"One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings," wrote biographer of ancient Greek philosophers Diogenes La"ertius in about the third century AD. He'd never heard of social media, but if he had he would have been horrified. The very platform depends on the almost mindless repeating of quotes.
Sitting eating ice-cream during a short break between sessions at AfricaCom last week, I was chatting to Kaz Henderson, founder of Networx PR, about what I do: social media.
She pulled a face, the face that I have become accustomed to seeing, usually coupled with a comment something along the lines of, "oh, I just can't get into that stuff," or "I don't have the time".
What she actually said surprised me.
"I've been thinking and, I know this isn't the popular opinion, but I really feel... social media is the greatest threat to free thought."
She looked sheepish, as if she had offended me, as if expecting to find me poised to strike, the social media 'guru' whose livelihood depended on her not being right. The problem is, she was.
She went on to explain, tactfully, that what really disturbed her most was seeing how popular thoughts propagated, while thoughts that were less mainstream were completely drowned out.
And then war broke out in the Middle East and, as if to illustrate her point, a flurry of tweets from "key influencers" filled all of our feeds with their "gems" of intellect about who was right and who was wrong.
Standard for influence
While I still have a job, I'd better clarify. I don't believe that social media itself is a threat to free thought. In fact, I think it may be the best channel for free thought ever devised by man. What is at fault, in my view, is us. We don't like free thought much.
What we love is popular thought, because we love to be included in in-groups. We love to be classified as an 'Apple fan', or a 'geek', or even a lover of funky socks. We like to be part of communities. It is this very desire that drives our use of social media. If we had no one to talk to, we wouldn't very well use Facebook or Twitter or even Instagram. We might blog, or - you know - start a podcast, but neither would last very long if we were just sending words out into the void. We want to be a part of something bigger and that's wonderful.
At the same time, when done with a mindless subservience, it can be a bit terrifying.
We have a tendency towards follow-the-leader, and nowhere does it show itself more clearly than in the social media sphere, where we identify people who we agree with, admire or even want to be like and adopt their thoughts as our own.
Everyone's entitled to my opinion
When I was a teen, I had a t-shirt that my friends all approved of: black, with the words: "Everyone is entitled to my opinion" emblazoned across the chest. I've always been opinionated about everything. As a 14-year-old, I thought I could fix the American economy. Luckily, no one gave my thoughts much attention. They all knew, even though I didn't at the time, that I didn't really know anything about anything.
Now you have social media and you have people who probably know as little as I did then, who are just as opinionated, only they have a soapbox. Plenty of them are likewise ignored, but many are admired and respected in spheres they do know something about.
What does a DJ know about politics? What does a marketer know about the intricacies of constitutional law? What does a businessman know about farming? I don't know, but they all have opinions and they aren't afraid to share them, and because they come from our Facebook elite, our Twitter leaders, they get propagated through the social media sphere like champagne glittering down a champagne fountain, filling hundreds of empty glasses with gold.
You might follow a CEO for his business expertise, but be prepared, because your cup is about to runneth over with his opinions on rugby and religion too. And why not, that's what social media is for, isn't it?
Wake up sheeple
Local popular tech blogger The Techie Guy made the point yesterday that on Twitter it's possibly not the best idea to comment on that which you don't understand, especially if you're trying to position yourself as an expert in some particular sphere. Aside from broadcasting your ignorance about other issues (and running the risk of seeming ignorant about everything in general), you also might alienate those who would otherwise respect you.
My real issue, however, is with those who follow, those who repeat without questioning, and those who are so intent on being accepted by the popular crowd that they switch off their brains and become nothing more than a funnel for groupthink.
Social media can be a threat to free thought, and it will be, as long as we continue to measure success on the platforms by how far one idea reaches instead of by how many ideas emerge around a topic; as long as we obsess about "going viral" and fixate on follower numbers instead of seeking out those who may be interesting, but whose ideas haven't caught on just yet.
Social doesn't have to be a threat to free thought, as long as we, as its users, give free thought a chance.
Share