
4 minute read
Profit over Public Safety?
An editorial opinon by Jane Elkins
Is facebook to blame for inciting hate online and harming teens mental health?
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Photo Credit: The Daily Universe
Social media has become a prominent part of today’s society. Since its creation in the early 2000s, its use has become widespread across the entire globe. Students, teachers, and people from all walks of life utilize different social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to socialize with family and friends and to connect with people all over the world. Especially in 2020 with lockdowns and quarantine requirements, social media became, for many people, their primary way of interacting with each other. It allowed people to cure their boredom, discover new hobbies, talk to friends, and get involved with civic engagement. Nevertheless, social media clearly has many shortcomings. Over the years, social media platforms have received backlash due to their addictive nature, misuse of user privacy, and mass mis-information campaigns. One popular social media scandal occurred on Facebook during the 2016 Presidential Election when Facebook partnered with a political consulting firm called Cambridge Analytica. According to the New York Times, Facebook provided the firm with roughly 87 million Facebook profiles that were then used to create psychographic profiles of the users based on their Facebook activity. This data was then used to create targeted ads for Facebook users based on whether they were a Trump Supporter or a swing voter. Although Facebook claims that the data of their users cannot be “sold or transferred to any ad network, data broker or other advertising or monetization-related service” in its terms of service, in reality, according to Haugen, Facebook allows research companies to have access to the data for ‘academic purposes’ but does very little to enforce their so called rule. Currently, the issues of the dishonest discourse which social media allows to go unchecked and the harmful content it promotes have taken center stage on the Senate floor. Recently, whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook Executive, testified before the Senate and stated that Facebook purposely promotes misinformation and material that creates a toxic online environment in order to increase engagement and create a profit. According to Haugen, Facebook constantly disregarded providing safeguards for their platform, instead choosing to maximize its growth. This is exemplified when examining the app’s algorithm. She explains that Facebook, like most other social media platforms, utilizes a business model that relies on specialized algorithms that uncovers their users interests. This technology has been improved in recent years to recognize material that elicits the most interaction with the post, regardless if it is positive or negative. Nonetheless, Facebook profits off a post’s popularity or more frequently, its controversy. “The result has been more division, more harm, more lies, more threats and more combat. In some cases, this dangerous online talk has led to actual violence that harms and even kills people,” Haugen stated to Congress. It is clear that Facebook is more concerned with money than the health of its users. Despite their stated goals, an arguement could be made that Facebook’s specialized algorithm harms people and Facebook has not done enough to address the problem. This tendency can be seen across all other social media platforms, especially Tiktok. On these platforms, users are provided with an endless amount of content on topics which they have shown interest in. Users have the ability to spend hours upon hours scrolling and interacting with content, often losing track of time during the process. The addictive nature of these platforms in itself is clearly harmful, but when the content being promoted on people’s pages advocates dangerous and unhealthy behaviors like eating disorders, self-harm, and other addictions, it becomes more than just an addictive passtime. “I deleted almost all of my social media apps.” Senior Kendall Dunham says. “Often when I would go on them, I would end up feeling worse about myself. Seeing perfect images of people as well as other triggering behaviors made me realize how much of an unhealthy pastime these apps are.”
Another problem with social media is the reality that much of the “news” and information which is posted lacks an actual source. As such, rumors and myths can quickly spread across the world, regardless of whether they have any basis in reality. Since posters on social media can hide their true identities, they can get away with cruelty that would never be condoned in a more public forum. In all, Facebook and social media platforms should take a more active role in providing safeguard for its users. Since it is incredibly difficult to do so because of censorship issues, users should also try to be more aware about the content they are consuming online. Social media platforms profit off the instant amount of dopamine users get while using their app. No matter what kind of reaction it elicits, it prompts a reaction in which the platform will profit off of.