What is Social Media doing to Humans?

No matter where I look, instead of humans consuming data, Data is consuming Humans. Everyone around is stooped in their screens. Are you capable of sitting for a second with nothing but your own company? Are you capable of sleeping without watching that last video on your phone? Was there a day when you did not open Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram? If the answer is No, you must read this.

Although it seems like Social Media is making everybody feel less lonely by allowing everybody to stay connected, the reality is that people are lonelier and physically and mentally disconnected, more so visible in the current Covid-19 pandemic where no number of memes can solve the problem of loneliness and depression. The human society needs physical and in-person interactions. Some might argue that it is only making us more aware about what is happening around the world, making us more intelligent, entertaining us, although who is checking the credibility of the information that is reaching us, in the end it is governed by an algorithm that is in itself but a tool to keep us hooked. Are we truly in control of our thoughts, or has the baton long been passed?

The Documentary -Drama “The Social Dilemma” beautifully captures this, where the tech experts are raising an alarm to the detrimental impact of their own creations, even they had never anticipated what this would lead to while designing the tools. It reveals how the consumer of Social Media is falling prey to conspiracies which is destabilizing the fabric of our society, which could ultimately lead to an Existential Threat. In the race to keep people’s attention, a consumer is exposed to the data to which he/she is the most receptive to, in turn leading to polarization and a subsequent chaos and outburst.

This is insidious but true, our actions or inactions are going to define what our future is going to be like.