There is an old saying that “no man is an island.” In 2009, that saying has never been more true. Social media has put us (as human beings) in the position of being connected to the tEcosystem virtually everywhere we go. I think that it goes without saying that social media is going to, or really, has already changed our lives. However, I think the bigger question that we have to ask ourselves is, “Is social media going to change our lives for the better?”
People are, by nature, social human beings. We naturally build social circles and possess family heirarchies. There is an inherant desire to be connected to those that we love and care for. In the past we stayed in touch with family and friends by way of postal mail and telephone. People have a need to live within a constant conversation of friends and family- both talking and listening through the tEcosystem. Social media affords individuals to function as a constantly connected island, a place where we don’t need a common space to connect, but we create our own spaces and reach out to those around us. Will Richardson said it best when he spoke about this island becoming the new way that we approach technology. We will no longer be on a physical island- we will be able to go anywhere, talk to anyone, and learn almost anything through social media.
However, we also have to consider the other side of the story. In our desire to become completely connected, can we become too connected? Can we depend so much upon social media that we have no real need or desire to interact with human beings? Lore Sjoberg (video above) makes a vaild point- after a while, using social media just produces a mash up of human communication which gets output as a synthetic bit of communication.
It seems now that we as Media Psychologists are charged with a large task. Part of what we do will be to help individuals learn how they can connect to the limitless world around them. However, another part of our task will be to help individuals stay personally connected in an increasingly digital world.
(Video courtesy of Wired Magazine, embedded through YouTube.)
