Social media has made an irreversible impact on all segments of our society, garnering high engagement across age demographics. As our friendships, familial connections, professional networks and even activism move even further online, it might seem like social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and their eventual successors will remain a permanent fixture in our lives — but is that true? In this week’s roundtable, Opinion writers discuss how long social media will stay relevant.
Nell Srinath, Opinion Editor: This is more of a hope than a prediction, but in order to salvage our society from the clutches of climate change — among other existential issues that require an all-hands-on-deck societal response — we need to salvage ourselves from the clutches of social media. Endless doomscrolling or distractions from the real world are already having a corrosive effect on how we interact with each other and the world around us; imagine when we’ve reached the warming point of no return and our collective “fight or flight” response kicks in. Furthermore, do we have any guarantees that the generations inheriting social media from us will be any less vulnerable to misinformation, celebrity worship or political nihilism? I optimistically hope that, out of necessity, we regain the ability to care about what happens in our local communities while also developing less obsessive and superficial ways to stay informed about the world. I would say the change begins in making our immediate social circles less online and more intellectually curious.
Dan Stark, Associate Opinion Editor: I believe that social media will remain relevant for quite a bit of time, but there will be massive changes in the platforms used and the demographics that will use them. There’s inevitably going to be another platform like TikTok that comes out of nowhere and becomes the next big thing. I also think that as each generation gets older, their use of social media will decrease. I find it weird to picture Gen Z in our late thirties sending snaps to each other and learning new TikTok dances. But the younger generations beyond us, like Gen Alpha and the soon-to-be memed Gen Beta, will likely be using TikTok and similar platforms in their young ages. But who knows, they might think that apps like that are stupid and will be mocking older generations for using them. Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe at the moment that social media won’t be relevant over the next few decades.
Tomas Hinckley, Columnist: I think an interesting aspect of this question is the fact that a lot of us are thinking of social media as it is right now and whether or not that will continue into the future. At the end of the day though, social media started in a different way before most of us were fully developed humans, like with MySpace, OG Facebook, etc. I mean, there are even further back examples like with the Bulletin Board System,which was all the way back in the early 90s. The point is that right now what we have would’ve probably been unthinkable to the people back then, especially in the sheer power and pervasiveness that social media has on our everyday lives. I think we’re headed in the same direction now, where eventually we’ll see even more drastic man made horrors beyond our comprehension in the form of social media. It’s part of human nature to want to connect with people, and technology has become the tool with which we do everything in our lives, so I think social media is becoming somewhat of a guaranteed conclusion for ever.
Evelyn Pazan, Contributor: Just like MySpace and Vine, I am sure that TikTok and Instagram will eventually lose popularity. That does not mean that social media will go away. Right now, participating in social media is a choice. But because our generation is so addicted to our phones, I am sure that it will have an ever increasing impact on our lives, even the parts of them that we view as completely mundane and private. We’ve already seen this shift happening as people tune in to watch their favorite creators “Get ready with me” and “Day in my life”. Who knows? Maybe next there will be an app specifically designed to live stream our sleep, vlog a funeral or something equally as creepy and disheartening.
Luke Feeney, Contributor: Towards the end of his 2016 special, “Make Happy,” comedian Bo Burnham said this “Social media — it’s just the market’s answer to a generation that demanded to perform, so the market said, here — perform. Perform everything to each other, all the time, for no reason.” How often do you see people doing stuff specifically for social media? All the time. Be it a “Get ready with me” video, photoshoots, exercise, even people who live stream their journey battling an illness. Deep down we all want to perform. We all want to feel unique and important and social media presents itself as something that can do that. As long as that desire remains, there will always be a market for social media. So unfortunately, I believe social media is forever. People come and go, but likes never leave (unless the person unfollows you)