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There has never been a better time to talk about social media. We are in the cusp of
a major change in our normality paradigm. As social distancing measures are encouraged,
our reliance on the internet has become greater than ever. From watching magical cat videos,
keeping in touch with families and friends, easy online sign ups, promoting our businesses
to consuming news, social media has already become an invincible member in our changing
society, so much so that it has the power to change governments to alter our perspectives
and the way we think, act and feel.
A 2020 study published in partnership with Hootsuite, show that more than 4.5 billion
people now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark.
The latest trends suggest that more than half of world’s total population will use social
media before this year wraps up. What once used to be a vast, mysterious and complex
planet, now seems small, accessible and transparent, for the most part. Someone from a remote northern
town in Alaska, can get live updates about the protests in Hong Kong. Just think about
the magnitude of change, this level of connectivity could bring.
Like most things in the world, this has both positive and negative implications. One of
the biggest positives is that this kind of connectivity breeds empathy toward others,
regardless of where they’re from. We can even see how a group of nomads from Mongolia
live, we relate to them by watching them and learning about them. We realize that they’re
actually not very different from you and me. But what about the negatives? There are plenty
of course. The one I want to call your attention on, is the constant bludgeoning of news.
Sharing news in social media has become a phenomenon of increasing social, political
and economic importance. Anyone of us can produce content, report incidents and create
click worthy news stories. Take YouTube for instance. Its slogan is ‘Broadcast Yourself’.
Two simple yet phenomenally influential words that changed the face of mass media. In the
past, societies had localized sources where they could consume news and catch up on events.
Radio, television and newspapers were the major sources of information and propaganda,
and societies in a way were managed by these news sources. Think about it. Most of your thoughts
and perspectives about your society, and about the state of the world, are usually shaped
by the news and mass media. You only react to the information you’ve read, heard or
watched. Your perspective of your society is almost never the product of your first
hand experience. Controlling and directing the masses using propaganda and news, is an
age old tactic. From fascist rulers of the past to the present ruling governments and
corporations, we’ve always been told what to think and how to react. It is actually
a source of great power. Now because of the rise of social media, we see this power being
morphed into something else.
I remember, when I was little, my dad used to come home from the office, just in time
to watch the news hour. Within that hour we consumed local news, sports news and a hint
of international news. Now, it’s not an hour everyday. It is an ongoing state of reality.
So much so that it’s improbable to even check the sources for credibility, as another
attractively titled, explosive news story is eagerly waiting for your attention, for
your click.
We are always at war with someone, this country is planning to nuke that country, we are banning
products from this country, people from this society are assholes, think this way, feel
this way, cancel this program, oh are you feeling any different, be ashamed of yourself!
Social media as a news source, is fueling this us vs them mentality. This keeps you
in the state of perpetual anxiety. But when you don’t view the world only through news,
the story becomes different.
Crime statistics report by the US bureau of justice and the annual report by the FBI of
serious crimes, show a substantial decline in the violent crime rate in the US, since
it peaked in the early 1990s. Using the FBI numbers, the violent crime rate fell 51% between
1993 and 2018.
But the interesting thing is, public perception about crime in the US, often don’t align
with the data. In a 2016 Pew Research Survey , 57% of registered voters said crime in the
U.S. had gotten worse since 2008, even though FBI and BJS data show that violent and property
crime rates declined by double-digit percentages during that span.
So why does it seem like there’s a false public perception? Twenty-four hour news channels,
require a lot more news than the traditional newscasts. Crime stories are often the go
to, for news sites, as they are sensational. Crime stories are often severely over represented
in the news. This is not even unique to the US.
Research suggests that over 50% of crime stories in a sample of Canadian news sites dealt with
offences involving violence, but offences involving violence represent less than 6%
of reported offences. This is likely a significant factor in the public belief that crime is
on the rise, while the opposite is the reality.
This is also fueled by the fact that negative events have a greater impact on our brains
than positive ones. Psychologists refer to this as the negative bias. This is why criticism
is much more impactful than compliments, and bad news frequently draws more attention than
good. Just take a look at any news feed, it doesn’t matter what platform, they’re
riddled with news about murders, articles amplifying political differences and conflicts,
and we rarely see a news story about good deeds.
Our subconscious bias in devoting attention to conflicts, coupled with this need to get
clicks on bite sized news stories to stay relevant and increase revenue, has resulted
in a world-wide cluster space where real and fictional stories are often presented in such
a similar way, that it is incredibly complicated to tell the two apart.
The idea for this topic came about on a bright Sunday morning. I opened my computer with
the sole purpose of coming up with the next topic, and maybe start writing. I went to
Google homepage. Before I realized, I found myself reading a harrowing news story about
an acid attack on an unsuspecting victim. I felt this vague energy of discomfort. I
felt incredibly sad for the victim, of course. I read some follow up news story, and thus
I ventured into the rabbit hole. When I opened my computer, I had a clear focus in my mind
to be productive. But the minute you open your browser, the relentless attention grabbing
and click baiting begins.
Of course, I didn’t have to click it. I could have continued with my intention. But
isn’t that the conundrum? The goal of any good content marketer is to get you to click,
regardless of your state as the audience. I know, I am a content marketer. So you have
to be strong willed to ignore all the attractive click bait, to carry on with your original
intention. I am not ashamed to admit that very often I do fail and fall into this viscous trap.
So I tried to customize my homepage to stop seeing so many news stories, and that took
me another 30 minutes to even find the setting where I could turn all these content off.
As expected, the button to turn it off, is very small and somewhat camouflaged and incredibly
hard to find. We can’t be this vigilant at all times. It takes immense amount of energy
to fact check everything you read. I even tried to quit social media altogether. But
as a Digital Marketer by profession, it seemed counter intuitive. Maybe one day I will do
it. But for now, for every thing that’s irrelevant to me, I click this button right
here, and opt to not see anything like that ever again. Of course, something else would
take its place, and I will continue to do the same.
Many a times, I feel like consuming news is not even a choice. It is being force fed to
us globally. The nature of the news stories might vary based on your location, but look
closely, and you will see that it is always about some conflict. Conflict sells. Conflict
often gets a visceral reaction. Conflict makes you click, and before you know it, you are
HOOKED.
I just finished reading an amazing trilogy called the THREE BODY PROBLEM. It is THE BEST
science fiction I’ve ever read. I am not exaggerating. If I have to describe this book
in a couple of words, I’d go for existential transcendence, and I never use those words
lightly. I can’t even begin to explain this book to you. But I guarantee that your jaw
will be on the floor by the time you finish reading this book. I can’t wait to start
reading again from the beginning, just to relive the world one more time. If you are
a fan of existential, otherworldly, philosophical topics that I deal with in this channel, you
will absolutely love this book. I am not going to spoil anything for you. You can download
the first audiobook FOR FREE at Audible.com, if you use this code: audibletrial.com/northerndiaries
If you want to watch more videos from my channel, here is a link to my one of my videos about
Fermi Paradox, which asks why we haven’t come in contact with any extra terrestrial
civilization yet.
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Thank you so much and see you in the next video.