Completely agree, and I’m not too far removed from the social media madness of today. My 7th-8th grade (12-14 y/o) years where during MySpace’s hay day. And, at least amongst my peers, a lot of our world revolved around it. I remember people bragging about how many “friends” they had, there were actual fights about so-and-so being in (or not) someone’s top 8, and all sorts of petty drama in bulletin’s and comments. But, it was still just kind of a fun thing, while there were arguments such people got over them and quickly forgot, nobody took it that seriously. There was still a pretty solid divide between your MySpace life and real life. Nobody was always online, you would just get on MySpace when you were bored and wanted to talk to people/post passive aggressive/super teenage angsty bulletins about your crush that doesn’t like you.
Then when I got to High School, that’s when Facebook became popular. I actually was a hold out, as I didn’t like Facebook as it didn’t feel the same, it felt more connected to real life (if that makes sense). But I eventually succumbed as nobody was getting on MySpace anymore.
Fortunately I graduated before Snapchat existed, and Instagram was just becoming popular. And I can’t even imagine what stupid bullshit all these new always online, highly intimate, and tightly connected to your real life/identity social media’s bring about. My little brother just graduated high school, and from what I could see, a lot of his and his friends interactions were through social media, with some friends trying desperately to become internet famous, and a lot of subtweeting.
I’m just glad this crap wasn’t around when I was a teen, because unlike MySpace, the things they’re posting/doing online aren’t likely to go away anytime soon (and I don’t think a lot of them realize that).
Nowadays, the only social media I actively check is instagram. I still have my Facebook, but it gets checked maybe once a week, Snapchat is installed, but I haven’t sent anything in months, really only there for when someone sends me something so they don’t ask me why I didn’t open it. But, I even feel a small pressure to engage with social media, and the dopamine hits from getting likes is still nice. I can’t imagine what teens, most of which depend greatly on peer acceptance to determine their self-worth, deal with. Though, I’m interested in seeing how these always online, social media teens, grow up, and how social media will evolve because of it.
What personally amazes me is how many people treat their social profiles with the same rigor and attention as a large PR conglomerate. Everything photo took dozens of takes, every post rewritten to maximize the number of keywords. Personal Branding has taken the 'social' out of social media a la Black Mirror (nosedive).
Black Mirror is amazing ofc. But specifically this episode, Nosedive, should be studied and analysed in public schools.