The Impact of Social Media

BY OLUWASEYI EROGBOGBO

In Discourse on the Origins of Inequality

Among Men, Jean-Jacques Rousseau condemned socialisation as the cause of man’sdepravity.Themoreweengagewith society, Rousseau argues, the more we lose touch with ‘the self’, and with knowledge. In his assessment of socialisation, Rousseau distinguishes betweentwotypesofrelationshiponecan havewiththeself;amourdesoiandamour Propre. Whilst both can be translated as self-love, the former describes a self-love which allows one to follow their interests without harming others, and without the individual being the subject of other people's judgement. The latter, however, isbettertranslatedas‘vanity’, inwhichthe individual acts in a manner that seeks the affirmationandapprovalofsociety.

Although originally published in 1775, Rousseau’s ideas continue to hold significance today. In a world where over 56% of the entire population is able to maintain constant access to each other through social media, how has the modernisationofsocialisationaffectedthe population? Has growing up in an age in which one can communicate with billions of people at the touch of a button damaged intellectual engagement with political and philosophical ideas? Even more importantly, how has this media revolution affected young peoples’ relationshiptotheself?

Popular debates on the effects of social mediaonyoungpeopleoftencomefroma negative and critical perspective. One of themostcommoncriticismofsocialmedia isitseffecton thewaypeoplethink.Social media is rife with misinformation, and evenwhenthereisbeneficialcontenttobe engaged with, engagement is often shallowandsuperficial.Importantsubjects are reduced to sharp one-liners, depriving the reader of depth, nuance and complexity.Theeffect,peopleoftenargue, isthedumbingdownofpublicdiscourse.

The dangers of misinterpretation are discussed in the Platonic dialogue Phaedrus. In this dialogue, Socrates narrates a conversation between two Egyptian godsTheuthand Thamus.Theuth believed that having written information would improve memory. Thamus, on the other hand, argues that written information would not only lead to forgetfulness, but also inhibit deeper reflectiononideas.

Another anecdote that discusses the dissemination of knowledge is Plato’s Protagoras. Here Socrates discusses the sophist Protagoras’ teaching methods. Protagoras insists he can teach virtue comprehensivelyand thathisstudentswill becomemorevirtuousasaresult.Socrates questions that if out of two students who received the same teaching, one student improved and another did not, could one say that they actually improved due to his teaching?

Socrates generally believed that teachings that relied directly on rhetoric and the written word were at great risk for misunderstanding and misinterpretation. He favoured and in fact advocated for the use of critical examination when approaching information and believed strongly that questioning and dialogue encouragedeeperthinking.

Inthecontextofsocialmedia,socialmedia platforms provide easy access to a wide range of information. They present an arena for learning about current events, ideologies and theories. Social media can transcendbordersandcreateentireonline communities dedicated to engagement with philosophical and political debate. Thenegativeimpactsthatsocialmediahas shown such as misinformation, polarisation and echo chambers can be contested through critical thinking and engaging thoughtfully with the content one consumes. Ruiz and Nilsson define echo chambers in news media and social media as an environment or ecosystem in which participants encounter beliefs that amplify or reinforce their pre-existing beliefs by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal. One can use social media to curatetheirfeedandtoseekoutreputable sourcesandtofindplatformswithpositive user dynamics which value depth of knowledgeaswellasaccessibility.Indoing so one can amplify the positive impacts of socialmedia.

In his ‘Confessions’, Rousseau wrote, “the world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless”. In regards to social media’s impact on one's' understanding of and relationship to the self, there are several parallels between contemporary concerns over social media and the concerns Rousseau had regarding socialisation during the Enlightenment. Many social media platforms have an emphasis on perception. When engaging with these platforms, one is always being perceived or perceiving others, creating space for what Rousseau deemed as Amour Propre. The social comparison that can end up taking place on social media platforms can produce a disconnect between the public and private self, can stifle genuine self-expression. Despite providing connectivity, the disconnect between authenticity and presentation, canmeanthatonedoesnotgainauthentic connectionsthroughsocialmedia,asone's online community can be disconnected fromoneself.

In order to mitigate these limitations, one can also refer to the contextof Rousseau’s philosophies. One can practise mindful postingaswellasmindfulfollowing,which can curate an online community which coincides with oneself authentically, limiting the disconnect between one's private and public self and creating a positive online environment. Additionally, mindful following can limit social comparisons further mitigating the negative impacts of social media on selfperception.

Although social media is a new phenomenonandpeoplearesocialisingon a much larger scale than before, the problems that arise due to this are not new. Throughout history, the dissemination of information has been discussed, as has the relationship to oneself. In observing previous philosophicalthought,onecanseeastrong likeness to the social condition then and now; and in observing the issues of the pastonecanadditionallyfind solutionsfor today.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. (2015) Les Confessions. France: Primento Digital Publishing.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. (2016) A Discourse on Inequality. New York: PhilosophicalLibrary/OpenRoad.

Plato. (2011) Phaedrus. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress.

DataReportal (2020) Digital 2020: Global Digital Overview.

Plato. (1992) Protagoras. Indianapolis: HackettPub.Co.