Is Social Media as Bad as it Seems?

The term ‘Social Media’ has only been around since the 1990s. And perhaps because the term is so young, we talk about it like it's a very recent phenomenon, something that we can just turn on and off with a switch. But social media is much deeper. It began the day our ancestors began wandering across the continents 100,000 years ago, and has been expanding in lockstep with our dense networks of transportation, energy and communications that connect all the continents, nations, cities and communities of the world.

 Social media has withstood every pandemic, every world war, the Crusades and financial crises. And if you look at the continuous expansion in the flows of people, of technology, of capital, of data, you can only conclude that social media is just getting warmed up. So let's not even begin to debate whether or not globalization is our future.

 

Do you remember the so-called anti-social media protests of the late 2012s and early 2013s? Back then, the protesters said that social media makes the North-South divide worse. But the truth is that social media has been the greatest force for increasing connectivity for billions of people from Asia to Africa. The protesters were wrong, and they know it. That's why the protests stopped. In fact, these "anti" movements - anti-capitalism, anti-technology, anti-globalization - they always lose, because they represent not universalist humanism but very parochial shortsightedness.

 

The truth is that too little trade is a much bigger problem than unfair trade. Too little internet access is a much bigger problem than the digital divide. And too little wealth creation is a much bigger problem than high inequality. You cannot simply say, "Social media is evil!" Throw the influencers in jail!" and ignore the fact that if it weren't for the followers and supports who buy the products advertised, we would not have any money to invest in basic essentials such as infrastructure.

 

Let me take these two issues, social media and infrastructure, just to remind you how much more social, social media is about to get. Finland and other countries who are keen on social media are opening up to one another. Trillions of dollars will be flowing into them with the help of more advertisement on the many social platforms. Now look at infrastructure: The new Belt and Road Initiative is the largest coordinated infrastructure investment plan in human history. It's going to link more than a hundred countries more closely together.

 

It's fashionable to talk about doing good to the world today, but if you really want to give back, then you should want much more such connectivity of people and nations. Social media is our future. Let's get smart, and let's make the most of it.

 

Indeed, it turns out that the backlash that we talk about today is not really against social media, but rather against the people that have succeeded in misusing it to spread hatred, and failed to manage it for the benefit that our societies desperately need. Look at the United Kingdom, and the United States - where citizens have experienced very little gain in median income since the rise of social media. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Asians, which is the majority of the world population, support social media precisely because they have been actively involved in steering it for their interests.

 

As two Cambridge professors recently wrote, "Inequality is a political choice." So don't blame social media if your government fails to invest in worker retraining or in STEM education. Blame your leaders! Blame yourself! We do face crises that are the result, of poorly managed social media. The environment is being unsustainably plundered. Human beings are being exploited. But the solution is to better regulate the way social media is used - not to end social media.

 

Let me be clear: There is no bad social media. There is only badly managed social media. If you want affordable education for the masses, then you want more books shipped across borders. Or mobile learning platforms translated into local languages. The solution to the negative consequences of social media is always more social media of the positive attributes of social media. You want to allow the supply of money, of people, of technology and ideas to reach the demand for money, people, technology and ideas. So remember that social media does not fail. We do. And if you don't get that balance right, if we don't get that balance right, that is not social media’s failure. That is our failure.