social networks (facebook, myspace, AIM, MSN,...): a threat to humanity?

[Psyduck]

Lately I've been thinking a lot why people participate (including myself, albeit in moderation, on BL) in social networks (MSN, AIM, Facebook, myspace). Why is this phenomenon so incredibly noticeable these days? Of course, technology can be held responsible for this, but I doubt that this is the main reason.

As a very clear expression of post-modernism, people are more than ever in need (read: 'not in search') for identity and meaning in their life - which they often fail to find. Hence they give themselves over to social structures which provide them with an illusion of what they are looking for. The question about our personal-being has been shifted to the question about society-being. A question we do not need longer need to answer ourselves. But this is just the worst form of alienation imaginable. With a few mouse-clicks people can change their identity to whatever they want it to be. And with a sentence like this I finally have an 8-inch penis.

Relationships and social interactions are losing their value, and people are not aware of it. People fall in love over the internet. Little children don’t even develop the skills anymore to pester other children, and prefer to pester anonymously over the internet. Religion, which binds people, brings them together on a higher level, is losing its popularity very noticeable too these days. I find the current state of affairs worrisome for humanity: people are finding the real world more boring and less significant than ever. The online community serves as a dream-like state, an unnatural blending of their mind with the other person - something that rarely happens in real life. A person is not and can never be reduced to a sensory perception on your computer screen.

Of course, many people still have social interactions in real life. Nonetheless, I seem to notice an evolution in human behavior where social interactions are valued less and less. And I don't quiet see how this is going to change in the future.

 

[Xorkoth]

Actually, I think they are a part of our destiny, although they are certainly a threat to the status quo developed by the rest of human history. I think they are becoming an integral role in the unification of humanity into a single global consciousness. They're an important building block, a step.

Of course, many people still have social interactions in real life. Nonetheless, I seem to notice an evolution in human behavior where social interactions are valued less and less. And I don't quiet see how this is going to change in the future.

I agree to an extent. However, it is still social interaction, just not in the same manner. There is becoming less focus or care for the physical aspects of life and more focus on the mental. The manner and type of social interaction is certainly changing, but it remains social interaction, to be sure.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Actually, I think they are a part of our destiny, although they are certainly a threat to the status quo developed by the rest of human history. I think they are becoming an integral role in the unification of humanity into a single global consciousness. They're an important building block, a step.

Concur.

I think the internet, and the socializing that takes place on it is one step closer to the Singularity -- of one fused worldwide mind, capable of incredible transformations and ways of affecting the universe.

I recently saw the movie Paprika by Satoshi Kon (highly recommended). In it, an undercover cop in the near future takes refuge from the world every day by putting on some kind of device, and entering a webpage that's indistinguishable from a high class bar, where he can tell all his troubles to a sympathetic, simulated, bartender. I must say, I had an eerie kind of chill run through me the next couple days when I logged onto BL.

The director said in an interview that he aims to show we're not far from that. As soon as we have virtual reality generating machines that envelop our entire sensory experience, our world and our social interactions will never again be the same.

 

[Portillo]

Death before myspace.

 

[RhythmSpring]

Concur.

I think the internet, and the socializing that takes place on it is one step closer to the Singularity -- of one fused worldwide mind, capable of incredible transformations and ways of affecting the universe.

It CAN be one step closer to uniting the world. I would say that the internet and its social networks are a neutral tool that can either destroy us or help unite us. It all depends on how we use it.

The director said in an interview that he aims to show we're not far from that. As soon as we have virtual reality generating machines that envelop our entire sensory experience, our world and our social interactions will never again be the same.

Wait... so the Matrix IS real!

Yeah... I would have to agree that the internet and its social networks are destroying social interaction, plus providing a false sense of reality.

On the other hand, it's quite amazing that the world is becoming aware of itself as a whole... This has never happened before...

 

[Jamshyd]

Social networks are simply tools. It is your choice what to make of them.

I personally think facebook is one of the best things on the 'net, right after BL and Wikipedia . It is certainly a much more efficient means of communications than the byzantine e-mail system which I never truly appreciated. I use facebook to communicate in my travels with friends and family far away.I certainly don't think it a threat to humanity!

