Communication is in a Rough Spot
Before the transformative revolution of the internet, communication was simpler. In a time when computers took up entire rooms, a telephone call was the given way to reach someone over a distance. But as technology became smaller and smaller, the reach of each individual became greater and greater. Communication around the world became possible for many, leading to a paradigm shift in global connection. Looking back, this early internet represents the common ancestor of our rapidly evolving modern world.
Fast forward a few years — the internet had become a bustling place, with seemingly endless opportunities. Visionaries seized the momentum and expanded our notions of community and networking. They charted a new path for the world: the social network as a platform. Gamification was introduced, which alters our very neurochemistry, as users search for rushes in the form of “likes”.
Few could have imagined the profound consequences unleashed by this innovation. Networks in their fundamental form foster free expression, interdisciplinary communication, and ultimately an exchange of ideas. All of these things are valuable not only for a functioning democracy, but a mature civilization.
At the same time, the role of social media in society is far from clearly defined, existing apart from the traditional anchors of culture and established norms which govern social interactions. Instead of ideals such as cooperation and truth at the forefront, evidence points towards social media platforms operating as a giant game: The more likes and followers you have, the more you are winning¹. It simply feels good to get likes and followers on platforms like Twitter, because our brains are hard-wired to need social validation. Communication becomes gamified as opposed to a means for truth and collaboration. Everyone becomes a player first, and a human being second.
Gamification yields vast financial rewards for those who control the platforms, but social media now exists beyond the control of its creators. It has also been wielded as a tool for political purposes: on one hand to expose rights abuses, and on the other to spread conspiracies.
Social media has overtaken television as the primary way in which individuals consume news². The way that we interact with the world has become siloed; personalized to match our interests and pre-existing biases. We want social media to serve us, to feed us the content we want to see. Interest groups and corporations alike will prioritize what their user base wants, because that is how you keep people engaged. The global conversation becomes guided by profit over truth and ideals of dialogue.
Once, social media platforms were trusted as a means for open and honest communication — but that trust has evolved over time into a negative form. Trusting only in the community one is already immersed in, without being open to new evidence or perspectives, creates distance between groups. The issue arises from the creation of echo chambers and epistemic bubbles. Whereas an echo chamber is a radically exclusive social structure that actively antagonizes outside evidence, an epistemic bubble is one where information has become stifled to portray only a small perspective³. It is dangerous for any individual to be locked into a given worldview, because carrying entrenched biases closes off bridging across perspectives.
As we go forwards into an increasingly complex world, we will need better social networks — ones that are accelerated by positive impacts on the global conversation rather than being driven solely by monetary reward or narrow worldviews. We need networks that amplify voices and permit a dynamic exchange of ideas, as opposed to contributing to the exacerbation of existing biases.
It is up to the next generation of builders to shift the narrative by establishing guiding principles of what communication means on a civilizational scale. Networks hold unimaginable potential that we have only started to access. There is not an easy solution to the creation of a network that fully connects humanity; it is a massive, interdisciplinary task that will only be achieved by connecting a breadth of perspectives. It is time to think big, to break down silos, and create networks that don’t just connect us — but allow us to truly understand each other.
This article was written for QMIND — Canada’s largest undergraduate community for leaders in disruptive technology.
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