Why do we get such a thrill and satisfaction from social media? Where did it come from?
Sometimes, when I catch myself smiling, laughing, or even aggressively latching onto someone I follow’s tweet, I recognize that my behavior is so constantly influenced by digital technology that is still rather young. It’s only 2011, afterall– the acronym LOL only gained momentum in the 90s.
As human beings, we are instinctively social. History demonstrates that enough. But is that it? Today’s shiny new products i.e., smartphones, Facebook, and everything else Web 2.0 are just today’s versions of the 15th Century’s printing press, the 19th Century’s telegraph, and the 20th Century’s radio and television.
Or is there something more special about the technologies we use today? That makes us receive such a higher level of gratification and at times purpose.
Think about it. When in decades past, have people across the world found a way to integrate every aspect of their real lives into technology, that’s always growing in numbers, but also in innovations? Personal, professional, social, communal. You get the idea.
Further, when have they been able to do it on small and direct, but also on mass communication levels? Not to mention doing these both on the same platforms (Tweet vs. DM on Twitter).
When have we ever been so obsessed too? Steve Jobs’ death proves that.
It all brings back the question of why. Is it simply because these technologies are so focused on the principle of openness? Where anyone and everyone has the ability to succeed? YouTube is the king of this. In what other time than now would YouTube succeed? Certainly not at any point in which media conglomerates were too opposed to giving up their power.
And that’s just it. The openness again. Equal opportunity for usage and improvement for all.
Maybe in future centuries, historians will think differently, but at least for today, I believe that today’s social and digital technologies have pushed our cultures and social behavior into a realm beyond anything created in the past. All because of that word– openness. Who knows–maybe that’s what our ancestors were after the whole time.
