By Jacob Bryant
Jacob is a college student and member of the ConnectSafely Youth Advisory Council.
Social media and our online presence on it have been a way to grow and connect with others we might not normally have the opportunity to meet. There are different spaces to connect with others who enjoy the same things as you, or apps like Instagram or Facebook, where you can peek into the lives of others and see what they are up to. Social media has always been a way to share pieces of your life and thoughts in your head. These windows into your life can be seen by many, but it is important to remember that these are only snapshots. The lives and worldviews of others are commonly much more than what is seen on social media. It is becoming more pressing to keep this in mind as it is increasingly more popular to use social media as a place to learn about others through what they post.
Social media, by design, doesn’t allow us to give a very nuanced opinion or description of what is going on in our lives. Social media is the home of short-form content. This can be in the form of pictures or short-form videos. The likelihood of a user on Instagram or TikTok staying on a post decreases the longer the video gets. In an attempt to provide content the user will enjoy, these apps will push content that is short, meaning longer videos are significantly less likely to receive views and be pushed to users. While this limits the words one might consume from a short video, the amount that can be clearly conveyed about a situation from a picture is even more limited. It was only recently, when considering how long it has been since Instagram was founded, that they allowed users to post up to 20 photos rather than limiting them to 10 for each post. This is to say that Instagram and other social media platforms have been set up to specifically deliver short-form content and to only allow a small glimpse into the lives of others. There is a lot of added context or explanation to be had concerning what one might learn about another from something that is posted on social media. These different platforms don’t make it easy to provide this context or explanation to allow for productive conversation about the content of a post.
The opportunity to learn about others through their Instagram posts is becoming something that is increasingly being pushed to its users. With the implementation of a specific tab to showcase the different reels liked by people you follow, it is now almost unavoidable to notice the different content people like. In some cases, it isn’t even content that you would enjoy that would get pushed to users; it is content that their friends have liked that is specifically showing up on their feed. Many contributors to the Youth Advisory Council have expressed that they believe the more a piece of content is interacted with, the more frequently that type of content appears on their feed. The act of liking or commenting on a post in many cases determines whether that type of content is to be shown on your feed again. People tend to like things they agree with or want to see again, and so the new tab for viewing what your friends have liked can give users a taste of what content others might enjoy. This is where the issue of short-form content becomes
increasingly pressing, as a simple like on a more polarizing post lacks the context of what this action truly means. Some users take this as meaning complete agreement with a post, while others decide to recognize the lack of context in what this act truly means. A simple like on a post never really conveys the full intent behind that action, despite Instagram continually pushing content liked by others onto users’ feeds.
Other members of the Youth Advisory Council emphasized the use of social media as a place to determine what opinions to agree with. In many cases, this means less forming your own opinion about a topic and leaning towards agreeing with the content or opinions that are pushed to your feed. It is difficult to get the whole picture of a situation, and the content that is shared online can tend to lead one way or another, depending on what the algorithm decides to push to you. Using social media as a place to form an opinion can be really difficult because, many times, the content that is viewed by a user represents only part of a situation. It doesn’t make it impossible, but it certainly makes it difficult to see all sides of a situation. However, that doesn’t change the tendency of many to go to social media to determine what their reaction should be to a situation rather than finding ways to form their own opinion.
The anonymity of social media does not aid with this because it is easy to make statements or claims on social media with no concern for how you might be viewed. With things like fake accounts or even blank accounts that don’t say much about the owner, it is easy to see a plethora of perspectives from people who have little to no worry about the weight of their words. This can, as someone from the Youth Advisory Council mentioned, bring out a different side of people, where they feel as if they can speak more freely about different things because of the anonymity social media brings them. Despite this, there seems to be a disconnect between the words users see and the realization that those who might be saying them could be taking full advantage of the way social media allows you to suppress information about your identity. Another contributor to the Youth Advisory Council emphasized the importance of remembering that there are actual people behind the screen. When it comes to being kind and respectful online, it is critical to keep this in mind when interacting with others.
Social media can be a wonderful place to connect and learn more about others and the world around us. While the use of social media continues to rise, people continue to share more of their lives and worldviews. It is important to remember how social media is a window into the worlds of others, and it should be treated as such.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and some other members of ConnectSafely’s Youth Advisory Council. They do not necessarily represent the views of the Council as a whole or ConnectSafely.