I worry.
I was just thinking about the way telecommunication connectivity has affected our social interactions, and, therefore, our identities. I was thinking, in particular, of a couple of issues that I have seen pop up time and time again. You don't have to spend much time in any social media venue before you encounter people who have a profound need to be seen as exceptional as well as many more who are striving to conform to a chosen subculture or belief system. I've actually encountered a surprising number of people who fit both descriptions. I suppose that this does make a certain amount of sense, given that they are really opposite sides of the same social identity coin and we humans do seem prone to internal contradictions.
Of course, none of this is new, but I do wonder and worry about the effect of the internet on the healthy development and expression of social identity. After all, if someone has an audience of hundreds or thousands, they can get a lot of reinforcement and even financial rewards for portraying themselves as The Most Extraordinarily Remarkably Special One Ever even if that means pretense, exaggeration, or outright lies. I have no doubt that everyone reading this knows what I mean and could give multiple examples from their own online experiences.
Social media, in particular, also provides us with the opportunity to form groups based upon common interests, beliefs, or challenges. Don't get me wrong; just like friendships in person, they can provide support for individual growth, give us strength during hard times, and act as third party sounding boards for our ideas. However, it is easy to see what can happen when like-mindedness becomes same-mindedness with little tolerance for questioning or dissent. The circle gets smaller and tighter until it only includes those who are willing to accept the opinions, beliefs, and practices of The Group as their own. The members who remain are those who are willing to conform to the laundry lists of rules and expectations of what constitutes Our Way of Thinking. Any violation of these will lead to censure or expulsion. If the common thread that ties the group together is also one of those that stitches together a person's own identity, rejection can take a scissors to that as well. I suspect quite a few of you have encountered group dynamics like these over the years. I know I have and sometimes it was in the most surprising of communities.
Most of the time, however, the effect is more that of simplistic, black-and-white groupthink. I am sure we've all seen just how immediate and clearly delineated by group membership the responses to any controversy tend to be these days. For a large-scale example, consider the various reactions to the deaths of Trayvon Martin or Shaima Alawadi. Between the news media and social media, the rushes to judgement were veritable stampedes!
I worry. I worry because we humans have the ability create a tool and then turn it into a weapon to be used against ourselves and others and our telecommunication connectivity is one powerful tool. I worry because our natural inclinations to strive for status as well as belonging have caused us so much of the trouble we've seen.
I just worry.
Of course, none of this is new, but I do wonder and worry about the effect of the internet on the healthy development and expression of social identity. After all, if someone has an audience of hundreds or thousands, they can get a lot of reinforcement and even financial rewards for portraying themselves as The Most Extraordinarily Remarkably Special One Ever even if that means pretense, exaggeration, or outright lies. I have no doubt that everyone reading this knows what I mean and could give multiple examples from their own online experiences.
Social media, in particular, also provides us with the opportunity to form groups based upon common interests, beliefs, or challenges. Don't get me wrong; just like friendships in person, they can provide support for individual growth, give us strength during hard times, and act as third party sounding boards for our ideas. However, it is easy to see what can happen when like-mindedness becomes same-mindedness with little tolerance for questioning or dissent. The circle gets smaller and tighter until it only includes those who are willing to accept the opinions, beliefs, and practices of The Group as their own. The members who remain are those who are willing to conform to the laundry lists of rules and expectations of what constitutes Our Way of Thinking. Any violation of these will lead to censure or expulsion. If the common thread that ties the group together is also one of those that stitches together a person's own identity, rejection can take a scissors to that as well. I suspect quite a few of you have encountered group dynamics like these over the years. I know I have and sometimes it was in the most surprising of communities.
Most of the time, however, the effect is more that of simplistic, black-and-white groupthink. I am sure we've all seen just how immediate and clearly delineated by group membership the responses to any controversy tend to be these days. For a large-scale example, consider the various reactions to the deaths of Trayvon Martin or Shaima Alawadi. Between the news media and social media, the rushes to judgement were veritable stampedes!
I worry. I worry because we humans have the ability create a tool and then turn it into a weapon to be used against ourselves and others and our telecommunication connectivity is one powerful tool. I worry because our natural inclinations to strive for status as well as belonging have caused us so much of the trouble we've seen.
I just worry.