM just for validation. How ironic eeh. 

These and many more have been accelerated in numbers beyond measure sole by the propagation and indulgence in social media. Imagine how effective weaponising SM has been and can still be. 

As Tristan said (Social dilemma)that, "Social media isn't the existential threat. But that it triggers the user who then becomes an existent threat to society".

It's Level of influence is robust and highly effective. The scary part is that this can happen sub-consiously with the user oblivious of the apparent influence it's having on them. 

Reason why a lot of people on SM don't even know they're are toxic even when it's evidently so. 

I look at SM and all I see are these traits all over the place. People with no opinions of their own, people seeking validation from others, fakeness in extreme measures, the penchant for mockery even on seemingly serious issues, the need to be right and never acknowledged failings, hate and disdain for opposition opinion and all that. And many more absurdity that pollute the human mind. That's the risks involved in using social media.

And just as Maxi said "These things have, and are threatening the fabric of our society. It's hard to have an opinion apart from another without passing off as an enemy. I mean, it's no longer acceptable to be differently opinionated. The toxicity is at an all time high.

The propagandas that have been carried out through social media have had dire human consequences".

These are typical of the concerns I share. The rate at which the influence of SM is manifesting could prove devastating for our entire societal existence. 

I fear for the coming generations and what will be of their lives. 

These effects are more psychological than physical. The physical only being the manifestation of what's been psychologically imprinted/projected into the mind. 

Social media apps and products are designed to keep for as long as possible. Therefore they are purposely designed to be "Addictive". Yes! SM can be an addiction. They are made to ensure that you come back for more. 

These can be done through several psychology driven features. 

The features portray a facade that is different from the actual purpose of ensuring you remain committed to usage. Features like :

- The "Like button (👍🏽)

- Comment

- Retweet

- Continuous up to down scrolling

- the "A is typing...." Etc..

These are all tools to keep you there or to make you return back. 

The like button plays on the psychology of humans to seek validation or approval (or disapproval) for their looks, comments etc. Therefore, the more the likes👍🏽, the more you are incentivized to post more of your content. 

This is why a lot people can't tell the difference between the social media world and the real world. And same reason people have to be fake, people are more depressed because they can't handle rejection, people get bullied, people lack self confidence etc...

And while you're at it, you give up all your data and personal information to the whole world. So much for a generation that always scream "I want my privacy". Lolzz. 

The covid pandemic exposed a lot of things to me. 

Every top world Billionaires double or tripled their net worths during the pandemic. 

This is to tell you that people spend more while they're at home than when they leave their homes everyday. 

So the algorithms of SM is designed to keep you engaged to it for as long as possible. The more engaged you are, the more time you spend on them, the more money they make. 

If you're not paying for the product, then " you are the product".

The lockdown saw SM garner the peak of its use. Because people were stuck with it. And activities on SM platforms was a great influence. Did you ever wonder why it seem like everything on the social media space got off worse just after the pandemic? People where influence consciously or subconsciously

The effective way to combat these influences is to be aware of their existence in the first place. Self awareness. One must know when the boundaries are been exceeded and curtain them abruptly.

The more self-aware people are, the better their chances at the fight against this psychological shortchange by social media giants.

Parenting will be doubly hard for our generation. It's going to have to take the rod more than ever. Otherwise, weak men is what will be of our next generation. And we know weak men bring hard times.

Instead of spending countless hours on SM platforms, read Books. Generations before did that and they were the best inventors and builders of the the modern world we enjoy today. We can do same for our future generations.  

BE AWARE!

BY:

ARC. D. BONAVENTURE ND. Bsc. MSc. (ARCON).