I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with social media. I’m sure this isn’t uncommon. For me there’s always been this clash between the “social” and the “media” parts. As if the creators of these networks had a completely different social experience to mine.
I have attempted over the many, many years to use social media:
- to keep in touch with my friends
- to learn about developments in my fields of interests
- to get emotionally invested, outraged and keep scrolling doomwards
The last I didn’t choose of course, but it’s what these networks are designed to do. But the other two are problematic as well.
I think both of those - friendships and professional news - suffer from the performative nature of social media.
Here are some of the problems that this nature brings:
- Selective sharing: Users present idealized versions of their lives, often leading to unrealistic comparisons and skewed perceptions.
- Validation-seeking: Many pursue likes, comments, and shares as a source of external approval, emphasizing superficial aspects of their identity.
- Identity construction: Users carefully curate their online persona, highlighting some traits while hiding others.
- Influencer culture: The prominence of influencers encourages users to present themselves as experts or role models in various niches.
- Echo chambers: Like-minded individuals create environments where users feel pressured to conform and perform to fit in.
- Virtue signalling: Some users express opinions or take stances on issues to demonstrate their moral or ethical values, even if their actions don’t align.
- Fear of missing out (FOMO): Constant updates lead to anxiety around missing experiences, events, or conversations, prompting performative behavior.
- Competitive nature: Social media fosters competition, pushing users to outperform others in popularity, attractiveness, success, or other factors.
This is especially harmful if you are a neurodivergent individual:
- Social comparison: Neurodivergent individuals may feel inadequate or doubt themselves when comparing to idealized lives presented on social media.
- Masking: Neurodivergent users may suppress their authentic selves to fit societal norms, leading to mental and emotional exhaustion.
- Sensory overload: Constant information and updates can overwhelm those with sensory sensitivities or processing difficulties, causing stress and anxiety.
- Cyberbullying and harassment: Neurodivergent individuals may be more vulnerable to online bullying, impacting their mental well-being and self-esteem.
- Anxiety and depression: Performative social media can exacerbate feelings of anxiety and depression in neurodivergent individuals.
- Misrepresentation and stigma: Misleading portrayals of neurodiversity on social media can perpetuate stereotypes and stigmas, further marginalizing neurodivergent individuals.
So, what to do about it? These are the suggestions I found:
- being more authentic - this has shades of “why not just make them be alive again?”
- limiting exposure: follow positive authentic, positive accounts and unfollow those that encourage comparison, negativity or superficiality (maybe the only actionable item here)
- mindful engagement - being conscious of one’s motivations (easier said than done)
- setting boundaries - eg time limits, turning off notifications etc
These things don’t come out of the box with these networks and tools, even when there are controls available.
Do any platforms claim to be less performative in nature? Well one that I’ve been trying recently is Mastodon. It lacks an algorithmic timeline (at least as that is commonly understood) which means that sensationalism is not amplified inorganically, and in theory quieter voices are not drowned out. That doesn’t stop some people from trying though.
I’m not sure there are any technical solutions to these problems. There are surely ways to make it worse and social media companies have deployed them with force.
Maybe I’ll go back to Tumblr.