Tag: social media

Superbloom: Examining the Perils of Social Media

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Since 2010, when The Shallows by Nicholas Carr was published, I have recommended it so many times. That book explained how our lives changed when we put smart phones in our pockets –capable of bringing more information than we could ever imagine to our fingertips. So, I immediately purchased Superbloom (his 2025 publication) and I was surprised to be a bit less surprised! Most likely I was not as blown away (although the book is good and I will post more about it) because I have been researching changing literacy since the turn of the century and am in total agreement with the perils of social media Carr lays out … like a blooming field of flowers with photos and hashtags more important than the actual blossoms themselves. (See a photo of poppies similar to the viral post from a social media influencer that caused trampling of the field of poppies).

By Bluesnote – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77472535

DIGITAL IDENTITY: the foundation of Digital Citizenship

Carr shares a fascinating take on how social media forms our digital identity. Here is a passage from Superbloom (via Substack):

Social identity plays an important organizing role online as well, but it can also, when it usurps individual character, lead to a kind of self-stereotyping. It becomes a cage, if a comfortable one. In social media’s flux, identity serves as a defense mechanism. It gives the entropic mirrorball self an appearance of stability and cohesion by reducing it to a set of ready-made tribal markers: hashtags, emojis, slogans, gestures, acronyms, flags, in-jokes, buzzwords. This is who I am. This and this and this. The self is formed through a curation of symbols.

Social media is a disembodied self; however, having spent nearly two decades in a virtual world, I believe one can have an avatar in a persistent space that is embodied. This was not addressed in the book but I think perhaps it is important to point out that when one is embodied in an avatar with other humans, it is not the same as the endless disposable scroll. Digital identity can be more intentional when one enters a virtual place with real human beings to interact and form purposeful communities rather than “advertisements” of themselves. This important difference will be essential in teaching the next generation about digital identity, particularly when AI characters, NPCs, virtual companions, non-human agents, and other “individuals” are simulating humans even as we speak.

Is Meaningless Media Mandatory?

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How Mandated Use of Social Media Began

I was a school librarian when the information hierarchy toppled and print was no longer at the top! Suddenly, my school principal and colleagues looked to me to answer the question “What is happening to information?” And, I became the voice of the school on social media. It was simply dropped in my lap. What kind of information professional would I be if I was not aware of the information channels being used as digital culture emerged?

Often, I have told people how it felt at the turn of the 21st century, when it seemed the floor beneath my feet in the library was shaking! I knew there was no going back and that digital culture would change everything. But, I embraced it and said “Bring it on!” even though I had a distaste for social media and the narcissism of everyone yelling “Look at me!” Much of the content we scroll through is self-serving, unimportant, and rather meaningless. User-generated content sometimes makes me long for the gatekeepers who made authors jump through hoops to get published. Entering a library with stacks of high quality materials gave me a sense of trust in authority and quality that one never finds online. (Sure, there may never have been a “perfect 100% truth” of information, but at least we didn’t have to dig through a pile of nonsense to find a truthful nugget.)

Once Facebook took off, every field seemed to adopt social media as a way to connect us all: business people, educators, long-lost family and special interest groups, for example. And take off it did! Within a decade, Facebook and Twitter impacted the fabric of society and others began to join me in the feeling that it is inherently wrong. Yet, everyone seemed to justify using it because… well, everybody was doing it. Yes, it feels mandated.

A colleague recently told me she deleted all her social media except for LinkedIn and that it feels great. I felt a pang of envy at her bravery to cut it off. But the libraries and groups I work with insist on using social media as the best way to reach out to patrons and provide information easily. Again, it feels mandated.

We’re in a Dilemma

The ME! ME! ME! oversharing of personal information is not the only problem with social media. Data mining uses our information to manipulate our behavior, as pointed out in the Nexflix documentary THE SOCIAL DILEMMA. Our incoming dashboards, unique to each of us, compel us toward personalized ads and a tendency for confirmation bias (following those whose ideas align to our own).

Rather than live in fear, for the past 20 years I have been researching information literacy (and the term metaliteracy which I feel describes it perfectly) with the goal of helping the next generation remain human. I joke that we are all cyborgs and it may be pretty close to the truth. Many young people are aware of the problems encountered on social media and organizations like the Center for Humane Technology are striving to find ways to tackle them. For me, my faith keeps fear away and, without faith, my view of the future would appear dark and dismal. Awareness of the social dilemma which has swept across our planet awakens us to our personal responsibility for metaliteracy.

Privacy Died and Nobody Mourned

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We are moving toward a “hypervisable age” where individual privacy is a relic.  Sean Parker (in an argument about the death of privacy) said, “Today’s creepy is tomorrow’s necessity”. Parker, one of the founders of Facebook, is certainly no stranger to the hypervisable trend of social media.

Keen (on page 57 in #digitalvertigo) says, “…the death of privacy is no different, in principle, from the retirement of the horse and cart or the disappearance of gaslights from city streets”.

tombstone

This is my second post about #digitalvertigo (first post is linked here) and I, for one, am mourning the death of privacy.  Is anyone else? Couldn’t we meet and have some sort of memorial? Perhaps we could light candles and reminisce about the days that shall be no more.

Keen, A. (2012). #digitalvertigo: How Today’s Online Social Revolution is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Monthly Web 2.0 Checkup

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January is coming to a close, so I decided to reflect on my New Year’s resolution.  A month ago, I set the goal to try not to “bash Facebook” this year!  How am I doing?

Ironically, during the first days of January, several educational groups, including a class at my university and a library honor society, requested I become a fan (or would that be a friend?).  There’s no way to retreat—everyone is already on fb.

Then, I received an invitation to “like” a recycling company that has helped my school earn money (through sending in old cell phones and ink cartridges).  Helping earn money for badly needed books and materials is wonderful, but is it my responsibility to advertise for the companies in which I do business?

On TV each morning as I was getting dressed, I heard news broadcasters suggesting listeners post opinions. (They really care about what the public thinks.)  I am trying to remain calm and not let my blood pressure rise, as I contemplate the fact that the news is no longer the news, but a popularity contest for ratings or a friendly chat over a cup of coffee.

A young high school English teacher I know was talking about her students’ writing abilities.  She proposed the idea that students may be writing more than ever with texting and fb status updates.   She proposed an increase in the perception that every tidbit that comes out of one’s mouth (or fingertips) is perceived as golden.  Rather than striving for high quality in writing (through painful revision), students fling personal messages and photos to an “awaiting” world.  The perpetuation of self-centeredness may be growing exponentially.  Which reminds me of a joke I heard from one of my favorite professors (a philosphical mathematician who made statistics fun).  He liked to state repeatedly (try saying it outloud), “Enough about me.  Let’s talk about you.  What do you think of me?”  Say it three times in a row!

Back to my monthly Web 2.0 checkup.  I really did try to work on my goal of understanding the fb phenomenon.  I created a custom group and posted a status update to only one person as a test for meaningful conversation.  Email would have been more efficient.   However, I have learned that many people check fb much more often than email.  To date, I still have learned nothing on facebook.  My sister reminded me that it is a “social” network and asked me why I feel it necessary to learn something.  If it is only for the purpose of casual conversation, why do I feel obligated, as an information professional, to associate myself with my university’s page?

I am not giving up, I have eleven months to go!  I certainly hope, dear reader, that this post is not misconstrued as bashing.  I have every intention of forging on through 2011 with an open mind.

But wait, for those who are compelled to check fb first thing in the morning, before they rise from bed– here’s a site that will help you limit yourself by saying “Keep Me Out!”