Wait... so the Matrix IS real!

Please don't make allusions to this vile attack on the intellect in this forum .

p.s. MDAO: If you liked Paprika, you should watch the film that inspired it: Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer by Mamoru Oshii (of Ghost in the Shell fame). Definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.

 

[h.a.]

I don't see it as threatening the world. I like being able to keep up with old college friends and my family and such on facebook without having to spend a bunch of time calling people--something I've been bad about doing since before the great rise of social network sites.
Besides, I can't wait until we evolve into total immersion symbiosis with technology, leaving behind homo-sapien for cyber-sapien, who knows what kind of crazy shit that will bring

 

[ebola?]

1. Social Networks have existed since the dawn of social animals.
2. Social networks involving ties to non-human entities (ie, social institutions) rather than direct, personal interaction have existed since such institutions emerged. This was certainly the case even with many, many pre-capitalist societies, but interaction with impersonal entities became truly ubiquitous during modernity.
3. Many people have searched for meaning and identity, again since the dawn of humans.
4. Many of these people have anchored identity in terms of interpersonal institutions as long as such institutions existed.

What has changed?

As I see it:
1. The speed of interaction has increased dramatically.
2. The number of relationships has increased drammatically, BUT
3. Superficial personal relationships have become more easily forged and maintained.
4. Related to 3, muted online interaction doesn't carry the same GUT-impact of face-to-face exchanges (partially born of anonymity but also experiential distance).
5. Following from the above, particularly 3, there are new possibilities for 'pathological' social behavior, eg 'trolling', completely instrumental use of links to others, fraudulent self-presentation meant to deceive others for personal gain, blase detachment in engaging others, etc.
6. The hubs of 'social networking' present a proliferation of symbols and related identities derived from mass-commodities and corresponding advertising. This follows from the domination of leisure by commodity consumption by isolated individuals and the influence of cultural products pushed by large firms.

So what is the import here? How does this undermine meaning and connections with others in a substantively important way?

ebola
(more later)

 

[ebola?]

I will also add that we don't leave reality when we hop on a computer. We have a very real experience of interacting with real people (perhaps imagined as fake) in a real context.

All of our reality is infused with simulation, usually indistinguishable from things 'as they are' (if things of this sort exist).

 

[satricion]

Funnily enough, I agree with ebola? (that seems to happen a lot).

I don't think online interaction creates a qualitative change in the way we constitute relationships. It is definitely easier to form more superficial ties with people like those facebook friends you haven't spoken to since high school, who you didn't even like when you were in high school, and who you will never talk to again. But I don't think this is actually replacing 'authentic' (whatever that is) social interaction. Online communication with people you have 'real' relationships with is still meaningful, although doesn't bring the same level of closeness and fulfillment that face to face interaction does.

However, the internet is instrumental in constituting a whole range of new and important relationships which it would be silly to argue are 'inauthentic'. Think ethinic diasporas which would not exist to the same degree without the internet, new forms of identity constituted by cultural forms drawn from all over the world, the flow of which would not occur without the internet, and conventions of furry fetishists who are able to gather together in three star hotels and hump each other while dressed as blue foxes or whatever.

The internet is infused with commodity circulation, but so is the rest of life. It's just a much more convenient and easy place to put a billboard. It also takes branding to another level (you can be 'friends' with coca cola on facebook), and gives another avenue for meaningless depoliticised politics ('join this facebook group to protest against X': the simulacra of politics? That's another story).

So yeah in other words the internet takes a bunch of stuff that already exists and speeds it up and makes it larger. (also the OP has some fairly reactionary political undertones which I'm not going to touch here...)

ps: Baudrillard has a facebook group. Ironic much? I'm sure he'd love that.

 

[qwe]

Relationships and social interactions are losing their value, and people are not aware of it. People fall in love over the internet. Little children don’t even develop the skills anymore to pester other children, and prefer to pester anonymously over the internet. Religion, which binds people, brings them together on a higher level, is losing its popularity very noticeable too these days. I find the current state of affairs worrisome for humanity: people are finding the real world more boring and less significant than ever. The online community serves as a dream-like state, an unnatural blending of their mind with the other person - something that rarely happens in real life. A person is not and can never be reduced to a sensory perception on your computer screen.

