I’m sure that many of us social media-savvy (read: “obsessed”) college students have shaken our heads in exasperation at the recent Facebook privacy statement hoopla. Or maybe you unwittingly participated in it. I won’t hold it against you, I guess, but I think that those in question on this particular subject are vastly overestimating—and at the same time underestimating—the power of mass social media.
First of all, everyone knows by now that the notice that they may or may not have posted on their Facebook wall has no effect on anything whatsoever, right? Good. I’m glad that phase is over with. However, now there’s another fad that’s just come to an end: people sharing a picture of a guy who allegedly “won the lottery” and is going to share $1 million worth of his earnings with one lucky person who shared his photo. I’ve seen at least three different people share this photo on my own news feed, and it’s nearly made my face hit my keyboard in exasperation each time.
As it turns out, this guy did not in fact win the lottery. This news didn’t break until nearly 2 million people had shared the photo, however. This is where people overestimate social media. While massive efforts on Facebook against legislative measures like the now-defunct SOPA served to create enough bad publicity that lawmakers were forced to vote against it in fear of their jobs, there is very little that can be done to get money from random people on Facebook, and sharing their photos certainly doesn’t help.
What’s more, giving money doesn’t work like that either. Everyone has seen at least one post on Facebook of a helpless-looking orphan or baby saying, “If [insert name here]’s page gets 1 million likes, they get free cancer treatment!” Let me tell you all something: If this person wanted to help the baby, they’d ask for money. A doctor is not going to look at the Facebook page and tell them that they can’t operate until the number on the screen becomes seven digits long. All liking the page says about you is that you didn’t want to actually help anyone, but you still wanted to feel good about yourself. These people overestimate the person’s intentions, thinking that they couldn’t possibly fabricate this entire story just for vague, meaningless “internet points.” Well, they just did.
Many social media sites work the same way. Reddit, for instance, is famous for this kind of fabrication, where people may fake having certain experiences or even cancer in hopes of getting “karma” points. In certain cases, they’ve been actual scams for money through PayPal accounts and such. The difference between this and Facebook is simple anonymity.
People underestimate these websites. On anonymous sites, people may be angry at your online persona, but they can’t judge you because they don’t know who you really are. On Facebook, your friends see what you did and are perhaps confused as to why you’re being lazy and “liking” a page for a fictional two-year-old’s cancer treatment, when you could be out volunteering or actually donating to a real two-year-old’s cancer treatment fund. People have to realize that they’re not acting anonymously on Facebook, regardless of the fact that they’re sitting behind a computer. It translates much more easily to the real world. There’s something to be said for dignity here. I suggest people try to preserve theirs.
Is your news feed flooded with phony cries for help? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com
