WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY STANDS FOR

This is a follow up article on another one about social media which briefly explained why this phenomenon is so popular. That article can be accessed on my blog.

This popularity is well deserved but there are dangers lurking about. This is what this article will address. We are going to shine some light on those dangers with the hope that by the end of this article we would have a firm grasp of what they are and how they came to be.

REAL AND MORTAL DANGER

I’m going to be blunt and straightforward here, social media is a frighteningly treacherous environment. I know this sounds rather close-minded and somewhat final. I can already hear someone sighing and muttering a few harsh words. But this is serious and there’s no point in beating about the bush, is there?

There are instances where terrible things have been done to people who were lured into dropping their guard. Some have lost their lives while others are left to pick up the pieces, so to speak. I am not going to overstate these unfortunate events as I am sure it is evident that the dangers are real.

For all its advances in connecting people, social media has introduced a new and sinister aspect into our lives. Let’s examine this, shall we?

FACELESS INDIVIDUALS

When connecting and communicating with people online i.e. Facebook, Twitter, the general assumption is that these people have our best interests at heart. We assume that they are decent. We go as far as to assume that we actually know them. We assume all this from people we hardly know. In other words we put our trust in the hands of faceless individuals.

This is exactly the point where a lot of people drop their guard and put their lives at risk.

In the same breath, how can you trust someone you’ve never met? Telling your life story to a faceless individual? It sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it? But this is exactly what a lot of people are doing on a daily basis.

SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL INTERACTION

Social media is not supposed to be a replacement for personal interaction. In my understanding, it is meant to facilitate connections and interactions between individuals irrespective of distance. This is what social media is perfect for.

There can never a replacement for personal interaction. There will always be a need to interact with other people. No technological advancement can do away with it.

This does not mean that human beings are not trying to replace this personal interaction. The fact is we are, whether consciously or otherwise. We spend countless hours chatting with people in faraway places whilst ignoring people right under our noses. We play games online with strangers but will not be bothered to do so with our next door neighbor. Why is this the case?

We are trying to replace personal interaction with social media and the like.

This, in my opinion, is the real tragedy of it all.

THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND

To simply say that we are trying to replace mutual human interaction as the main reason is not sufficient. I think, a deeper cause is involved. I mean, why would we even attempt to do this? What is the benefit in it? Let’s dig in further.

We, as human beings, are a strange lot. We are prone to overthink and overcomplicate even really simple matters. We are naturally selfish, suspicious, pleasure-driven and self-serving. Selfish, self-serving are synonyms, I know. They are meant to drive a point home.

So, the appeal of social media is that we are spared the need to deal with other people’s emotions. We are free to assume anything about the other person’s state of mind and feel good about ourselves. You see, we can hardly deal with own thoughts and emotions. So, how are we supposed to deal with other people’s feelings?

That is the real driving force of the need to replace or limit our interaction with other people in real life. We get to “interact” with others while not really bothered by a lot of these other stuff. Remember, we are largely self-serving. And social media is perfect in that the need to connect with others is satisfied while we escape all the emotional and real issues.

That is a tragedy indeed.