Is FāVS News a Social Medium?
Commentary by Walter Hesford | FāVS News
At a recent family reunion on the Oregon coast, I asked three of my grandkids, all in their 20s, “What is social media?”
Of course I vaguely knew, just like I, a stubborn old coot, vaguely know the meaning of a host of other terms for things I don’t use — apps, blogs, podcasts, streaming, smart phones, etc.
My grandkids make their living online, one as an “influencer,” who told me that to be “social,” media needed to offer the opportunity for the immediate and unsupervised exchange of ideas and images.
Since I often write letters-to-the-editor, sometimes commenting on other letters, I asked whether a newspaper could count as “social.”
“No way,” responded my grandkids.
Then I asked whether this online medium for which I occasionally write columns, FāVS.News, and on which people often comment on each other’s publications, creating a kind of community, could be considered “social.”
Still, “No way,” according to my grandkids.
Does this make FāVS News anti-social, or at least non-social?
I’m sure you, dear readers, would exclaim, “Certainly not!”
FāVS News Is a Social Medium
FāVS is a social web that contributes to the social fabric of our region and beyond.
I hope you all resent as I do the way “social” has been hijacked by those who make their money manipulating the minds and dollars of those devoted to computer communication and commerce.
Perhaps it is so-called social media that is really anti-social.
I realize that it has been asserted that social media has been vital to social movements. According to Dr. Hasan Obaid in his article on the impact of social media, “Social media networks have replaced the pre-existing mobilization structure, hence becoming the new coordination tool for almost all social movements in the world.”
I remember the excitement created by the 2010-2012 Arab Spring, during which we saw many people organizing via social media for democratic reform. And I remember the repression that followed. Authoritarian governments have become as adept as protesters in using social media, in this case for surveillance and oppressive control.
The Case Against Social Media
A strong case against social media has been made by Max Fischer in his 2022 book, “The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World.”
I became aware of Fischer’s book through Ira Flatow’s March 3, 2023, interview with him on NPR’s Science Friday; a transcript of this interview can be found online.
Introducing Fischer, Flatow says that “beyond feeling stuck in an endless loop of distraction, we’ve seen the propensity for social media to easily spread hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation, and even play a role in organizing violent action in the real world, like genocide against the Rohingya people in Myanmar and, closer to home, the January 6 violent attempt to overturn the election in the Capital.”
During the interview, Fischer draws on his experience in Myanmar where Facebook via smart phones in particular became a medium for organizing hate. He claims that in general social media platforms intentionally cultivate “moral outrage, us versus them, tribalism, and a sense of heightened identity conflict” because to do so makes money.
Fischer likens the tactics of social media moguls to those of cigarette moguls of yore, knowingly producing an addictive and harmful product.
But …
I’m sure my grandkids, other members of my family and some of my friends involved in various social media platforms would object that these platforms keep them in touch with loved ones, creating a virtual community.
Maybe there is some truth in both perspectives. I do fear, however, that there may be some negative consequences in involvement in even the most loving of virtual communities. Does this take away from involvement in actual communities?
I am grateful that FāVS keeps a focus on these actual communities, letting us know what’s happening around us and encouraging involvement.
I’ve noticed that many FāVS contributors are active in various local faith communities and in local organizations that promote inclusivity and social justice.
And I am grateful to my grandkids for taking time away from their stupid (aka smart) phones to chat with their old coot of a granddad.
Your writing–and thinking–is great, Walter. I liked this: “Perhaps it is so-called social media that is really anti-social.” I do find in the term “social media” a misleading misuse of the word “social.”