“This is awful, i gotta show everyone how awful this is” is the single worst most demonic social media instinct
From this tweet.
Similar to my post on being possessed by thought experiments, this social media instinct, like most of the habits which dominate our information landscape, is not grounded in any conscious principle. Outrage, disgust and fear are very potent ways by which ideas and images can spread, and they have the advantage of creating a lot of possible interaction. For instance, when someone shares something wholesome, people will simply press on the like button and then move on, but sharing some horrible event on social media generates a lot of energy in its direction: "How could this happen?!" "What type of world do we live in?!" and so on.
It doesn't have to be this way, people can use social media more consciously, which includes not using it at all, and decide to share the stuff that actually adds to their life. This structure of behavior isn’t unique to social media, because in general unconsciousness spreads and maintains itself very well in the modern world. But ultimately the only way to unroot that pattern is through consciousness, and the only way I can manifest that is through my own life.
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2024-12-14