I think the Internet and technology can be used to empower people. Personally, I've used the Internet to apply for opportunities and learn a lot about engineering and computer science. And access to these materials and opportunities have been life changing. I don't mean that in a hippy way, but there have been very tangible changes in my life. I'm afforded economic opportunities and the peace of mind that comes with it, which is life changing.
But I think it's also important to recognize that there are parts of the Internet that are disempowering. That strip people of their autonomy, opportunity, and sense of worth.
I think social media is one of those parts of the Internet. At least, for some people. And I certainly know for me.
I've never been good at the social media game. The artificial frames and layers we place on ourselves to gather likes and shares is too pathological for me. I found negative emotions and thoughts being amplified when I played that game. And I found myself much more happier after I walked away.
My experience isn't an isolated example. A lot of social media employees see the research internally and prevent their children from using the sites. This data is now coming to light, and we're seeing how platforms like Instagram seem to be causing increased negative emotions. Not just correlated with, but directly driving these negative behaviors.
I prefer the world of small blogs. I miss when the Internet felt like a scavenger hunt. When you would stumble along web pages and forums and hope that you would find something, or someone worth engaging with. Most of it would miss, but that was okay. It didn't take too long to trek a path along the Internet anyways.
Now, serendipity is facilitated by algorithms. And for a time it worked okay, but now with the influence of finance and marketing, algorithms are extractive. There's no wandering. We're just being pulled along.