Dilemma: To be Social or Not to be Social

Recently, I saw this documentary Social Dilemma on Netflix. Our "potential" addiction to social media is hidden in plain sight. We all spend a lot of time on Social media, and I do too. 

Most of my active engagement on Social was around Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube and occasional use of platforms like Instagram and Facebook. As an experiment, I deleted a bunch of social apps from my phone, turned off notifications on most apps, turned off Auto-play on YouTube and logged off Twitter and Instagram for a week. Twitter used to engage me multiple times a day, I would nominally initiate searches on YouTube, and I was mostly a passive surfer on Instagram. 

So, what's the dilemma? Social media can be addictive, and it can be useful too. Where should one draw the line? Should one abandon all social media? How about quitting all technology use that has any personal information? As in most cases, the answer is not black or white as we might like.

I researched and found six signs that you are addicted to something from Psychology Today.

1) Importance: How important has it become to your sense of self and the way you live your life? 

2) Reward response: Does doing it make you feel better, more in control? Does not doing it make you feel worse?

3) Prevalence: Do you find yourself doing it more often and for longer periods than you originally planned? 

4) Cessation: Do you feel anxious or uncomfortable if you cannot do it or if you just think about not doing it? 

5) Disruption: Has doing this activity disrupted your life and your relationships? 

6) Reverting: Do you often say to yourself you're going to do something different but then turn around and keep doing the same thing—or doing it even more? 

What I did a learn from one week of moderation? 

• The platforms do engage you and get you hooked, but they also add significant value. The signal to noise ratio is a challenge. While its hard to say what all I missed - the volume is so humongous - one simple proxy was messages shared on Social media that made their way to me "off-the-platform". I also realised the power of Twitter as my primary source of news consumption. There are pros and cons of Twitter's feed algorithm, but at least it is social enough that one can get a meaningful signal from people you directly follow. I also realised that I get not only news but also insights about the startup ecosystem. So, what's the flip side? How do you ensure that you don't get "sucked" into the vortex? 

My takeaways: 

• Do a minimum one week or longer "fast" for each platform.
• Do a self-audit for each platform you use on the six parameters for addiction above.
• Write down the goals for each platform you use (could be Education, entertainment, or even just amusement)
• Big Tech does have a lot of our data, and they know more about us than perhaps even know as much or more about us than we know ourselves. I also learnt about this area of Surveillance Capitalism. There's an eponymous book and several TED talks around this. 

• One must educate oneself about this and one's privacy rights. Lastly, if you work in #startups or the #technology industry, have a conversation about user data. Also, understand and keep abreast of policy work in this area. The Government of India tabled a Personal Data Protection Bill in the Parliament in 2019.

My takeaways: 

• Find out for each platform what they know about you and how to export and perhaps even delete it. E.g. Google has https://takeout.google.com/ 
• Discuss with your family, friends and colleagues about this topic. It was both intriguing and scary. Some people thought this was all a propaganda and wanted to "keep calm" and carry on; others wanted to move into a digital "bunker", and some wanted to divide and conquer by selectively participating on various platforms and ensuring one doesn't slip down the slippery slope.

My takeaways:

• Ensure you have a detailed discussion on this. That's more than half the battle.
• Educate people who are less aware of the implications of the importance of their data and vulnerability to be controlled by "technology".
• If you find that you are addicted, or someone you know is, seek professional help.

Any technology will always have both pros and cons. The Industrial Revolution brought about significant advances in building machines that have made our lives more effective and efficient. Yet, some of those same advances have led to massive weaponisation. The Internet has literally transformed our lives from Education to Entertainment to Commerce but has also spawned a dark web to facilitate nefarious activities. All the ongoing advances in Gene Sequencing, and Gene Editing, could lead to early identification and perhaps cures for terminal diseases like cancer; however, they could also lead to biological warfare or even longevity for the chosen few. I think Social media is similar - it has brought us together in ways that were unimaginable 15 years ago, but yes, it probably does have a burgeoning underbelly. In the end, I see Social Media somewhat as a Hobson's choice.

“If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.”

Lyndon B. Johnson, Former US President

I think it behoves us to work not only on the technology but also on the policy frameworks, exploring disclosure or even regulatory requirements on products with an extensive reach, invest aggressively in user's Education and rights, and self-governance. 

(Amit is a Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners, an early-stage Venture Capital firm based out of Bangalore, India. Prime VP invests in category-creating, early-stage companies founded by rock star teams. Prior, Amit has held leadership positions at Makemytrip, Google and IBM.

Mind Trails is my weekly newsletter of starting points & learnings from books, podcasts, articles quotes and smart people that have moved me in the last week or two. Find my other blogs on LinkedIn & my tweets at @amitsomani)