Cutting the Social Media Cord

Most people I know have a conflicted relationship with their social media. Most might be too far, but the public has reason to be concerned. This post will likely be more personal than analytical, so you'll have to forgive me.

For a couple of years I've been worried about the privacy and frankly the morality of the massive companies that dominate our social exchanges to such a degree. Companies like Facebook and Twitter are not neutral. Imagine if the postal workers read all of your mail and kept careful records or who you write and interacted with. It's against the law for people to interfere with your mail. Social media provide private platforms, which means what we produce there does not belong to us. We have no protections.

If you are receiving a product for free, then you're the product. Facebook is selling us. They sell our attention, our web pages, etc. to advertisers. Ads tailored to us flood our feeds and bombard each day. If you never tried, look at someone else's account. See how different their experience is from yours. Obviously a major concern has been Facebook selling or exposing our data for manipulation and profits. 

Facebook especially, but other social media as well, seems highly suited to indulge in the worst of our natures: accepting those that support our biases, and rejecting those we disagree with and challenge us. This is epitomized by the fake news phenomenon. People widely shared and were influenced by for-profit propaganda. Do not simply dismiss this as a 2016 problem. It continues to exist and grow like a cancer. The most successful coarsen and erode our public discourse.

The toxicity of social media feeds into our body politic. I've heard numerous examples of people taking breaks from social media. I presume they don't quit because of the utility of the service and how difficult it is to just sever it. Seeing how awful the internet can be on a regular basis cannot be good for us, nor encouraging us to spew bile and invective at each other.

I am strongly considering deleting at least my Facebook. I don't trust that company. It may have utility, but so do other things that ultimately in the net hurt you. I would encourage other readers to consider the same. It may be time to end this experiment once and for all.  

Accidental Big Brother

The other day I was reflecting on the responsibilities of teachers to maintain a respectable presence in the community. Teacher-candidates are warned about their public appearances. In previous decades that would mean teachers would have to endeavour to be model citizens in their community, or maintain a low profile. Once a person could go home, close their doors, and enjoy their privacy.

With the digital age upon us that is no longer the case. As a professional-in-training in the education sector I’ve become highly aware of the scrutiny new media, but we are not alone. Employers are increasingly using social networks to screen potential employees.

With social media we’ve essentially abandoned much of our privacy. Our identities, broadly speaking, are now publicly accessible. Not to mention our activities, actions and believes are open to scrutiny. I am aware of the irony of this while writing a blog. Something else I find questionable is that we are more profoundly judged on how we interact with one another. In face-to-face interactions we curtail what we say based on who we are speaking with and where we are. How we talk to grandma at church is different than us shooting the breeze with a friend in the hallway, especially our sassy friends.

Social networking, such as Facebook, level the playing field. Posts on your wall, and photographs are completely removed from context. In addition, comments and postings you make are left to separate scrutiny beyond the one-on-one relationship.

A 2009 study from CareerBuilder stated that 45% of employers use Facebook to screen applicants. Does anyone believe this number is lower in 2011? 53% of candidates were excluded due to inappropriate or provocative photos, 29% for poor communication skills. For other factors check out the article, here .

Nearly 3 in 10 are excluded due to poor communication skills on Facebook? Start checking your spelling and grammar folks, because it might count one day soon.

The great fear in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, or one of them, was that someone would be always watching you. Well instead of an all powerful state, or abusive corporations, it’s ourselves who have exposed ourselves to deep scrutiny. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to post this.