Is there an intelligent way to use social media?

The “evils” of social media have been getting a good deal of press lately. Zuckerberg’s decision to no longer do fact checking on Meta has been controversial. Excessive time spent on social media by kids (and adults) has been blamed for less healthy mental conditions. The platform X is used by people sowing discord and disinformation to the detriment of our country’s political stability. 

Recently Tim Stahmer posted on his Assorted Stuff blog this cartoon and comment:

For me, the value of social media hit a peak several years ago and since has been on a steep decline. It would certainly have greater worth if more people would adopt Pig’s stupidity filter… https://www.assortedstuff.com/stupidity-filter/

With Zuckerberg’s decision to stop fact-checking, I have a friend who simply has decided to stop using Facebook. I deleted my Twitter account when Musk bought the company. I have no interest in joining Blue Sky.

Yet aren’t social media networks simply tools, and like other tools, be used for both good and ill? One of my axioms is that the same hammer can be used to both build a cathedral and break its windows. So while the negative uses of social media platforms seem rampant, are there ways we can teach kids how to use these tools in ways that may be of value to them? I would suggest:

1. Limits. I restrict who and what I follow on Facebook, using it to mainly keep up with friends and family and a few (travel) companies. I have long ago blocked the comments of those people who are overly political. I hit the “Hide all from…” link on posts daily. My feed is still a little cluttered, but it does not seem to contain the nut job opinions and factoids from either the left or right. Choose carefully who to friend or follow.

2. Purpose. My use of social is, well, social. It’s to keep up with people I actually know well enough to pick out of a police lineup. I do NOT use it for news. I do not use it to shop. I do not use it to inflame others with my political opinions. I expect and try to demonstrate the same behaviors online that I would at a F2F get together.

3. Alternate sources of information. Unless it knowing where a buddy went on vacation or if a grandchild is in a science fair contest, I do not look to social media for news. I trust vetted news sources like newspapers, magazines, and public radio. Are these all bias free? Of course not, but they try to be. The newspapers I read make an attempt to share the opinions of both liberal and conservative columnists.

4. Alternate means of communication. Which leads me to acknowledge that I communicate by other means than social media. I make phone calls. I send text messages. I read books and magazines. I listen to news on the radio and on television. 

5. Alternate uses for devices. I do spend a lot of time on my computer, my tablet, and on my smartphone. But a small percentage of that time is actually on Facebook. As a volunteer driver of clients to medical appointments, I spend a lot of time sitting in waiting rooms while they seed their health care specialist. I pass the time by reading an actual book on my phone. I read magazines and books on my tablet. I play games on my computer (a self-limited amount), book travel arrangements, and pay my bills. I write. I use my phone for GoogleMaps and as a camera. Having a smartphone doesn’t mean having to use it solely for looking at social media sites.

But perhaps I am not a good source of advice about using social media. I was 50 years old when MySpace launched, followed by Twitter a couple years later. Communication and information retrieval and online shopping have never been “baked in” to my habits. I’ve never been professionally dependent on LinkedIn. Never even posted an original dance to TikTok or shared any naughty photos of myself or others. I’m a bit of a digital troglodyte. I even still read real newspapers and books (although in digital formats).

Social media is not going away. We better learn to use it wisely, and perhaps more importantly, teach our kids to do so as well.

Your tips to improve the use of these tools?

Comments

[Mandy]

I like your tips for using social media and do many of the same. One thing that has greatly helped me on Facebook is to make sure when I click on Feeds, I choose "Friends." I see fewer ads and posts from pages I follow, but I don't want to see things from constantly. Similarly, when I join groups I want to stay in but only want to look at their posts at my leisure, I click on "unfollow but stay in the group." It has helped manage much of the junk in my feeds.

[Pat Hensley]

I feel the same way about social media. I keep my account private so I have to approve who follows me. I stay away from the extreme political posts. I don't engage in combative discussions, I just scroll past them. I also stay away from those who are negative more often than they are positive. I love following people who travel a lot because I find new places that I want to go visit. I also follow people or join groups who have the same hobbies as I do such as knitting and hiking. For me, being on social media is like being at a party, I can choose to come and go as I please. I can talk to who I want or avoid those that I don't want to talk to. I like your hammer analogy. I tell people the same thing but use a car as an example. We can teach people to drive correctly but they make the decisions on where to go and how safely they will drive. A car can hurt or kill people but it also gets us to work or doctor's appointments or grocery shopping.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Mandy,

Great advice. I will definitely try the feeds from friends only tip.

Doug

Hi Pat,

I like your party analogy. I wonder if too many people think they have to interact or react to everything they see online. And just how many "parties" does one need to attend!

Thanks for the reply,

Doug

[Richard]

I'm a bit of a social media "troglodyte" myself, with accounts on various platforms that are mostly unused.

I think our decades-long experiments with social networks have revealed that communication-at-scale generally hasn't been a good thing for communities. It has been good for advertisers certainly, and a few influencers perhaps, but not for the communities themselves.

It's been helpful for me to think about consciously transitioning to "micro-social networks." These include long-running SMS/text threads with co-workers or family members. A slightly more technical implementation (requiring a server and some minimal HTML/MySQL skills) allows me and 15-20 other people to share texts and photos with each other while participating in an annual virtual running event, at Holiday Half Micro-Social Network. That network is well-used around the time of the event, and then mothballed afterwards, at least until the next year when the event starts up again.

For me, these smaller, organic social networks are the way forward!

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for leaving the comment. I'd not heard of micro social networks before but I like the concept.

Doug