Words from a pessimistic social media slave

I just came out of a class that, again, was bashing social media up, down, left and right. It made me think about what exactly we’ve been using social media for; what exactly are the desires we are trying to feed? If there are so many problems with it, what exactly was it good for? 10 seconds later I’m on snapchat trying to show everyone else how much I loved the snow.

After the first two lessons (and watching Nose Dive and Fifty Million Merits), I was convinced that we’re going down a slippery slope with social media and none of us are going to back away in spite of that — simply because of our inertia to pull ourselves away from it.

I still need my daily scroll through of cat videos, babies falling off couches, and over-the-top lip synching, to name a few. But in between that I also see articles bashing trump, commenters bashing anti-trumps and vice versa. I’m compelled again to think that the world is ending. Then I go onto Instagram and see celebrities posting about saving the dolphins, about feminism, about refugees coupled with comments like <heart shape> <smiley with heart eyes> or, again, bashing the celebrity for just sitting back and reposting.

Is social media creating the illusion that we can change the world a little with every share we click, or every lengthy argument we post accompanying it? Is social media creating the illusion that we need to save the world? Is social media creating the illusion that we can’t do anything at all?

I think anyone else who has a more productive life actually saving the dolphins compared to me only thinking about it has probably successfully unplugged. I wish unplugging could be simpler for me. Or is social media creating that illusion that it isn’t, again?

I can’t say for everyone but I think the dystopian vision we’re spiralling towards is just like what was portrayed in Fifty Million Merits. Every enraged commenter is like Bing. Every passive user (like me) is like the rest of the bike slaves. We keep doing what we’re doing to no avail, and even if we speak out, we still remain as trapped as ever. I can even imagine myself as Bing, going through all that anger to get up on stage but to have nothing to say; to only be able to show everyone how angry I was.

I was disturbed by that episode (or every Black Mirror episode for a matter of fact) but it’s not difficult to step back and think — hey, that’s pretty much what’s happening now. Social Media has become like those TV screens that we have become enslaved to.

But I think I’m forgetting that social media was one of Trump’s enablers, so I guess there is a point — or a need — in fighting the good fight through sharing insights too. We’re just going to need a lot more Bings to make any change.