Almost all social networks in Silicon Valley are in decline. Save yourself. FB is recording record losses and laying off 11,000 people; never before seen in the history of the group. Its Metaverse fantasy makes people smile today, like a spoiled child's whim. Elon Musk's new Twitter has the merit of exposing the truth about the censorship that has been going on since the arrival of Covid, then with the Hunter Biden files, and finally with the pseudo Russian interference. But mainstream advertisers do not see this emancipation as a good thing, thus reducing their advertising expenses. Only TikTok seems to be doing well with the under 13s. It has never been more plausible that the social media era will soon end, after 25 years of good and loyal service. Maybe that's a good thing.
It arrived in the early 90s, helped by the networking of computers. People started using them to create and manage relationships. This form of networking turned into a principle of collecting virtual friends. Rather than encouraging real exchanges, they slowly shifted to a static broadcast channel. Suddenly, billions of people have become celebrities, experts and influencers convinced that they have a "political" role to play. A global network in which everyone has an opinion on everything, all the time. What an idea! We are now witnessing the nauseating dumping of pseudo-information, in an endless stream, by narcissistic individuals.
The model has failed. The collapse of FB, Twitter and Youtube becomes an opportunity to accept the great debacle of empty souls telling themselves all day long, to pretend they have something to say.
Content sharing platforms such as blogs have also helped promote the social aspect of networking by sharing information and documents with friends. Before the term "social networks" was used, a large majority of these sites displayed the new spirit of a digital 2.0 revolution, thanks to the content generated by its users. Then came the mobile applications. But the RS were designed to connect and not to publish. It was about expanding one's circle of relationships and trusted contacts.
But everything changed when they became media, about 15 years ago. We switched to the era of content publishing, offering everyone the opportunity to be a broadcaster, especially with the arrival of Instagram. The profitability motivating the approach, with the consequence of a leveling down of the shares. RS are contact books lined with sales targets for potential lonely souls. This hyperactivity of endless publications is the very source of their decline. These channels of diffusion give the pulse of a sick, normalized, anxious and depressive society. The nauseating smells reflect a society in decline.
The injunctions to create and consume content for no reason, to have the feeling to exist virtually, for lack of existing for real, now animate the reality of these "social media". When groups, pages and news feeds were launched, third party content could be redirected to increase engagement on the platforms. Twitter's retweets make one a second-rate passport to recognition that has all the makings of plagiarism. No more author's songs, nothing but reinterpretations. Welcome to the plastic society.
The massive use of algorithms allows us to be inundated with intrusive videos acting like drugs to escape the reality of the inner void. We think we are informed, but we are drowned in a bath of images and alienating representations.
The explosion of social networking sites has also allowed the massive collection of personal data for the benefit of ever-growing advertising revenues. The great consumerist 2.0 unpacking is in full swing. There is an economy of content, as well as a new manna for brands. They can now count on influencers to spread their ever more racy and mercantile messages. Who doesn't dream of becoming a super influencer among young people? The ultimate goal, the consecration accessible where studies do not seem to make dream anymore. 12 years of higher education to qualify for a position as a marketer experienced in launching false innovations for the profit of multinationals working for the grandiose collapse of the world. No thanks.
This frenzy of wanting to share and exchange has turned social relationships into exchanges without value. Too much information kills information. Everyone thinks they are legitimate to comment on everything, all the time. We feel we have a permanent right to vote. Social media have produced a sociopathic and unbalanced interpretation of human sociality. The decline of social media is a reality. The era of "likes" and "shares" has worn out, due to its childish use. Nevertheless, we have turned these platforms into distractions in an ever more frantic quest for sensations and pleasures. It is therefore becoming very constraining to separate ourselves from a mass addiction. The real social life must take back its rights. The process of mutation is at work, it's a matter of time. It was a good idea to use computers to connect with others and share relevant content occasionally. As soon as it became an obsession, gangrene set in. A form of degrowth at all levels must guide our actions. We need to discover what useless chatter is, and let silence settle in, permanently. We can encourage the death of these deadening structures by helping to abandon our vain practices. It is possible, and desirable.
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