I am thinking of ideas to write a thriller that involves social media and their companies, but what I need to figure out first and foremost is what is that makes social media appealing and how social media has changed (social) thinking and dynamics. For instance, I consider that social media has blurred or shifted the line between public and private. What are your thoughts?
It definitely has. Social media has also reduced (but not completely removed) the ability of gatekeepers to control the public discourse and to mind-control the population through the media. The whole "fake news" thing is basically "don't say what we don't like". Basically, social media have shifted the power downwards and upset the old order. On personal side of things, social media make self-promotion easier. No longer do you need to pay for (extremely expensive) space in a newspaper or minutes on television. You need to put in a lot of effort, but you no longer need to have millions.
Just wrote about this (well posted a link) on another thread in reply to a request on the ills of mobile phones. So daren't post link again for soft moose may think me a spammer. It's appropriate to this thread though. A Netflix docudrama about all the ails of social media and where we're heading. It'd be excellent material I'm sure for your project. Called 'The Social Dilemma' – put your google goggles on, give it a watch, you'll be wide-eyed behind them.
To answer "what makes social media appealing," I think it's about the ability to control your public persona by curating the pictures/content pertaining to you that others will see. It's appealing to not only know what others' first impressions of you are, but to directly affect it.
It's all about being "somebody" without having to do things or talk to people. That used to be impossible. You actually had to win friends and influence people the hard way. And you had to look someone in the eye when you talked shit. And actually convey and interpret emotion when you "communicated." Now? Well, take Homer Potvin for example. He ain't real. You've never met him. You've never talked to him. No idea what's true and what isn't. No way to fact check him or call him out. Nothing you can really do to make him go away. So, yeah... massive escapism!
why is that most videos/documentaries out there about social media are heavily dystopian? Is there any way to look at social media from a brighter point of view? What about the growing number of Youtube channels where people display their knowledge or share their learning experiences and advice, that have become full-time jobs for some? PS: are there any noteworthy documentaries about social media and the like besides The Social Dilemma?
