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The 21st Century has seen the conglomeration of media to the populous-driven social media. Arguably beginning with Myspace, social media has bloomed into a cultural sub-culture all its own. There are rules, jargon, habits, traditions of a new form, and expectation of communication. In several measurable ways, social media has supplanted traditional media and has even been utilized by the latter to inform and ready audiences. What is still being discovered however, is the consequences that social media is having on Western, and global society. Much like the invention of the telegraph, telephone, television, and the home computer, social media represent the next dynamic wrinkle in communication technology. And, like the other wrinkles, social media cannot be undone. What is left to understand and measure, are the positive and negative effects that social media has brought humanity. Focusing on Facebook, social media at best should be considered a Faustian Dilemma, and its negative consequences can only be mitigated by a resurgence of morality in popular culture.
The telegraph made communication possible for people over long distances. There is a reality that the United States has never been more than a collection of micro-cultures and as a result, people had little to talk about despite the technological advancement (Herman & Chomsky). People in Maryland could communicate with people in Florida, but without something specific, there was little to chat about. But, the new speed of communication had significant impacts on society. One area could now warn others of natural disasters, potential invasions, fleeing criminals or con-artists, and a more knit community began to take shape as the collective needs were manifesting themselves.
Zip forward to the latter 20th Century, and the first decade of the 21st. Home computers were now more than vogue, but almost a near necessity of success. Just decades before, it was a luxury to own a television, and the ideas of the telephone and telegraph were so commonplace that they could both be nearly considered passé (Postman). People now owned multiple televisions, mobile phones, and could watch/ call, or manage all from a computer.
Computers further enhanced the rapidity of communication and shrunk the world. Every man, woman, or child, even if he, or she did not own, or know how to operate a computer, could be shared with everyone else. Computers made a global community out of the Earth in a similar way that the telegraph helped forge the United States.
Social media is one of the primary methods for non-standard, unofficial communication on computers. Although invented after computers became prevalent in Western homes, social media’s convenience and quick-access made it a natural common denominator for all peoples to interact on. People could now combine all other media and personalize their presentation to the outside world via pictures, links to favorite ideas and comments on others’ customizations and presentations.
If a person only had one side of a sheet of paper to write on, or had to craft one piece of communication, or letter to their loved ones, he, or she would make every letter of every word count. One constant caveat of expedited communication that occurs with every advancement is the degradation of meaningful conversation. When communication is quick and instant, there is an opportunity to put less time into the selection of words, and to be about to communicate as quickly as thoughts are generated (Postman). The result is a less sincere, refined and purposeful communication which can have negative effects when custom presentations are crafted capriciously.
Such privatization is available for the world however, and privacy has changed as a result. Privacy itself has not changed, but the idea and expectation of privacy has. Employers, and malevolent persons, now comb through social media looking for information out of context to exploit as half-truths, or information that can potentially be used to discredit, or blackmail individuals. Several instances of violence and stalking have come by the over-sharing of too much information, and the increased ability to monitor others’ activities, interests and whereabouts. For those who opt-out of participating in social media, there can actually be a nuanced pressure to then share similar details about their lives, or be subject to unwarranted and unfounded suspicion.
Facebook is the tip of the spear in regard to social media. Facebook combines several user-friendly features that allow for the customization of messages, media, pictures and access by others. Contemporary advertisement and solicitation must have Facebook woven into its approach, or the business, or entity, will not be successful.
There are major national, and international news agencies that have turned to Facebook to support user comments and reflection about news. Pop-culture itself can begin and end on the prevalence, or lack thereof, on Facebook, and there is no real ability to gauge the future applications. Facebook users are subject to the quickest, most encapsulating communication platform humans have yet to devise.
Not all is perfect however. Facebook has negative consequences that are rarely examined prior to tragedy. Interpersonal relationships have ended, and violence has even occurred, due to posts and revelations that Facebook has manifested. Careers have ended, or have been cut-short due to information that is taken out of context, or a generalization about a person’s character based upon information he, or she neglectfully shared with the world. Although private settings are available, they are easily circumvented if there is concerted will.
People have been able to assume the identity of others more easily and predatory behavior has become easier to engage in. People of all demographics are easily targeted and photos become public domain, possibly altered or confiscated by unwanted parties at any time. The most damaging societal affect, is the lack of care put forth into communication itself.
The tolerance of broken, and incomplete communication acquiesces the worst of expedited communication. No longer do people have to plan and craft what they want to say to others, they can now simply blurt out without any consideration of the consequences; this has become a norm in some ways (Postman). While the idea may not be too negative conceptually, the importance of the shift is that the ability to craft meaningful messages is becoming an atrophied skill (Herman & Chomsky).
There have been several presses to create laws to help govern social media. Social media represents an authentically democratic form of media, even despite the ease in which it is persuaded. The dangers that social media have exacerbated are willingly entered in to by its users. Much like any new technology that presents such obvious gains and setbacks, users need to ask themselves if the positives are really worth the negatives.
Facebook represents the crux of a Faustian Dilemma. Whereas there are great and wonderful gains from Facebook’s existence, prevalence and use, there are equally new and fantastic dangers and risks (Noor & Hendricks). Caught in the excitement of whether or not a person can do something, people need to stop and ask whether or not they should. There is an inherent enticement for the approval and quasi-emotional support that Facebook facilitates, but the consequences have yet to be fully understood (Scott).
Laws cannot dictate a person’s personal choices and be considered just. So, it is up to a resurgence of personal morality to govern independent decisions. Morality that values privacy, value and worth that are derived from craft products and careful ideas, and that is not persuaded by passing fads and flashing lights (Postman). Make no mistake, Facebook is here to stay, even if it wanes, but in the search for popularity there is a lack of authenticity. Perhaps it is the natural order that must see the superficiality to its endgame, and only then will the pendulum of earnest ideas return to satisfy the individual; hopefully, this is not the case.
Laws are not morality, and vice versa. With each new advancement in any regard, there is always something that is lost; the danger is when there is a lack of certainty about whether or not the advancement was worth what was lost. The idea of a Faustian Dilemma is the most accurate means to describe the ascension and the prevalence of social media (Postman). Like other inventions that have had similar effects on communication, social media both increase the expedience and availability of ideas, but degrades them on the backswing. For the many supporters, and the increasingly fewer critics, social media is now a part of a new global reality. Traditions and habits around the world have been impacted and influenced through the new paradigm of communication, and as a result, new norms have developed and grown (Herman & Chomsky). Although the roots of social media can demonstratively be linked to an evolution of communication, the long-term effects have yet to be seen (Scott).
Works Cited
Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the
Mass Media. New York: Pantheon, 1988. Print.
Offord, Alexander. Communication Inventions: The Talk of the Town. Print.
Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.
New York: Viking, 1985. Print.
S., Noor Al-Deen Hana, and John Allen. Hendricks. Social Media: Usage and Impact. Lanham,
MD: Lexington, 2012. Print.
Scott, Celicia. Facebook: How Mark Zuckerberg Connected More than a Billion Friends. Print.
