Another placeholder… I’m not about to say that social media is evil, or that there is a malevolent global scheme to control minds. I’d be more inclined to say that we are embroiled in chaos. There are quite literally thousands of people/groups vying for our attention. Social media is a tool the way a screwdriver is a tool. It’s a solution the way a medicine is a solution. Who wants to get stabbed with a screwdriver though? Who is going to deny at this point that medicine by its very design and manufacture is a perfect design for abuse? It’s just the way it is.

I am annoyed that anything I’m conveying in this space is still dependent on the reference material in this video. The video can be pulled at any time rendering the time spent doing this empty. So this is a placeholder to fill in a space while I compose my own thoughts on this. For now though I’m going to leave it with Jaron Lanier’s phrase, “maximum engagement.”

That’s always been the dream though, hasn’t it? We want maximum engagement and commitment to a product or service or brand that we capitalize on.

He also uses the term, “abusive relationship.” That’s pretty heavy stuff, even from an eccentric like Lanier. It resonates with me because I suspect he is right. The social media sphere, or rather our relationship to it, is a giant, narcissistic entity that demands our validation, and we shape our behaviors to feed that. We are the co-dependents. The relationships and interactions are entirely the same as interpersonal relations.

For now…

One additional question to address fully at some point: I was someone prior to social media. I lived the larger part of my life before social media was invented. Am I the same person as I was prior to very heavy social media engagement, and if I’m not, how much of who I am now can be attributed to the abusive/addictive engagement with social media?