What makes social media catch on?
Emphasize equating an army of social media followers with success puts our generation’s mindset on the internet. We grew up with the internet and in an era that social media became increasingly necessary for life and career prospects.
Let’s take a look at these numbers:
39% of people in the US would rather text a friend than talk on the phone. American Lifestyles: Implications of Being On Display — US — April 2019
31% of Singapore consumers say that post-COVID-19, they plan to shop online for their groceries more often. Global Consumer — July 2020 — Food & Drink
48% of Chinese consumers aged 18 to 39 who have selected hobbies say they prefer to share their interests with friends online Marketing to Subcultures — China — May 2019
The “Click and connect” feature enables platforms to sell our intention and engagement to advertisers. People are more wary of leaving the house and physically interacting with other humans to consume or engage with others.
What are we missing here?
In the age of digital, it is hard for us to identify which information is useful and meaningful? Which information is noise? I believe that information literacy will become a core ability in the near future.
Now, let’s take a look at the information evolution pattern.
The pattern is — when the carrier (medium) of information delivery is more light and simple, the cost of the information delivery is arbitrarily close to zero. This is the essence of the digital age.
When everyone can share their voice, and the opportunities for everyone to share their voice tend to be very equal and fragmented. The field of public opinion is the core of the power — so, everything we see takes a position, and people want us to see with purposes.
Regardless of their intentions, even if their intentions are positive, we must filter their information after serious consideration. Keeping ourselves an appropriate distance from information, and a critical mind toward all information in the first place is the core of information literacy.
Knowing the difference between facts and opinions will be crucial to keep us positive while using social media platforms.
Stay away from content that igniting your engagement.
Learn and use critical thinking, even for this blog.
