Are
Social Media making a fool of us?
People
use social networks for many purposes — killing boredom,
socializing, or to promote a product or business. Some people,
however, have been able to get rich on social media mostly
by showing their talents and achieving fortune, fame, or both. For
sure,
you have heard about SA Wardęga’s “Mutant Giant Spider Dog” on
YouTube, which by now has almost 100 million views! And some people
count the number of views in dollars. Let’s face the truth, it
wasn’t the
discovery
of America, but for
such an
‘obvious’
idea he
earned around 35 000$ (source
http://pawel-nowak.com/zarabianie-na-youtube-wyliczenia/). And what is more,
you have a finger int he pie wasting time watching it.
Someone-Something-Somewhere
Another
phenomenon of social portals is the speed of spread of information.
Especially the
one
which
is untrue.
All of you probably have heard about missing Malaysia Airline’s 370
flight. There
were
multiple
sources informing
about
the
safe
landing of this plane, nevertheless the plane has not been found so
far. Both
Malaysian Airlines
officials and the Chinese government later said the safe landing
rumors were false.
Similar
news has
spread
about Hurricane
Sandy. The
story unfolded quickly on social media: a poignant photo of soldiers
standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a picture of a
giant wave slamming into the Statue of Liberty, and TV reports that 3
feet of water flooded the New York Stock Exchange.
None
of it was true.
Humblebrag:
The Art of False Modesty
Are
you really so passionate about professional photography or it is just
a right time for a new #selfie for you Facebook account?
Despite all
selfies in the mirror, so called ‘food porn” is
one of the most common topics and publishing it
permanently is inscribed in the network code as exhibitionism. But
will sharing news about finding 10 Polish
groszy on the street really makes
you a billionaire? Humblebrag
is
an ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement which actual purpose is
to draw attention
to something
you
are proud of.
It is good to share your success with those we like but ironically
attempting at minimizing big news can actually work against us and
irritate others. People have tendency to overpraise themselves.
Especially bloggers are bragging about their life by showing new
brand shoes or so recently snapped up cheap trips to the
Republic
of Congo. In
fact, a paper published in 2012 by two Harvard neuroscientists said
that talking about ourselves gives us the same kind of pleasure we
get from sex or food.
Bibliography:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/social-media-spread-false-reports-safe-landing-n48081
Questions:
- Do you think social networking sites make it hard for people to think for themselves?
- Do you see a difference between an impression your friends make in real life and in social portals?
- How active are you on social media and how many people are you connected with?
- What would your relationships with friends look like without social media?
