Welcome to June!
It’s an exciting month for a number of reasons…

Well, for starters, we’ll be opening the month with a topic of discussion that I have taken a lot of interest in, in the past year. This interest was further fueled by Cal Newport’s “Digital Minimalism”. And that is the issue of technology and its effects on modern civilization as we know it.

The 21st Century so far has largely been characterized by the rapid advancement of technology as a field. In the past 3 decades, we have recorded several groundbreaking innovations geared towards “making life easier” through technology.

Over the years, we’ve managed to digitize almost everything. From marketplaces to libraries, to schools, to banking, every field is increasingly going virtual. The current trend at the moment is the concept of digital currency, otherwise known as cryptocurrency, and it is quickly gaining popularity.

This technological revolution has, without a doubt, spiced up our civilization as a species to some extent, and our innate curiosity has led us to continue pushing the horizons by exploring more depths of the power of “1s and 0s”.
The pandemic that rocked the world last year further enhanced the transition to the virtual regime. Currently, some folks basically live off their phones, working virtually, shopping online, and carrying out many other day-to-day activities.

The Social Reconfiguration

Technology, however, continues to leave some negative footprints in our social construction. Amid all this rapid tech revolution, we have been reconfigured, albeit unintentionally, to interact in a new format that isn’t consistent with our learned mode of communication through evolution.

Digitalizing conversations and other forms of human communications definitely has its advantages. It has allowed us to connect with people that we would otherwise never have the platform to interact with. Another plus is the ease of access to valuable information when needed. However, it is also proving to cause significant harm that cannot be ignored or overlooked. It is this supposed “harm” and the increasing need to address it that I wish to discuss.

Well, it is impossible to cover the entire topic in one post as there’s a lot to it. Thus, I’ll be splitting this discussion into parts. It’s gonna be a mini-series (not sure how many parts though, but there will surely be a second part at least).

For today, my focus would be on some of the matters arising from the ubiquitous connection that is prevalent in our day, with a little more emphasis on the social media space in particular.

Social Media, A False Reality

I know, the title of this column is a paradox. But that is indeed what social media has grown to be — a paradox of the intended purpose of the space.

When Facebook was released, it was intended to help users connect with those around them with similar interests. Nowadays, it and other similar platforms that subsequently emerged have enabled the isolation of users constantly scrolling these platforms, disconnected from the person sitting right next to them.

Back to the title of this column…

With the increasing popularity of social media platforms and the perks that come with amassing a huge virtual following, people have slowly mastered the art of “content creation”. It is common these days to see employees with job descriptions like “managing social media handles”. All of this in a bid to keep traffic alive.

The problem with this is that majority of those scrolling through social media platforms, especially the younger generation, do not realize that almost everyone is handpicking what they post on social media to reflect their best selves. Worse still, many folks are faking lifestyles that are fit for the gram and putting up a false show.

So they see the highlight reels of others, place them side by side with their own reality —which in fact, could be everyone’s reality as well—, and believe that everyone is having it awesome while they suffer. Little wonder why the sharp increase rate of anxiety and depression coincide with the quick rise of social media usage.

I referred to the younger generation (teenagers and young adults) above because they seem to be the primary victims of this menace. This is because those who make up this group are trying to figure out life and how to approach it.

So the 22y.o. young millionaire on social media who is always posing with money and classic rides does not align with their own reality. This creates an unhealthy urgency to “make it” fast, and if not managed properly can quickly lead to anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, the so-called millionaire could simply be flaunting his father’s wealth or even putting up a false image of himself, all of these unknown to the victim of his “oppression”.

Loss Of Individual Originality

In a world where everybody and anybody has an opinion, whether right or wrong, social media serves as a platform is a means to communicate these ideas to a large audience without having to pull a sweat.

In my birthday post back in January, 22 things at 22, one of the lessons I shared was that Validation doesn’t always equate to truth. These days, people have varying opinions on various issues and social media is the ideal dumping ground for whatever you have on your mind.

The danger in this is that these opinions, beliefs, and lifestyles are easily adopted by the audience, especially if the author is a celebrity of some sort. And given that people spend the bulk of their time on these platforms, they dedicate almost zero time to actually figure things out for themselves. They subconsciously internalize these ideas and in the process lose their originality.

This can be seen in fashion trends, contemporary social issues, as well as entertainment choices. Sometimes, the problem isn’t which opinion is right or wrong, but rather, are you buying it because it is your original opinion, or are you simply going with the crowd?

Yet again, teenagers are mostly on the receiving end of this stroke. The formative teen years come with a level of naivety that easily succumbs to societal norms and trends. The uncontrolled exposure that comes with digital platforms can turn out to be detrimental to this group in the long run.

What Is The Way Out?

These are just a few of the issues that plague the social media dispensation. For the sake of space, I’ll spare you the rest of the lot. I believe by now, you agree with me that there are underlying adverse effects associated with the social media era.

In subsequent posts, I’ll attempt to address what Digital Minimalism is, and why it is the way forward. As much as we want to keep the benefits of these platforms, we do not want them dictating how we live our lives.

To be continued…