Global Political and Social Awareness - The Problems with Facebook (Meta) and Social Media

Social media has revolutionized the way people communicate and correspond with each other. Cellphones and smartphones have also had a categorical and fundamental impact on our lives. Coupled with the internet, and social media, especially Facebook, they have the power to transform our civilization. We have a vast amount of information in the palm of our hands. With advancements of social media and smartphones, we can access almost any information we want and use it to prepare us for anything such as dating, jobs, life hacks, tips, directions and so on. With these changes also comes problems which have spread as fast as the advent of smart phone technology and social media platforms.

Facebook is the most recognizable and largest social media conglomerate in the world. Billions of people around the world (2.8 billion people as of now) are using it to communicate their desires, friendships, and outlooks to friends, family members, and acquaintances. Facebook has changed the way we interact with them on many topics. It has also changed the way we see friendships. When you 'friend' someone on Facebook, you immediately become as close to the person as others are to him/her. You become an integral part of their lives as they share their most intimate beliefs and what excites and annoys them. You can also express yourself to them and see how you fit in. This platform became a new method of advertising for job fairs, companies promoting their products, people promoting their personal products, ideas, thoughts, and advice, and cities and countries advertising their cultures, language, attractions, and landmarks. Countless people have made a terrific living off of social media sites and become extraordinarily wealthy in the process. They became trend setters. 

Unfortunately, this new revolutionary form of communication has caused negative effects on users. People have reported low self esteem, cyberbullying, and psychological stress when using these sites on a daily basis. Addiction is also involved. Users now feel they have the urgency to tell and share everything and let others know what they are doing. They often get upset, angry, and disgruntled when others don't agree with their views or criticize them for their thinking. Also, the very meaning of friendship has altered greatly. People have the need to befriend as many people as possible on Facebook and on other sites. The more you have, the better you feel. You have the obsession to be popular and the need to tell them what you are up to. You could just end the friendship and end all possible communication with them in the outside world too which can cause a lot of damage to you and the one you "unfriended". Many consider it taboo or even scandalous if you "unfriend" someone. To them, it is a sign of being shunned and cast away, which they consider it to be a major crime that is unforgivable in their eyes.

People with seditious and nefarious plans have also taken full advantage of what social media has to offer. Conspiracy theories, racism, discrimination, and hate speech have flourished tremendously since the inception of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. Militant, ultra-right, and white supremacist hate groups have taken to these sites to recruit new people and encourage them to adopt divisive, malicious, and violent beliefs that harm and destroy communities. Conspiracy theories such as "The Great Replacement", "false flags", misinformation about COVID and vaccinations, "Pizzagate", "QAnon" and "The Big Steal" (referring to the 2020 Presidential Election in the USA in which Trump and his followers claim the election was rigged and stolen from him) are tied to these vicious groups that try everything they can to undermine societal norms and rules. What is worse is Facebook not doing anything to stop it. A former Facebook employee turned whistleblower leaked tons of files showing how Facebook and chiefly Mark Zuckerberg not doing a single thing to eliminate the threat of racist violence against other people. His excuse is that it could harm profits. He believes making money is more important than the safety of his clients and people in general. That is horrific. I find that Mr. Zuckerberg is no better than the ones who want to spread animosity, hatred, and misinformation that have harmed millions of people around the world. These sites have the power to sway elections in many different levels of government, get people fired or force them to resign their post, or even lose support and endorsements. It can even economically damage and even ruin a business! That is the influence of social media and Facebook has done nothing to limit the destructive power of misinformation.

This isn't the first time that Facebook was involved in questionable activity. Many people know of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal in which Facebook was harvesting profiles for the consulting firm to use for political advertising without the consent of the users. This was a big violation of user privacy which immediately cast a dark shadow over Facebook's privacy and policies. Many began to suspect if Facebook used their information without their knowledge on other things which they have. In 2010, the NSA took publicly posted information from Facebook users. In 2013, High-Tech Bridge published a study showing how private information was being accessed. Facebook had to settle with The Federal Trade Commission when it discovered that Facebook wasn't keeping privacy promises. Over the course of years, many accounts have been hacked, proving again that the privacy structure was grossly inadequate. After Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebranding of his corporation, we will see if he will start taking privacy concerns seriously or maybe the same old tune will be played. 

There is no doubt that Facebook has changed so much in our lives. It made history by providing and revolutionizing a whole new way to communicate between parties. People use the site to promote themselves, their businesses and their ideas. I find a lot of disadvantages and problems with the site and the fact that the company hasn't learned from past lessons so well, it is difficult to imagine it will learn anything at all in the future.