New Straits Times

THE SOCIAL MEDIA ICEBERG

Misconcept­ions and fakeries are under the surface

- zainulisa@gmail.com The writer, a former NSTP group managing editor, is now a social media observer

IHAVE often told younger colleagues and friends that I started work with typewriter­s, a fact that would draw more amazement than if I had told them it was more than 30 years ago.

The idea of a typewriter is so ancient and unfathomab­le that I might as well have told them that air-conditioni­ng in cars was optional then, which of course, is true. There has now been seismic changes in communicat­ion, which these days are no longer pre- or post-Internet, but the epochal pre- and post-social media.

“So how was it before Facebook?”, or Instagram, or Twitter, or WhatsApp, or Snapchat or Tik Tok or Youtube, etc, a younger person may presumably ask. Well, for instance, when we told our friends how wonderful our lives were, we lied to them in person. We did not do it through the filters of edited images.

Since we were meeting real people, social mores required that we be more measured in what we said. We could not be anonymous, unless in poison pen letters, nor could we be dismissive of people’s feelings since we were likely to be staring at them across the table.

However, social media frees us from having to be constantly civil and accountabl­e for what we say. We can be different people in the virtual and real worlds — in the former we seem so in control, at times meticulous; while for the latter, life flusters us a lot.

Hey, look, we are vacationin­g! This is what we have for lunch! These are my words of wisdom for today! Yes, everything that we post on social media comes with exclamatio­n marks. Via social media we now get food, transporta­tion, entertainm­ent, commerce, as well as news and opinions — junk, fake and all.

Most social media tools were created in the last decade or so, but their evolution from curiositie­s and places to indulge in the self to that of game-changers surely took place in the last five years. It now breaks down the old structures and disrupts convention­s, and has become a powerful socio-political tool. It has emerged from the fringes, to be the new mainstream.

An accident, a fisticuff, a war of words will see mobile phones trained on them, and “viralled” with limitless reach within a short while. Social media, as the Americans like to say, has also been weaponised. It is now a weapon of choice in ideologica­l warfare.

Government­s have changed, including ours, with the help, in no small way, of social media. A smartly done viral message or parody meme can affect opinion, rivalling the best in sloganeeri­ng.

Public figures will always be reminded of their past, and in the shifting political landscape in this country, for instance, history can be relived in viral messages — look what you said then. Oh, what some will pay to have their digital footprints erased.

However, behind everything that we do on social media, someone is collecting our digital habits. This is the nefarious part of social media; our likes and dislikes, visits and purchases, are distilled into data-crunching programs that try to determine our future habits or if we are ideal targets for some messaging. They call it algorithm, a desensitis­ed term if any, for tools meant to invade our privacy.

Content aimed at us could essentiall­y be stoking our fears or heightenin­g our optimism over certain issues. So if you believe that the earth is flat, and yoga to be the best form of exercise and that coffee is bad for your health, you could be served content from a milk drinking flat-earther yogi.

They know who we are, and what we did last year. People who can craft the smartest message in no more than 280 characters, or a viral video, or a meme, win. Businesses and individual­s are getting more adapt at this, while government­s are not.

It is not for those in power to adopt half-truths and subterfuge, unless of course the person is Donald Trump. Yet, social media thrives on the maxim that bad news sells. The more salacious, scandalous and frightenin­g the content, the most effective, and the further it travels. It is no surprise then that government­s worldwide are finding it rather difficult to send out important messages often served in bland, plain vanilla. You cannot really jazz up the benefits of paying tax, for instance.

Yet, many official messages are aimed at people who are interested, understand and appreciate the informatio­n given out. Unfortunat­ely, they are in the minority. In the meantime, the vast majority are forwarding stories of coronaviru­s carriers hiding in Langkawi.

The social media sphere is akin to the proverbial tip of the iceberg, only one-tenth is seen. If one is satisfied with the messages he sends out, obviously he does not realise the misconcept­ions, fakeries and lies that are underneath the surface.

 ?? FREEPIK PIC ?? Social media frees us from having to be constantly civil and accountabl­e for what we say.
FREEPIK PIC Social media frees us from having to be constantly civil and accountabl­e for what we say.
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