Humans are social creatures. First, foremost, and always. Even when they’re being ‘political’ they’re being…

Humans are social creatures. First, foremost, and always. Even when they’re being ‘political’ they’re being social. For a long time that social life was a relatively independent domain of life, free of the clutches of commerce and politics. And then came social media. /1

People cling to it like a life raft. Social media is owned by the same billionaire class that people rail against, on social media. Do you think they’d create these platforms if they threatened their way of life? /2

It’s pure genius, they found a way at last to own social life as well. To weaponise it, to monetise it. It’s like social heroin, people can’t look away, the economy of likes and the team sports of comparison are irresistible. They’ve targeted our core ways of being. /3

The simple, practical things that need to happen to fix our societies won’t happen, because most of us are transfixed every day by the ‘debate’ on social media, a platform provided by the same class of people who create these problems and resist their solution. It’s a con. /4

They have us believing that all of this hot air is ‘the people’ acting in a democracy. That if you ‘mobilise’ enough followers, you can change the world. Trump managed that, but it’s nearly always those who already have power and influence who use social media to do it. /5

No power, no leadership, ever comes from the ‘bottom up’. Social media is endless distraction, a perfect way to divide and conquer the millions you’re screwing every day, and have them just argue with each other, while you keep on plundering the Treasury. /6

Simple, practical things like mass joining of unions would actually change societies. People won’t do that, they’d rather log on every day and join their teams in fighting the social media fights they’re engaged with. Like online gaming, not even an analogy. /7

Like all technology, social media was created with a founding set of assumptions, which then create the social effect of that technology. Those assumptions are well known, SIlicon Valley beliefs. Political libertarian ideals of freeing individuals from custom, tradition. /8

And here we are. Existing customs and traditions, like public health, being smashed with gay abandon. Replaced by huge armies of online loons and their freedom fairy tales. Cybercrime growing exponentially, the same technology, implementing the same beliefs. /9

As David Roth says, the entire IT industry, not just social media, loves to invent things it thinks will make it fabulously rich. It has zero interest in actually maintaining any of it, for taking responsibility for its ongoing social impact. But people won’t give it up. /10

Social media is addictive, because these charlatans have now targeted the most addictive thing humans possess. Their own social relationships. The economy of comparison, popularity and likes. Societies won’t survive. We’re trapped in high school now, perpetually. /end