I <3 :-)

This text was inspired by my dad, who lived his life outside the pre-defined, pre-approved boxes. I suggest reading my first post before continuing, as this is kind of a sequel to it.

During the past 10 years, as technology advanced, Internet turned into web 2.0 and later into social media. It is now the main communication channel for many, and through the cheap mobile devices, soon the whole mankind can take part in the conversation. This can be seen a positive thing and it is valid to predict a revolution in many areas of our lives.

This year I decided to stop looking at the possibilities of social media, but only to focus at the current reality. The content on social media tells what we do and what we think, it is a reflection of who we are. By looking at the content, let me summarize our society in three non-words: "I <3 :-)", I love happy things.

The popular contents in social media align well with the smileys: "Oh my, that's so nice/cute", emphatic "oh my, that's awful" and sometimes even "oh my, that's mean/wicked”. Yes, I have witnessed a good conversation on social media about an important topic, but "oh my, that's so interesting" will not stay on top for long. I think that even the lowest forms of media, tabloids and reality TV, offer interesting original content more often than social media. That has everything to do with the fact that they are produced by people who turn uninteresting things interesting for a living. I keep asking this question: Which one is more interesting, the bare breasts of a BB (Big Brother) celebrity or the few miles ran by a distant FB (Facebook) friend?

I do understand there are people who use social media tools for professional purposes very efficiently. I do know there are public, very strongly focused discussion forums, filled with interesting content for the ones interested in the focus area. I am aware that people use social media to keep in touch with their friends. But as the question "what's hot on social media" can be answered, I allow myself to approach social media from purely media perspective. The prime content of social media is the smiley things.

There's nothing wrong with an occasional escapism to happy-happy joy-joy, but it pollutes, as consuming social media produces social media. We should be ashamed of consuming social media and do it secretly. Currently social media consumption reminds me of the drug in Huxley's Brave New World, enjoyed very openly. I've actually seen social media abbreviated as SOMA. I also like to compare social media to a religion, one that disallows us to participate in difficult conversations. I've experienced real life problems taken care of with a surrealistic way: "Let's not talk about the problem because then everyone becomes sad and sadness is not nice". In social media this is the norm. If you don't follow it, you will not get thumbed up to be heard.

But actually comparing social media to an anti-depressant or a cult is too easy on it. Some people like to use drugs and I bet many have had religious experiences through social media. After all, it connects all of us together through "the mother Internet". No, social media is an infectious disease. Not just any infectious disease, but a large scale zombie epidemic. Social media has become zombial media. Once you get bitten, the collective zombie mind will decide what to chant re-tweet, ranging from less-than-140-character political slogans to iProducts to cute kittens. From big boys' point of view, the goal is to start the zombie infection. It is not an accident why marketing professionals use the term "viral campaigns"

I don't know much about history. Maybe nothing is different. I know television has been referenced to a brainwashing machine and zombial media has a similar tone. But I remember someone teaching me that if I hear something, I forget, if I read something, I remember, but if I write something, I understand. Zombial media requires writing, or copy-pasting at least, which makes it scarily efficient!

When I see the zombial outbreak, I can run away, but I can't find the shelter. I know there must be a counter-culture hiding somewhere, but where?  I hope not in between the lines of the dying old media.

Text and image: Wesa Aapro

Passive Interactive Media

In Finland, when there is an ice hockey tournament going on and the Finns are playing in the final; and you are outside, alone, walking the dog, you can see an interesting phenomenon. You can see an electric light flashing from every window of every apartment, synched to the beat of the game. You know that everyone is watching the same game. If it's warm and the windows are open, you can also hear the cheers.

We tend to think that TV is a passive media, that channel surfing is not a proper way to interact with the media. I haven't heard anyone say that watching the same game everyone else watches is an intelligent way to express oneself. At the same time we tend to think that social media, and now I'm talking about Facebook, is an active media, a tool to express real opinions and personality.

I disagree. My three years of Facebook will come to an end soon, mostly because I got sad, not so much because of issues regarding Facebook ethics. I did not see the embrace of the long tail; instead I saw the mass sharing of mass media. I did not see new ways of self expression; instead I saw endless quizzes and groups that were supposed to say something about the submitter. Finally, and I am a bad person: I did not connect with my old friends and colleagues; instead I remembered why I had originally disconnected from them.

Our new tools for self expression seem to have taken the communication into the next level, but in reality they just dictate the new rules of how to communicate. Limiting expression is on the other hand good; when I was a teenager, I could say everything I needed by wearing a certain t-shirt. But now we have so many t-shirts available that we forget they are just t-shirts. Liking is not the same thing than using your brain to come up with words that form sentences that somehow positively comment on the item. Joining a group is not the same thing than studying a subject and being ready to argue about it, again using words that form sentences. Checking boxes on a test and sharing the result is not the same thing than coming up with a personal way to make people smile, for example by selecting words that form funny sentences. Status updating and commenting (still) requires the use of text, but as a very bad person, I just see "hello everyone please notice me" messages filling up the feeds. I don't know how this single entry blog is any different, but I know there is a line somewhere, separating content from noise.

I get back to the channel surfing. What is the difference between clicking number buttons on a remote, showing it through the flashing light of your apartment window, and clicking like, share and join buttons of social media, showing it through the noise on your feed? When some selected families switch channels, they are registered in audience metrics, in web, every click counts. How big of a difference is that?

Finally, even if I am cynical now, I am a strong believer of positive future regarding communication and democracy and things like that. But I do not believe in the yadayada hallelujah of social media, the term has already died.

Text: Wesa Aapro
Photo: Vesa Metsätähti