Antisocial Media

The world currently seems to be more divided than ever before; the middle ground is a strip the size of a cigarette paper and about as fragile. The United Kingdom and the United States of America are indeed United by name only, it would seem.

Over the last few years, I’ve always thought that social media was to blame for this increasing division. I’m sure we have all been on the global online debating site, Facebook, and seen daily rambling on anything from masks and vaccines, to less relevant but equally inflammatory topics such as “do you have to have a personality to win SPOTY?” or “who is the GOAT, Messi or Ronaldo?”

Social media platforms seem as though they are built for polarization and extremes.

Moderation and a balanced approach to ideas and discourse, seem to be fading away.

So “Social Media” is to blame, right?

I would have been sold on this fact right up until I noticed a trend that contradicts this premise completely. That being, the highest percentage of people I know who probably have the most contentious views, spend the least amount of time on social media; the baby boomer generation (roughly between 60 to 80 years of age).

But have their views always been the same, with the world around them changing, does it make their prejudices stand out more? Or is it just that as we get older, we care less about being contrite?

Clearly there are several factors that influence the division in society; maybe the answer is just technology in general. The steep climb in the technology that’s become available, gives such ease of access to the basic engagement mechanisms on popular social media sites like Facebook, driving people to think and communicate in ever more extreme ways.

Does society have to figure out how to adapt and change their behaviours – or risk becoming increasingly divided and driven to extremes? Does society want to change their behaviours? Are the main protagonists serious, or just attention seeking? Doing it for kicks on a slow day working from home?

My one shining example of how social media can cause an inflammatory response came just last week. The BBC shared a News post on Facebook concerning the divorce of Elliott Page and Emma Portner. I had no interest in this post and under any other circumstances I would’ve passed it by. But I was instinctively drawn to the comments section, like a lemming to a cliff, and with over 4000 comments already cast, it did not disappoint. It had absolutely everything from, hysteria over why the BBC chose this story over more important matters, to the natural right of self-actualization.

It was at this point that I had a revelation, a lightbulb moment, an epiphany that could save humanity. The simplest way to stop the increasing division in society: remove the comments section from social media posts. Keep the emoticons, that is fine, just remove the component that causes so much controversy. I can only see positive increases in productivity and mental fortitude.

On the basis that I cannot see Mr Zuckerberg jumping on this suggestion anytime soon, try instead to self-police your own time, whether posting or just window shopping, and spend a week avoiding the comments section. You might find it adds more productive time to your day.

So is Social Media to blame? No, as with everything in life, it is the users more than the technology.

But like Boris’s covid spreading cricket analogy, I think it is the vector for the disease.