Of course, many people still have social interactions in real life. Nonetheless, I seem to notice an evolution in human behavior where social interactions are valued less and less. And I don't quiet see how this is going to change in the future.

may i disagree...

before the age of the internet, we were still human... those pre-internet humans would still have fallen in love over the internet, given the technology to do so. little children get access to stimulating reflex and, more importantly, critical thinking games, and are able to access information which is more accurate and less biased, a much wider array of information from all over the world, as well as have friends from all over the world. this is an increase in diversity, which in turn increases tolerance, which in turn increases human relationships. in fact, i see neither an increase nor a decrease in value in human relationships; maybe even an increase, on a large scale. our governments used to decapitate political prisoners in the name of God. society values its members a bit more now, it seems.

religion is losing its popularity because this information explosion of the internet is widening the eyes of entire populations (religion is fighting the battle though... keep fightin, soldier!). religion should be declining, it is both responsible for major suffering on large scales (populations) and individual scales (psyches) and it has no philosophical framework to stand steadily upon (does anything?) and has no reason to be favored over other models of the universe. whether we interact online a lot or not, we'll still have the really important relationships in real life! give everyone what they want, as long as they aren't harming anyone; if someone is happy with a "girlfriend 2000 miles away whom i have never met" let him be happy with it, just call him stupid behind his back or something

how is it going to change in the future? more progress. it's been going on for hundreds of thousands of years with humans, more like ~14BYr for energy packets in general

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

qwe, I'd put it this way: traditional organized religions -- make that all traditional face-to-face human social institutions -- have got hot new competition now that the Internet has come about. In the olden days, especially in small towns, becoming inducted into the Loyal Order of Waterbuffalos might have been the only option for guys looking for 'guy time', networking, and solidarity with others who share their values. Joining a church or civic group, or working for a tightly knit workplace, were really the best options available for feeling a part of something greater than yourself. If the group was not entirely your style, oh well... suck it up and learn to conform a bit better

I remember days sitting in the first Masonic lodge I joined, bored so silly that I daydreamed about going on Bluelight! Then came the day I skipped lodge to work on an epic post that I was really into. The next Lodge, there was an air of gloom in the crumbling 1920s building, as the officers lamented declining membership and attendance. Once again, mentally, I was on BL. You get my point: it's become much more a buyer's market for social circles, for really all endeavors or purposes besides government, now that the Internet is here. Traditional social institutions will have to become less demanding in what they ask of members if they want any chance of survival.

I still think organized religion, traditional fraternal/sororal orders, civic groups, clubs, sports leagues, special interest groups, alliances, lobbying groups, and committees will still continue to exist and attract members, because there will always be people who prefer them to newer (largely online) forms of community. But they won't ever command the 'social market share' they once did.

It's kind of analogous to how there will never be a band as big as the Beatles ever again, now that music recording and publishing technology has trickled down to the masses; rock and roll has concurrently splintered.

 

[ResinTeeth]

Concur.

I think the internet, and the socializing that takes place on it is one step closer to the Singularity -- of one fused worldwide mind, capable of incredible transformations and ways of affecting the universe.

sounds like a bad thing waiting to happen

 

[Coolio]

My only problem with social networking sites is that they can be used to fracture dissident groups in a more violent future period of time. Governments and militaries will know exactly who to kill to break up effective human resistance networks.

 

[Jamshyd]

Bumping to avoid prune.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

I had a strong intuition to get off facebook and deleted mine awhile back. I didn't just deactivate that shit I deleted it all together. I've never once looked back or missed it. Anyone who refuses to keep in touch with me because I deleted my facebook is not a true friend. It's just too much fake social bullshit for me and at this point in my life I'm no longer interested. It was fun when I was younger and more insecure and enjoyed posting a lot of pics and status updates and getting a lot of attention from a bunch of people. But now I have no need for all that.

