Surface Ripples

(Anti-) Social Media?

In 2021, I wrote about the pros and cons of Facebook and LinkedIn.  I know there are other social media channels out there, all of which have their points.  

Months on, I still wonder whether social media (SM) is really adding value to our lives, or whether it continues to act as an ‘outlet for egos’.  It is certainly an effective way of reaching a large audience and has, I’m sure, benefitted a number of small businesses who use Facebook (FB) and Instagram (IG) to sell their goods.  

LinkedIn (LI) seems to be degenerating into a social commentary box, where users flaunt their moral, ‘woke’ or politically correct credentials or feel that they must post at least once/week, rather than a professional network.  The lines between personal and public/professional life are blurring into one (not helped, perhaps, by the coronavirus outbreak which has forced many to work from home).  

We are what we post.  I recently saw a video of a group of ladies shocked that the boyfriend of one of them had no social media accounts whatsoever.  How do they find out about him?  Is there something ‘wrong’ with him?  No one thinks of actually asking one of his friends about him or of assessing his character for themselves.  SM means we already have the answers we need without having to do any of the work ourselves.  All that is needed is to post that someone is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person (and to encourage others to do the same) 

SM allows us to share news, pictures and images in an instant.  Inevitably, it has attracted its share of ‘undesirables’ whose sole purpose it is to spread disinformation, libel, lies or hatred.  There is reason to believe that FB has been used to influence election results or focus attitudes on certain groups or people.

At best, the amount of ‘white noise’ being generated on SM is increasing, making it more difficult to follow whom one wants.

The response for some is to switch to a new platform, until that, too, becomes too ‘noisy’.  Policing is, at best, light.  Hardly surprising when one considers the volume of traffic generated by users.  Small wonder that FB has been taken to task for allowing ‘hate speech’ and other antisocial behaviour on its platform. 

We need to ask ourselves how we use SM and whether we’re actually contributing anything useful.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: Leisure, Social

posted by William Martin @ 08:52