Social Media and Social Wellbeing.

Are social media sites just opportunities for people to become, as Ronson says, "Unpaid shaming interns?" Share your thoughts.

Ronson’s thoughts resonated with me a lot. Although I am not on twitter, I have felt the pull of social media shame myself based on reading other people’s content. How do you make yourself appear “good” in the eyes of others, many who are not even friends in real life? It was unsettling to think about how google, twitter, instagram, facebook, etc have grown and profited off of this concept. I even found myself thinking of the saying, “misery loves company” and so turning to social media where one can superficially and briefly make themselves feel better by reading or viewing other’s flaws or mishaps and seeing themselves and their virtual community as better. The idea of an unpaid intern also reminds me that we are choosing to spend our free time doing this. Watching this caused me to pause at the amount of time I spent on social media. While I don’t reshare or shame others publicly, I often feel self shame at what I am doing ( or not doing) compared to other people’s feed.

What are some of the benefits of social media in terms of providing opportunities for the democratization of justice?

I have to admit I get a lot of my news and updates from social media. I think it can be a great platform for advocating, sharing movements and organizations that are doing good work, and provide info about where and when to organize as well as allow you to meet others committed to justice. I am aware however that I have to be vigilant about how I take in this information. There was a video I watched in a class over the summer about fake news, and I still think about that when I see something that seems dramatized or a bit misinformed.

Are there ways of meeting "nice people like us" on social media? Or, is it a place that only offers opportunities for us to mutually approve of each other while demonizing someone else?

I have met some people on the internet, including scholars or artists who I follow for inspiration. I think it is important to recognize that there are a lot “ideologs” as Ronson mentioned and to be wary of people who seem to solely use social media to criticize others. I noticed over the summer some friends who were constantly shaming or “preaching” about covid, protests, and the inadequacies of many. I had to make the conscious decision to not watch that person’s stories. Instead I do my best to follow users who spread solid knowledge that I can monitor my time reading, and keep in touch with loved ones and feel more connected to them.