Plus it's nice to know who your true friends are. I gave most people on my list my email and told them to keep in touch with me and 99% of them I never heard from again. Apparently people only know how to reply to a status and that's it. Off facebook and you're instantly forgotten. It made me even happier to be away from it... I was wasting a lot of time with people who didn't really care about me. That's fine to do in random discussions on forums, but on facebook, when it was ME, my true self, pictures, true identity... no way am I sharing all that with people who don't really give a shit.

 

[rm-rf]

http://www.henrymakow.com/social_networking_dupes_the_ma.html

i am unfindable online

i have no real pic accounts, no social networking profiles, no pages, just a stream of news style blog on which i remain anonymous...

bl is as close to social networking as i have ever come

 

[modern buddha]

I had a strong intuition to get off facebook and deleted mine awhile back. I didn't just deactivate that shit I deleted it all together. I've never once looked back or missed it. Anyone who refuses to keep in touch with me because I deleted my facebook is not a true friend. It's just too much fake social bullshit for me and at this point in my life I'm no longer interested. It was fun when I was younger and more insecure and enjoyed posting a lot of pics and status updates and getting a lot of attention from a bunch of people. But now I have no need for all that.

Plus it's nice to know who your true friends are. I gave most people on my list my email and told them to keep in touch with me and 99% of them I never heard from again. Apparently people only know how to reply to a status and that's it. Off facebook and you're instantly forgotten. It made me even happier to be away from it... I was wasting a lot of time with people who didn't really care about me. That's fine to do in random discussions on forums, but on facebook, when it was ME, my true self, pictures, true identity... no way am I sharing all that with people who don't really give a shit.

I do agree with most of the replies to this thread about it being / not being a threat to society. But then again, aren't we doing these kinds of things to ourselves? If one person thinks it's a threat, delete it and don't use it. If another thinks it's not a threat, stay with it, use it. We make our own decisions, but I don't think it's threatening society. It's simply changing, as always. There's not a day that goes by when something doesn't change.

I agree with notDeja the most though for the account of deleting all of my social networking profiles too. I found no need to keep in contact with 200 people. It was wasting far too much of my time to be considered useful. Now, I have very fewer friends, but as OP was mentioning, it's the actual connections you make with others, not keeping in contact.

I believe, if you have the supportive and loving friends and family, it doesn't matter if you leave for a while and come back; they'll still be there. However, I don't think that networking sites are entirely to blame; we each make our own decisions and the crowd shouldn't dictate what we do.

 

[xeper]

If it is a threat, we will get rid of it. We evolve endlessly.

 

[Pythagoras]

I had a strong intuition to get off facebook and deleted mine awhile back. I didn't just deactivate that shit I deleted it all together. I've never once looked back or missed it. Anyone who refuses to keep in touch with me because I deleted my facebook is not a true friend. It's just too much fake social bullshit for me and at this point in my life I'm no longer interested. It was fun when I was younger and more insecure and enjoyed posting a lot of pics and status updates and getting a lot of attention from a bunch of people. But now I have no need for all that.

Plus it's nice to know who your true friends are. I gave most people on my list my email and told them to keep in touch with me and 99% of them I never heard from again. Apparently people only know how to reply to a status and that's it. Off facebook and you're instantly forgotten. It made me even happier to be away from it... I was wasting a lot of time with people who didn't really care about me. That's fine to do in random discussions on forums, but on facebook, when it was ME, my true self, pictures, true identity... no way am I sharing all that with people who don't really give a shit.

QFT.

I did exactly the same two years ago and found it a liberating experience. I see facebook as an ego-feeder, spending hours voyeuristically searching for an ego-orgasm. I read an article based on research recently (will try and find link) that the majority of facebook users utilise the tool in similar patterns to online gambling, with a significant percentage showing the signs of addiction to the site.

It is unarguably a revolutionary tool that can be a force for good (see arab uprisings) but I don't see it as benign. The sheer quantity of cross referenceable information on the individual is mind boggling. For now it sits on servers relatively untouched but if one is aware of IBMs use of punch-card computers that facilitated the execution of the Shoa.

Facebook servers in the wrong hands would allow for immeasurable harm: Fascistic ideologies are gaining currency once more and |I fear for the nefarious applications of data mining that would make Orwell's 'Big Brother' appear but as a feeble intruder into our private lives.

AVE TECHNE?