Social Media's Societal Impact
The Internet as a Country: Who Controls Your Online Experience?
Imagine if the internet was a country, a place where people go to discover news, learn new things, make commercial transactions, find friends, and build communities. It’s a place where people from different backgrounds and opinions can connect effortlessly. But who controls your online experience in this country? The answer is not as clear as it seems.
As the speaker in the video script points out, a handful of companies have built and control the infrastructure of the internet, and one of them, Facebook, has the power to command our attention and influence our behavior on a massive scale. With 2.2 billion users, Facebook has more power than any government or religion has ever had, and it’s arguably reshaping our culture and changing our society altogether.
While Facebook’s main goal is to be the social infrastructure for communities, it’s also changing the way we experience things in our personal lives. For example, celebrations like birthdays have become popularity contests, and mourning over a loved one has become a trying quest to dodge untimely reminders in a minefield of memories. Even public memories are a new norm for younger generations.
But Facebook’s influence goes beyond just personal experiences. It has also changed the way we react to and process national tragedies or deaths of public figures. By deciding when to activate features like profile photo filters and safety checks, Facebook nudges us as to which tragedy to pay attention to and take solidarity with.
The impact of all of this spills out into offline, real society, and it raises the question of whether we’re comfortable with corporations whose bottom line is funded by the amount of time people spend on their platform guiding the way. It’s a question that we need to consider as we navigate the country of the internet and our online experiences.
Facebook’s Growing Influence: More Powerful Than Any Government or Religion?
Facebook’s influence has grown to be more powerful than any government or religion. With 2.2 billion users, the company has an outsized effect on how a quarter of the planet’s population does things. Facebook’s main goal is to be the social infrastructure for communities and to fill the gap left by declining engagement with traditional communities like churches and unions.
But with this much power, it raises the question of whether Facebook is the new church for online society. Religious institutions have played a significant role in influencing cultural norms, and now Facebook is taking on that role in the digital world. However, Facebook’s influence is not always beneficial.
The speaker in the video script points out that Facebook is changing how we experience all aspects of life, from celebrations like birthdays to mass grief over national tragedies or deaths of public figures. Even personal matters like mourning over a loved one have become public on Facebook.
Facebook’s innovative tools, such as reaction emoticons, have also ensured that we’re constantly alerted about a few birthdays and then stay a little longer to send them a wish, thereby increasing the company’s revenue. But Facebook’s impact goes beyond just personal experiences. It can also create a distorted reality by throwing us into only like-minded groups and disrupting the process of how people’s behaviors in the real world are influenced by what they perceive is the social norm in their community.
Facebook’s influence spills out into offline, real society, as shown by a study that analyzed every anti-refugee attack in Germany over two years and found that Facebook use was the only factor linked with the number of hate crimes. It’s a far cry from what we envisioned when we started posting cute photos on Facebook more than a decade ago.
As we navigate the country of the internet and our online experiences, we need to consider whether we’re comfortable with corporations whose bottom line is funded by the amount of time people spend on their platform guiding the way. Facebook’s influence may have its benefits, but we need to be aware of its downsides as well.
Facebook’s Role in Shaping Cultural Norms and Society
As a platform that originally started out as a tool to connect friends, Facebook has taken on a new role in shaping cultural norms and society. Cultural norms are historic concepts that describe the grammar of social interactions and tell us how we should act in certain situations. While these norms are very entrenched offline, online is a new space for us to start building them out.
However, the question is whether we are really building these new social norms ourselves, or whether Facebook is pushing us to act in certain ways without us quite realizing it. For example, Facebook’s reaction emoticons have become the way we express our feelings, and the platform leads us halfway down a path, and it’s our decision then to push back or to continue with what they’re suggesting to us. But as social animals, we tend to go along with the convention, and these conventions have spread.
Facebook has implemented more and more innovative ways to bring everything we do offline to online, and along the way, it’s changed the way we experience things. Celebrations like birthdays have become popularity contests, and mourning over a loved one has become a trying quest to dodge untimely reminders in a minefield of memories. Public memories are a new norm for younger generations, and teenagers feel bad about themselves when they see records of somewhere they weren’t on somebody’s feed.
