Personal thought

Part of your out-of-class work before tonight’s meeting included reading L.M. Sacasas’ article, “Always On,” (Links to an external site.) which ruminates on our 24/7 connectedness (digitally) and how using social media can drain us, negatively affecting our attitudes, behaviors, and overall awareness of ourselves. (For reference, the brief bio at the bottom of the webpage refers to this ambiguously named author using the pronoun “he.”) This was a trickier piece of reading to reckon with, though parts of Sacasas’ mostly dense writing do really stand out. Let’s consider these standout moments… (scroll down to the next bolded bit for this forum’s actual instructions/questions)! Take, for instance, this paragraph from about 1/4 of the way through: Petersen suggests that social media platforms — she cites LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter — contribute to burnout: “They reinforce the idea that people should always be working by providing another arena for invidious comparison, self-branding, and optimization. But something more subtle may be happening as well. Social media platforms, like all technologies that mediate the self, ‘heighten consciousness,’ in media scholar Walter Ong’s words. But if earlier technological developments, like writing, heightened consciousness to extend the self, newer technologies may heighten it to a point where it no longer sustains the self but undermines it.” Another interesting observation he makes about social media occurs a little farther down in the article: “Social media platforms, like writing (or any other representational media), also externalize and heighten consciousness through self-alienating or distancing effects: To glance at your profile, to frame an image or message for posting, or to scroll through an algorithmically sorted feed is to see at least some aspect of yourself suspended in time and space. But the audience we address through these platforms, especially with communication broadcast to no one in particular, is quite different from the audience presumed by writing… This online audience is simultaneously ever-present but elusive, especially through mobile devices. It remains at a physical remove, but our interactions with it can approximate the immediacy of face-to-face communication, in that reactions can be instantaneous and pointed directly at us. Response can also trickle in over time, from respondents that range from expected to unanticipated to unwanted… The result is that we can’t help but be aware of ourselves through these platforms as continual performers, moment by moment… Acting ‘naturally’ implies a measure of self-forgetfulness, but foregrounding the camera and the stakes of the images precludes that. It achieves the contrary, heightening self-awareness, leaving people trapped in a state of perpetual consciousness of performing, referencing it repeatedly in an effort to disavow or mitigate it.” Finally, consider this moment where Sacasas seems to anticipate The Social Dilemma a year ahead of that film’s production/release: “Social media platforms, then, heighten our consciousness of the performative aspects of our identity and simultaneously aim to diminish our consciousness of how we use them. These two seemingly opposed tendencies transform the platforms into powerful dissolvers of will, leaving us more susceptible to the algorithms and the marketing that powers their economic model, as well as structuring a particular form of social order. Rather than foster the display our individuality, they devolve into mechanisms of conditioning. The cumulative effect of the networks of surveillance, self-monitoring, operant conditioning, automation, routinization, and programmed predictability in which we are enmeshed is not enhanced freedom, individuality, spontaneity, thoughtfulness, or joy. Their effect is to stabilize us into routine and predictable patterns of behavior and consumption.” With all of these intricate ideas and observations in mind, respond to the Sacasas article in whatever way you like here. Was this article confusing, enlightening, both? Do you agree/disagree with Sacasas’ claims that we’re essentially forcing ourselves to “perform” when using social media? As a social media user (or abstainee), how do you feel about its effects or lack thereof? Is the “burnout” he describes relatablagne? Let’s talk about it!