Shift Happens: Ctrl How Social Media Affects You
Connectivity is originally what drove people to join social media, especially when social media “shifted… to [become] interactive, two-way vehicles for networked sociality,” (Dijck 4). Now, the interactive and participatory nature of social media is keepings users there because it enhances the connectivity. People — including myself — use social media to stay in touch with family and friends, stay updated with current news and events, and stay entertained in their spare time. Social media encourages us to stick around. But, why do we stay? I think we use social media because there has been a shift in what we want participation, connection, and motivation to look like. The new shift in our outlook keeps us hooked… and let’s face it shit, I mean shift happens.
Shift in Participation
Social media changes what engagement looks like. In Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky describes social media as “a place where people [can] come together, share their ideas and goals, and egg each other on,” (Shirky 69). Personally, I only use two social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram. As mentioned previously, I use these platforms to interact with my followers and browse new/entertainment sites.
I have noticed that my use of social media is very passive. I only share highlights, or my best/favorite/most likeable moments on my feed. All of my other participation is passive. I’ll use one of the react options (like, love, haha, wow, sad, angry), but I rarely comment on someone’s post — even if the person is one of my loved ones. I don’t even wish people “happy birthday” on their walls. I never post to my story. I hardly share anything at all; the only time I share anything is if I’m sending it someone in their DMs. This is all passive participation. It’s simple and easy to use social media like this — and I still get the same feeling of instant gratification when someone likes my post. But, I miss the enjoyment that goes with actively engaging with someone; I want to engage more with my connections, rather than simply participating in content consumption.
Shift in Connection
Social media changes what human connection looks like. Shirky discusses Yochai Benkler and Helen Nissenbaum who studied social motivation (motivation that we can feel only when we are part of a group) to split up that up into two groups: “connectedness or membership” and “sharing and generosity,’ (Shirky 78). As humans, we want to connect with others and share that with others. Social media encourages connections, but it does not necessarily encourage relationships. To me, connections online (the ones that don’t function offline) consist of profiles who are “just there,” while connections offline consist of people who are “present.”
Social media is a great way to interact and connect with hundreds, thousands, or millions of people — it’s local, national, and global all at once. Don’t get me wrong, I love this aspect to social media because it allows for a variety of perspectives and information to be shared. But, I miss the excitement that goes with having a genuine personal connection with a close friend or family member when we talk about something relevant to us; I want to encourage more interaction with my loved ones, rather than simply accumulating “friends.”
Shift in Motivation
Social media changes what human motivation looks like. Shirky states that “motivation to share is the driver; technology is just the enabler,” (Shirky 79). We are motivated to interact with like-minded people, those who can contribute to content creation that we like in order to make our favorite things more relevant and important. We want to share funny memes, witty captions, and beautifully captured photos to be a part of something — and share that something with a larger audience that connects with us.
I miss the intrinsic rewards that goes with putting my best into something I care about that isn’t my online presence; but, I want to shift my perspective — social media is not bad. The way I passively use, impersonally connect, and intrinsically motivate myself are the factors that make social media negative. I need to engage, encourage, and enhance my own experience of social media to account for the shift that is happening.
Shift happens every day to everyone. The difference here is in how people deal with the shift. We need to learn to ctrl how social media affects us by viewing our participation, connection, and motivation as something to change the world for the better — even if the only aspect of the world we change is a person, and that person we change is ourselves. Instead of missing aspects of life, we need to start making life count in reality and virtual reality using all the different ways that we interact with others.
References
Dijck, José van. “Engineering Sociality in a Culture of Connectivity.” The Culture of Connectivity: a Critical History of Social Media. Oxford University Press, 2013. 3- 23.
Shirky, Clay. “Motive.” Cognitive Surplus: How Technology Makes Consumers into Collaborators. Penguin Group, 2011. 65–95.
