Blog Post #3

Throughout the course we look at different aspects of social media and the impact it has on our social life but particularly in the concept of sharing. Last class we also look at the emphasis of sharing and the symbolic content it produces, creating a community of common shared content. In the book the age of sharing, John talks about how users are the ones producing and distributing the content that everyone is consuming where it becomes a space for a shared reality. This ability of sharing is also supposed to bring us happiness through the likes and comments we receive from sharing but I believe it is having the opposite effect. In the film Eight Grader we see Kayla determining her self-worth by the number of views and likes she receives. Sharing has become a more individualized concept where people only want to feel good for just a brief moment from likes. This is only pushing more social standard in society instead of social media being a place to make new ‘friends’. I think the only way for people to be happy is to not care about the opinions of others and taking away any value ‘likes’ have on their life. 

Comments

  1. Mikayla WernerOctober 18, 2018 at 7:39 PM

    You are absolutely right. Social media has had a major impact on the wiring of society. The ability to produce and share your own symbolic content comes with benefits and harm as you mentioned. This shared reality is indeed having a very negative effect on many people, especially the younger generation as we saw in the film “Eighth Grader.” Basing your value on the amount of likes and comments you receive is no way to live. The authenticity of real world connection and communication is at a major loss due to the rapid overtake of social media. We are being rewired and ultimately controlled by social media platforms without even realizing it.

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  2. CS 371 Group 9October 19, 2018 at 11:59 AM

    I totally agree with you, social media is shaping society around likes and comments. One's self worth is now determined by their online profiles/popularity. There has been an increase in stress revolving around these platforms as individuals feel the need to keep up and stay relevant. Posting pictures has turned into a competition to see who can get the most amount of likes. The pictures that do not receive enough likes are seen as less interesting, pretty, etc. than the ones that received more likes.

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  3. Cedaleia GrahamOctober 21, 2018 at 7:18 AM

    Hey Ib,

    I absolutely agree with your opinion on the sense of value that we get from these aspects of social media. Although no one will ever admit it, focusing on the number of likes/comments that we receive after posting content on social media is an aspect of these platforms that we look most forward to. We place a subconscious value towards ourselves based on our followers and the amount of interaction that we have within our social media pages. However, at the same time, I think that your response that suggests to not care about the opinions of others is easier said than done. We have developed a sense of ourselves, in terms of what others think about us, through these numerical values. Despite it only being a number, or a comment, many value their self-worth based upon these numbers and would not have a sense of themselves without it.

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  4. Robert SpenceOctober 21, 2018 at 8:06 AM

    I definitely agree with you that we care too much about what other people think, particularly on social media. Even in the film Eighth Grade when Kayla makes her Youtube videos about being yourself and putting yourself out there, we can still see the influence that social media has on the decisions that she makes. In The Age of Sharing, the author talks about how the ability to easily share is supposed to make us happy but you mention that you disagree. I disagree as well and I would say that I think when we allow social media to influence our perception of ourselves and our lives, we make it difficult for ourselves to enjoy things for ourselves and enjoy things that make us happy because we are so used to having our happiness dictated by how many likes, shares, or comments we get.

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  5. WillOctober 21, 2018 at 12:55 PM

    Your post got me thinking about Van Dijck (2010) article about sharing photos on Flickr where he further problematizes the notion of social media as neutral intermediaries. In essence, Van Dijck (2010) introduces us to the idea of collective memory on social networks and how these sites in turn mediate our views, experiences and memories. By drawing on Hopkins' notion of 'networked memory', Van Dijck posits that as digital platforms continue to proliferate, "…memory is increasingly defined by networked computers, which are in turn deployed by institutions or companies who (professionally) manage memory practices" (van Dijck, 2010, p. 403). Importantly, Van Dijck (2010) critiques the dominant discourse that presents photo sharing sites (and other social media) as neutral spaces. Instead, he argues that since social media sites like Flickr are fundamentally built around algorithms and protocols, they "...hide an ideology of digital platforms being neutral intermediaries between individual and collective views, when they are in fact mediators of social reality" (p. 412).

    Thus, we ought to ask how social media mediate our social reality? Indeed, as you pointed out validation in the form of likes or different definitions/forms of friendship can be two of the ways in which social media negotiates and impacts our sociality.

    P.S. Article can be found here: https://journals-scholarsportal info.libproxy.wlu.ca/details/17506980/v04i0004/401_fatcocsvem.xml

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