Terms of Service. Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection is a guide to understanding the current technological situation and its implications.
Social networks are much more than the latest toy from the technology industry. They are the online activity that we dedicate most time to and have become an established part of our daily lives, generating clearly defined social patterns.
I am what I share
The validation of online identity, the visibility of profiles on social networks, and our daily lives seen through the eyes of like and sharing. How far has the line moved between private and public life?
Shareability is the name of the game. It dictates the agenda of many media, editors, marketing strategies… “I am what I share” is the new mantra of a society in which each individual measures their self-fulfilment based on the likes and followers they generate.
The inner conflict of today’s society: what to share.
Social networks are much more than a market with millions of users that trade using the coin of attention. Who we are and how happy we are with are lives is now a question of audience.
As numbers, we are important
“We”, because we are all numbers, despite the fact that most of us will never benefit from such a condition. Any aspect of our existence will be digitalized and turned into a template. How does this constant scrutiny change our attitude toward others and toward ourselves?
In this context, Silverman raises a crucial question: must we simply accept that we are going to live under a constant flow of data? The answer may lie in the rhetoric of technology companies, but we should look for it with the right amount of skepticism. How the gurus of the technology industry see the world affects us all, since the digital culture is now predominant.
Silverman’s work is a balanced review, a reflective critique, necessary for the present social climate. The economy, politics, education… are proof of the change that has been generated by the Internet. Yet the idea that ubiquity and mass data will build an equal society is a utopia for Silverman: the Internet generates new inequalities, and we need to be aware of this.
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