In a previous blog I discussed the benefits of social media and how connected it brought us a society. I did however briefly mention that if it wasn’t used productively that it could have some issues.
Feelings of Belonging and Homophily
Social media provides us access to a wide range of people all over the world. It allows us to meet and connect with new and old friends alike. It’s a place where we can express and discover interests and hobbies. A place that allows us to bond with and feel connected. You can read more about how social media brings about feelings of belonging here. Yes social media can be great, but it can also be very dangerous. Social media contributes to the growth of homophily, and not only that it actually enables it. Homophily can be very dangerous because it can lead to extremism, and has been linked to terrorism.
Algorithms and Isolation
The heart and soul of social media is the algorithms that bring to you all your hearts desires and interests. Algorithms work by tracking your activity on the network and then predicting what you would like. Once there’s a prediction it will then keep displaying those predictions to you. The problem here is that this can become extremely isolating because algorithms won’t change their course. It will just keep showing things that are of similar content over and over again. When this action happens you are not exposed to other things on the web, just those predictions. It isolates you from the rest of what the web has to offer. Not only are you prone to be isolated in what you are being shown, this can lead to political extremism, bullying and much more. If you are not exposed to all sides of politics you will most definitely be a political extremist.
Don’t Be a Victim of Social Media
There’s many ways to help prevent yourself from becoming a victim from this type of isolation. For example, always remaining curious about the world, your views and interests will always keep your algorithm on its toes. For specific platforms like Instagram, utilizing the explore page often will always help broaden your predicted content. It’s also important to keep in mind that social media is a free for all where anyone can post anything whether it’s true or false, so always fact checking and not reposting false information are good steps to take.
In this social media era that we're in, yes enjoy the perks but don't let social media kill who you are. Stay curious, stay open minded, and connect.
Ober , H. (2021, February 3). How to burst your bubble: Broadening your social media horizons. https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2021/02/03/how-burst-your-bubble-broadening-your-social-media-horizons.