But Facebook’s influence goes beyond just personal experiences. It can also create a distorted reality and disrupt the process of how people’s behaviors in the real world are influenced by what they perceive is the social norm in their community. By throwing us into only like-minded groups, Facebook can influence our behavior on a massive scale, and it’s having a broader impact on society.
The impact of all of this spills out into offline, real society, and it raises the question of whether we’re happy for corporations whose bottom line is funded by the amount of time people spend on their platform to guide the way. As we navigate the country of the internet and our online experiences, we need to consider the impact of Facebook’s influence on our cultural norms and society.
The Impact of Facebook on Personal Experiences: Mourning, Celebrations, and Memories
Facebook has changed the way we experience personal events such as mourning, celebrations, and memories. These events have become public, and to the benefit of new institutions like Facebook. Facebook’s innovative tools ensure that we’ll be constantly alerted about a few birthdays and then stay a little longer to send them a wish or stay glued to the screen during a mass tragedy.
For example, Facebook has changed mass grief, the way we publicly react to and process national tragedies or deaths of public figures. With profile photo filters and safety checks, Facebook is showing us what the appropriate mourning behavior is. By deciding to activate these features, Facebook nudges us as to which tragedy to pay attention to and take solidarity with.
Facebook has also changed the way we celebrate events like birthdays, which have become popularity contests. Events that leave a trace on Facebook may rank higher in our long-term memory because the platform reminds us that they occurred. However, for a younger generation, public memories are a new norm, and teenagers feel left out when they see records of somewhere they weren’t on somebody’s feed.
While Facebook has made it easier to connect with friends and family and share important life events, it’s important to consider the impact of this on our personal experiences. Facebook’s influence can also create a distorted reality and disrupt the process of how people’s behaviors in the real world are influenced by what they perceive is the social norm in their community.
As we continue to navigate the country of the internet and our online experiences, we need to consider the impact of Facebook’s influence on our personal experiences and whether it’s truly enhancing our lives or having a negative effect.
Facebook’s Tight Grip on Our Time and Attention: How It Benefits the Company
Facebook’s main goal, according to its co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is to be the social infrastructure for communities. By bringing offline activities online, Facebook tightens its grip on our time and attention. With 2.2 billion users, one single company has a huge amount of influence over how a quarter of the planet’s population does things – more power than any government or religion has ever had.
Facebook’s innovative tools have ensured that we’re constantly engaged with the platform, whether it’s by sending birthday wishes, reacting to posts, or participating in public memories. Facebook’s business model is based on increasing the amount of time people spend on the platform, and the more time we spend, the more revenue the company generates.
By pushing us to act in certain ways without us even realizing it, Facebook influences our behavior at a large scale, shaping our culture and changing our society altogether. However, this raises important questions about who is really in control of our online experiences and whether it’s ethical for a single company to have such a significant influence over our lives.
As we continue to use Facebook and other social media platforms, it’s important to be aware of how our time and attention are being controlled and manipulated, and to consider the potential consequences of this for our personal lives and society as a whole.
The Dark Side of Facebook: Filter Bubbles, Polarization, and Hate Crimes
Facebook’s influence extends beyond just our personal experiences and cultural norms. It also has a significant impact on our perception of the world around us. Filter bubbles, where people only see information that confirms their existing beliefs, are a real issue on Facebook. The algorithms that decide what content we see on our newsfeeds are designed to keep us engaged and often lead us down rabbit holes of sensational stories and polarizing content.
This polarization can have serious real-world consequences, as demonstrated by a 2018 study that analyzed every anti-refugee attack in Germany over two years. The study found that Facebook use was the only factor linked with the number of hate crimes, surpassing factors such as affluence level, socio-demographics, or right vs. left politics. This is a concerning development for a platform that was originally intended to connect people and build communities.
