social

“Move Fast and Break Things”

Posted on by dandross

For the last few years, I have had a strange sense of pride for not being on Facebook. My mother had told me that I wasn’t allowed to make a Facebook account until I was 13. By that time, the platform had already started to move toward something that seemed like it was more for older people, and other platforms were more appealing. Fortunately or unfortunately, it has become clear that maybe I can’t live my life completely free of Facebook. I have recently been given the opportunity to aid in the social media management of an individual and the possession of Facebook and TikTok was a requirement. So, as of last week, I am officially a Facebook user. 

I have a lot of feelings about Facebook. I had part of this documentary before, and revisiting it just made me feel worse about having to make an account. I know that every social network has its problems. But Facebook… well, as the Frontline documentary focused on, the privacy issues that Facebook has faced are stressful, to say the least. It doesn’t affect me because I didn’t have a Facebook account during that major controversy, but it does, because Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, and I have been on Instagram since 2013.

So that brings me to the early motto of, “Move fast and break things.” In theory, I love this. Cause chaos. Do things. Be unafraid of consequences. But as a major organization, and even as an individual person, this is not an effective way to operate. Facebook obviously realized that, but not until they had moved fast and broken… a lot of things. 

Technology moves quickly. Sometimes so quickly that we can’t keep up. And though “move fast” might be unavoidable, Zuckerberg’s early philosophy of “Apologize later,” can’t apply to tech giants. Imagine if every social network did what Facebook did. As made clear in part 1 of the documentary, it was not necessarily malicious. It was tech optimism. It was blind desire and progress. 

Progress is not bad. Technology is not bad. But the ways that we use tech can be bad. Human beings are flawed, and they create flawed technologies. We see computers as perfect things, code and algorithms as sinister presences. But humans made them. Humans are behind everything, and humans make mistakes. 

It is up to the consumer to recognize this. Human beings, just like them, create everything behind the technology they use every day. I think sometimes this is easy to forget. We expect these innovations to operate perfectly. We are used to having very little go wrong. But every once in awhile, we get reminders that our technology is ever-changing and that means errors. It isn’t often that these errors are the same scale as Facebook’s controversies. But they happen every day.

The tech we use is young- the consumer has a responsibility to remember that, too. The Age of Information is real and happening, but it’s still early. Humans are creating truly beautiful things every day. But this is infancy. 

I think the struggles that Facebook has had show other platforms and tech companies what not to do. Somebody had to do that. And despite their issues, Facebook is still the #1 social media platform. Companies have to take more responsibility for the information they store. But the consumer has to take responsibility, too, for what they share and how they use technology. 

Cover Photo: Pile of 3d facebook logos, originally uploaded by natanaelginting

Plugged In

Posted on by dandross

Despite its benefits, social media can be incredibly overwhelming. Sometimes I get the desire to unplug and shut it all down. Not necessarily because I feel pulled in multiple directions or bogged down by the volume or frequency, but because people can truly say anything. I like social media, in general, but there can be quite a bit of negativity. Often there is drama. I don’t like that it sucks me in. It’s like a form of entertainment, seeing people lose their minds on a screen about generally inconsequential things, but I feel more drained afterward. It isn’t worth my time. 

When my band broke up, the social media posts about us were an absolute mess. Really, our break-up was aggravated by a social media post in the first place. Somebody who wasn’t even a band member ended up getting punched in the face for it (and it was live streamed). Although the dissipation of our band ended up being a good thing in the end, experiences like that make me want to delete social media altogether.

However, there are other times that I really enjoy social media. When I’m alone and feel anxious, I scroll through Twitter for memes. It helps me calm down and distracts me. But I can’t help but wonder: does that mean it’s becoming a crutch? Do I rely on social media instead of tackling my issues head-on? 

In his song “Blast Damage Days,” Jeff Rosenstock says, “These are the Amazon days, we are the binge-watching age//And we’ll be stuck in a screen until our phones fall asleep.” In their song, “The Entertainment’s Here,” AJR says, “You wonder what they did before inventing the phone//Yeah, how could anybody face the quiet alone?” These lyrics are a little too relevant, and it is genuinely refreshing to see artists tackling these questions of technology. But it also forces you to think about your own consumption and reliance on tech.

In order to combat the constant information, I’ve placed time limits for social media apps on my phone. In truth, though, this doesn’t do much. iPhone will give you an option as to whether you want to continue on the app for 5 minutes or ignore your limit for the rest of the day. I generally choose the latter. Maybe I set the limits to make myself feel better, but I ignore them for convenience. 

