Thursday, January 16, 2025
We exist in the time of the advent of social media. Facebook and those entities that followed like Instagram and TikTok, were all created to allow individuals to communicate with the world on a scale which was heretofore unimaginable. In the past 20 years, that communication has led to some interesting challenges.
I feel certain that when Mark Zuckerberg and others were refining their initial plans for social media their thoughts were focused on all the potentially good things it could accomplish. It would have included staying in touch with others, knowing what your friends and family are up to, and seeing photos or videos of activities. These are all noble and worthwhile pursuits. I know for me, I love to see photos of old college fraternity buddies and their families, learning what they are doing and how they are spending their time. I want to see photos of my grandchildren and their activities, and it is wonderful learning what is happening in my neighborhood. Frequently, social media updates me with information about someone being injured, sick, or troubled. It keeps me informed when someone passes away, moves, goes to the hospital, divorces, has a child, or gets a new job. We humans have a need to connect to one another, and that is exactly why solitary confinement in prison is such a serious punishment. No one wants to feel isolated. We need to interact with others. We want to know what is happening. We want to feel part of a community.
Unfortunately, many of these noble objectives have been diminished because of the manner in which people use social media. To be clear, I think it is reasonable to have political discourse on social media. It is appropriate to discuss the issues of the day and for individuals to express their opinions. The boundary of what is appropriate to talk about on social media is where I have concerns.
When human beings disagree and see things differently, there is usually conflict. Sometimes, the conflict is irrational and even dangerous. Anyone who has ever been at a bar and seen a couple of fellows argue over which sports team is better or whether a referee’s call was correct or not, can attest to how disagreement can sometimes quickly spiral out of control. With social media, disagreements can become community-wide and even worldwide.
Until social media, people did not commonly confront others in public. It was considered to be bad manners. One might argue that such confrontations were limited by fear of getting punched in the nose for an ill-directed comment, but generally disputes were handled one-on-one. Importantly, this was done in the privacy of the office, the home, or wherever, and people moved on. For the most part, disputes were private, or at least limited to the immediate proximality of the individuals involved. With social media, anyone with a keyboard can reach millions of people, saying whatever they wish to say, and with little fear of immediate ramifications for their angst. Frequently, too much information is shared. Even more often, hate, lies, and misconceptions are spread.
Social media has empowered people to complain about the most delicate of subjects and the most personal. It is beyond me why anyone would think issues between a husband and wife should be aired for the world to become involved. Knowing the financial plight, emotional difficulties, bad dating experiences, or the frequency of bodily functions of others, is not something I personally long to experience. If you are my friend, I will be happy to be a shoulder to lean on. Call me, and we can talk it through and what we say is between you and me and not between us and the world.
Letting everyone know all aspects of your business is rarely a positive thing. Once a subject hits Facebook, whatever is posted is there for all to see ... forever! It makes me wonder how many times people wish they had hit the delete key before they hit the send key. Maybe there is a syndrome for this phenomenon — let’s call it “social media regret.” The consequences can be devastating.
There is freedom of speech, but not freedom of consequences from that free speech. We have all seen old posts brought up to attack others. One needs to pick their battles, particularly on social media.
There are some things which simply do not need to be shared.
Thought for the day; “It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and some people do not understand that. Social media is more like a telephone than a television.” Amy Jo Martin, CEO and founder of Digital Royalty.
Until next time ... I will keep ridin’ the storm out!
