Social Technology Musings

As the new year approaches, I take note of the evergrowing incessant need for people to have a media following, in many ways as a proxy for perceived popularity and intellect. It is a bit comical in the sense of how it reminds me of a school environment, where you had some vying for attention and affection while others focused on academics, hobbies, and meaningful relationships. However, these days, social platforms have tuned themselves to these artificially created moments, boosting ideas that are aspirations and hopeful, when the reality is that majority of the situations where someone becomes emotional in front of a camera are contrived and inauthentic. Yet, this process seems to create an effect, a chain reaction, as to what should be done to elevate a brand/personality. 

I think it is ridiculous that people cannot enjoy a meal without taking a picture of it first. As someone who enjoys nature, particularly mountaineering, it is sad to see this primitive pleasure subjected to getting a 'selfie' or video clip. When did the concept of taking a picture go from something to remember to something I must share with the world? I most certainly will forget many of my travels across the world, and the few images I do have of these will be mine alone. 

And while I am not without self-criticism, as I do have a LinkedIn account (and nothing else), I attempt to thoughtfully post to find others of similar mindsets. However, I find that this environment has devolved into a wanderlust of forwarding infographics and corporate billboards.  Coupled with the high barriers and cost to publish in an academic journal, it seems that low-tech blog posts remain the bastion of raw thought, without a convulsion to check a status or following (although this can still happen with blogs as well).

It has been debated that humans have not evolved to have more than 150 meaningful relationships, a number known as "Dunbar's Number." This observation can really be expanded into several different levels, with some of the closest people you know, let's say about 5 or so, are your loved ones, to about 1500 people in which you can just barely recognize. Humans have intuitively sensed this for years and it is demonstrated in how we have organized military units or established villages. Even in dense urban areas, neighborhoods form that tend to share much more culture and connections than just being part of one big city. 

So what does this say about how communities are impacted in highly connected technology areas? What does this say about someone's constant quest for more likes, more followers, and more connections? In many ways, I believe it will deteriorate the fabric of communities when someone searches for a quick fix online instead of asking a neighbor. And worse, reduces the capacity for people to have meaningful relationships, with a global availability of people online, any small differences in a person's preferences prompt them to move on, perpetually looking for like minds they will never find, nor be satisfied. 

It is ironic that I work in such a sector that once provided such promise, and now, such demise. In the early 2000's it was a feat to have a basic website or blog to share with the world. To build a simple program was exciting, and to connect to a server was impressive. Now layers of programs and applications display glossy images and video clips as users doom scroll themselves to sleep. 

At the start of the new year, I can only suggest that one considers how to shift the burden of technology to a lesser prominence in their lives. Talk to a human. Read a paper book. Leave your phone at home or at least in another room. Fortunately, there are still many places in the world that have such low tech communal environments; however, the world grows more connected each day, and I ask is this a good thing? 

Time will tell. 

Happy New Year