Social media and globalization

Howdy, Luke here!

Social media comes in many different shapes and forms. The basic concept upon which all instances of social media rely is that users can create and share content with other users, easily and instantly. And generally speaking, social media allows content accessibility to all. Facebook's massive success may be attributed in part to its incorporation of "older," more personal forms of communication in its interface: email (Facebook Messages) and instant messaging (Facebook Chat).

There is no end in sight for the proliferation of social media in the twenty-first century:

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2011/01/23/don%E2%80%99t-steal-my-avatar-challenges-of-social-networking-patents/id=14531/

Needless to say, social media (and the "World Wide" Web in general) have enormous implications for globalization. It is impossible to overstate how it has never been easier to interact with unfamiliar cultures and ideas. However, has social media really made people more civil and respectful in dealing with different points of view? If a typical page of YouTube comments is representative, then the answer is no. Social media is often abused by users who simply want to boost their egos and vent their anger without regard to other users.

Furthermore, meaningful global interaction is stifled by the inadequacy of the Internet to replicate the real world. The Matrix (released coincidentally in 1999, just before the social media revolution) is terrifying partly because the premise that people have been enslaved by machines to live in an artificial world may be seen as an allegory for real life. Following 140-characters-or-less "tweets" cannot possibly take the place of genuine cultural encounters, nor can uploading one's vacation photos on Flickr even scratch the surface of what that vacation felt like.

What then is to be made of social media and its proper place in globalization? Like all forms of communication, social media is neutral and only becomes dangerous when abused by its users. One can at least begin to make social media a more useful tool for global interaction by following this basic rule: never write anything online that you wouldn't say to your grandma in a face-to-face conversation.