I believe that FOMO is very real. However, I think it affected me a lot more in high school and my freshman year of college. Seeing other people having more fun than me on social media made me feel bad about myself. I spent a lot of time trying to cultivate the “right” Instagram images for instant gratification. But I was also having real experiences at the same time (maybe not as much in high school, but certainly when I entered college). Eventually it stops feeling like such a race. But that doesn’t mean I don’t make an effort to post my vacation photos or consider a caption for a long time before I post. I still posted a photo for my second anniversary with my boyfriend. I still have the desire to show everyone how “great” my life is. Social media breeds that type of behavior and even if you grow out of certain things, it doesn’t necessarily go away. Human beings crave validation.

In my social media class we’ve been talking about cultivating your “personal brand.” I know that I have one, but I’m not exactly sure what it is yet. As far as FOMO and JOMO go, I think I spend a lot of time trying to show how “punk rock” I am on social media, or, as mentioned, post a lot of photos from travelling, or concerts, or other specific experiences. Maybe that’s what it is; for the most part, I try to focus on experiences. Again, I guess, to show how fantastic my life must be. That’s the issue, isn’t it? It’s always a competition. Maybe I want other people to feel FOMO. Maybe I just like attention. Or maybe it’s genuine, and I truly just want to share joy. I don’t know. It’s probably a little bit of all of that. Social media is complex, but maybe it doesn’t have to be. I suppose now I’m overthinking it.

In order to get the most out of my life, it might be smart to disconnect more. I think this blog is evidence of that. Sometimes it’s just nice to have a break and I don’t give it to myself enough because I truly am worried about missing something. I’m used to being constantly connected. Letting go of some of that is scarier than knowingly relying on it. “Personalized” social media gives us the illusion of control, and human beings are more desperate for control than they are for validation. Being plugged in gives us both.

Cover Photo: Outlet Background, courtesy of FreePik

The Art of Consumption

Posted on by dandross

First post, so introductions are in order, right? I’m Dani Dross, currently a junior at Creighton University. I’m majoring in Journalism on the PR Track and minoring in Communications. Ideally, I would like to do music journalism, whether that be in the form of reviews, interviews, or something else- but I’m open to basically whatever comes at me. I’m in this class (Media Literacy and Info Concepts) because I have to be, but I also think that in today’s day and age, the concept of media literacy is more important than ever. You cannot count on every post or news article to be completely factual. It is up to you, the consumer, to differentiate between what is reliable information and what is not.

As a Journalism student, I try to consume the news media every day in different forms. I get New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR updates every morning, and I also scroll through Twitter at least once a day, where I can stay up to date on current events by following journalists and news outlets (as well as pop culture news). I wouldn’t say I’m married to my phone, however. It’s convenient and effective and I like to take advantage of the “free” digital news subscriptions that the University offers. But I also have a special place in my heart for print and consume newspapers and magazines when I can. Those cost money, of course, so that’s a little more difficult for me as a college student. And like any college student, I do like the constantly available, ready-to-consume information on my phone and laptop. 

Although I am a Journalism student (therefore maybe a little biased) it is incredibly important to always be critical of the news media. Ideally, we would like to believe that the news and the people who bring it to the public are trustworthy. But journalists are human too. They make mistakes and let personal opinions sneak through. As long as this isn’t purposeful and they are trying to uphold the values of a journalist, I don’t really think this is a huge issue. In my opinion, being a journalist is doing your best to expose corruption, bring as much factual information to the public as possible, and be a voice for the voiceless. I say “doing your best” because that’s all anyone can do. I think that’s okay. 

That brings me back to the role of the consumer. We live in a media-saturated world. In some ways that’s cool- lots of options, some personability. But it’s also difficult. The average everyday person has to be relied upon and trusted to make decisions about what they hear, see, and read. Plenty of people will hear something and immediately take it to be fact. This is irresponsible. Social media, news media, etc. have to be used responsibly or they’re worthless. 

In a bit of a different vein, as far as programming goes: I did things a little out of order and took a higher level graphic design class before computer science, which I am taking now. So my HTML/CSS experience is minimal and mediocre. It is definitely not my thing.

I’m excited for this class because every day, especially as a Journalism student, I have to strive to be a better, savvier consumer of media. Nothing in the world can be improved if we can’t form opinions about the things that are happening to us or that we are bringing upon ourselves as a race (y’know, the human race). We have to make things better for ourselves; but we have to understand the world and our roles in it first. 

Photo: NEWSIES originally uploaded by A Ricci

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