Filter bubbles and polarization are not just limited to hate crimes, either. They can also influence how we perceive political events, leading to a deepening divide between different groups and contributing to political polarization. By limiting our exposure to diverse perspectives, Facebook can make it harder for us to empathize with those who hold different views, further fueling division and animosity.
It’s important to recognize the impact that Facebook and other social media platforms can have on our perception of the world and our relationships with others. By being aware of filter bubbles and polarization, we can work to expand our horizons, seek out diverse perspectives, and build connections across different communities.
The Distorted Reality of Facebook: How it Influences Society and Culture
The impact of Facebook on society is immense, and it can be argued that the platform is changing the way we experience different aspects of life. Facebook is not just a tool to connect friends; it has become a social infrastructure for communities, where engagement with traditional communities like churches and unions has declined in the past few decades. With over 2.2 billion users, one single company has a huge amount of influence over how a quarter of the planet’s population does things, more power than any government or religion has ever had.
Facebook has changed the way we experience life events like birthdays and tragedies. Celebrations like birthdays have become popularity contests, and events that leave a trace on Facebook may rank higher in our long-term memory because the platform reminds us they occurred. Mourning over a loved one has become a trying quest to dodge untimely reminders in a minefield of memories. And for a younger generation, public memories are a new norm.
Facebook has become the new church for online society, influencing cultural norms, and changing society altogether. However, this raises the question, are we happy for corporations whose bottom line is funded by the amount of time people spend on their platform to guide the way? There’s no policy or citizen council in the country of the internet to think and decide if this is the way we want to go into the future.
Should Corporations Guide the Way for the Future of Society? The Question We Need to Ask Ourselves.
As we’ve explored in this series, Facebook’s influence on society and culture is significant. It shapes our online experiences, impacts our personal lives, and has the power to polarize communities. But the bigger question is, should we be comfortable with corporations like Facebook guiding the way for the future of society?
Facebook’s business model is built around keeping users engaged for as long as possible. Its algorithm is designed to show us content that we’re most likely to interact with, whether it’s cute cat videos or sensational news stories. By doing so, Facebook keeps us scrolling and generates more revenue from ads.
But this model has serious implications for the kind of content we’re exposed to and the way we see the world. Facebook’s algorithm can create filter bubbles that reinforce our existing beliefs and make it harder for us to see other perspectives. It can also contribute to the spread of fake news and misinformation, which can have real-world consequences.
Furthermore, by outsourcing the creation of cultural norms to a private corporation, we risk losing control over the kind of society we want to live in. Facebook’s decisions about what content to show us, and how to shape our online experiences, have a profound impact on how we think, feel, and behave.
Ultimately, it’s up to each of us to decide whether we’re comfortable with the kind of influence that Facebook and other corporations have on our lives. As we continue to navigate the digital landscape, we need to be aware of the ways in which our online experiences are being shaped and question whether we’re happy with the direction things are going.
Conclusion
As we come to the end of this discussion, it’s clear that the influence of Facebook on our society and culture is significant and far-reaching. From shaping our personal experiences and memories to influencing our cultural norms and beliefs, Facebook’s impact on our lives is undeniable.
But with this influence comes the question of who is guiding the way for the future of society. Should it be left in the hands of corporations whose bottom line is funded by the amount of time people spend on their platforms? Or should we as a society take a more active role in shaping our own future?
The rise of filter bubbles, polarization, and hate crimes on Facebook has led to a distorted reality where our perceptions of society and culture are shaped by algorithms and artificial intelligence. This has had a broader impact on our society, as seen in the rise of hate crimes and the erosion of cultural norms.
It’s crucial to consider the ethical implications of how Facebook’s algorithms operate and how they influence our behavior. As citizens of the internet, we need to be aware of the impact Facebook has on our lives and question whether we are comfortable with its outsized influence on our culture and society.
In conclusion, Facebook’s growing influence is a double-edged sword that has both positive and negative impacts on our lives. While it has connected people and communities like never before, it also has the power to shape our perceptions of reality and influence our behavior. It’s up to us to decide whether we want to continue down this path or take a more active role in shaping the future of our society and culture.
