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In your opinion, did social media (and their designs & algorithms) shape our actions and behavior OR did our existing ideologies shape the current version of social media?

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In your opinion, did social media (and their designs & algorithms) shape our actions and behavior OR did our existing ideologies shape the current version of social media?

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Are tech companies promoting such behaviors with their algorithms that they award virality over value? OR are we in control of what happens on social media?

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Are tech companies promoting such behaviors with their algorithms that they award virality over value? OR are we in control of what happens on social media?

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In my opinion, I believe that social media absolutely shapes our actions and behaviors rather than the latter. I look around and witness individuals making decisions in their everyday lives based on social media and the prospect of receiving the adrenaline inducing action of a notification that someone liked their post. Examples of things that social media shapes or influences are the places we visit (The Maldives just for that selfie of you in the water), the foods we eat (waiting in line at Taiyaki NYC to post the Unicorn Taiyaki), the clothes we wear (scouring thrift stores to post your latest 'vintage' look), the language we use (repeating 'uncut gemssss' to your friends), the things we believe (enter political misinformation here). It's almost like a IRL storyline of Black Mirror or even worse a Twilight Zone Episode.

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I believe the answer to this question is very complex. In times where existing behaviors asked for more civic participation, social media came to provide that. In a way, these platforms gave us a chance to express our ideas, opinions, and feelings. So, in this sense, we could say our ideologies shaped a version of social media. Maybe not the current version, although I do think that freedom of speech and supporting movements are still part of what leads all users to engage through these platforms. However, as with many new ways to interact, there are bound to be unforeseen consequences. One of them is most definitely the impact social media has in shaping our actions and behavior. An example that comes to mind is how teens (and other users too) are constantly exposed to what still seems to be the “ideal” body through diet recomendations, photoshopped pictures, and others.

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I think that the filter bubble does have an influence on my experience. Take Twitter as an example, when I first registered my account on it, I followed several bloggers who often share comments on current events, and an important thing to note is that they are all radicals. And after I read the bloggers’ posts, I would click on the relevant content page, most of which are also radical comments. As I read more radical comments, I got more recommendations about radical comments, and I myself have become more radical when I voiced my opinions on current events. I just found that I’m living in my own information universe with no creativity, innovation, and exchanges of ideas. This filter bubble had a very negative influence on my thinking and judgment.

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I felt that the shaping force is mutual, yet social media has a greater influence on our actions and behavior to a large extent.

In regards to how our ideologies shape the current version of social media, there is a potential rule followed in different countries. In certain countries, there are some forbidden topics or words that cannot appear on social media. Besides the regulation of social media, the current trend in society will also be reflected online. For example, if an offline interview of celebrities becomes a hit and viewed by many, in a short period of time, there will be lots of content citing the popular phrases or words with imitating videos emerging.

As for social media’s shopping force on us, there are lots of different perspectives. On the one hand, the designs of different social media platforms encourage different online social activities. IG stories encourage people to post their moments and fragmented time in an easy way without worrying about the long-lasting conservation of the content. On the other hand, according to the algorithms of social media platforms, the types of digital content with the greatest views and influence will be presented to more users. They are sometimes quite contagious for the specific strategies adopted. Not to mention, social media platforms can promote content that cater to the target audience. In this way, users' online communication activities, topics of conversation, and offline consuming habits are potentially changed.

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i believe it is the people that shape the social media nowadays. our ideology and preference has changed and social media is just a reflection of them.

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we as in programmer who optimize the algorithms that predict users' next move and feed users only what they want to see? or stakeholder that sit together and talk about the next business strategy to hoard more money and grab more attention? or users who do not participate in any of those above? I think programmer should take part of the responsibility for the maniac social media addiction problem. stakeholder should also reflect on their priority between value and eyeballs. as for users, we HAVE NO CONTROL.

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For this question, I had difficulty formulating a straight answer. I do believe that tech companies are 100% promoting such behaviors via their algorithms to obtain profits of sorts by awarding virality, however, I also believe that we are also in control of what happens on social media and what ultimately gets labeled as viral. The kicker is that there are hidden dark patterns in the design of the algorithms, that unless an individual is cognizant of them, leaves users unable to authentically control their social media behaviors 100%. In addition, there are psychological and social dark patterns that are used by designers to ensure users click on certain things, reject, accept or comment. Designers complete this by collecting our data (that we allow when we accept the terms and agreement). The bottom line is that we all have the option to not utilize social media platforms, but we don't for many reasons. Whats more is that we even have the option to set boundaries while using/interacting with social media platforms. But who really reads about the proprietary algorithms used by Instagram or Twitter to understand how to do so?

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In my opinion much of what goes on on social media has to do mostly with tech companies and their algorithms. I'd even say that mass media also has a great impact on that algorithm and that "method" that awards virality over value. As with many industries, there is an economic pull that I believe is put above several other aspects regarding how we engage in these platforms. However, I do think we as users could have more control if, like someone said in the first comment, we were to exercise our option to stop using social media platforms and thus supporting certain activities. Education has everything to do with us as users gaining (more) control.

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I felt that social media has a large influence on shaping our actions or behavior especially with political issues or elections. Certain social media has a large population of supporting one specific party. When supporters post positive opinion about party A while criticizing party B, other users start to have negative thoughts about party B which might influence their vote.

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I don't think tech companies intentionally promote such behaviors. Rather, they more care about making a specific algorithm that fits users' interests to keep users on their social media. A behavioral affect is merely a result of this algorithm which companies do not focus on that much. In some ways, they do care about value and some ethical issues about their social media, but I still think they care more about the algorithm.

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I feel like it is a bit of both. I think that especially in the beginning of creating the social media platforms, they were definitely impacted by our ideologies. While it might seem that social media has taken over in influencing our actions and behaviors, our ideologies continue shaping social media. Society’s increasing emphasis on social media has allowed social media to influence our behavior more and more.  Obviously, it is pretty easy to recognize the impact of algorithms  (think about what certain users see on TikTok and what information remains hidden). However, this is only important because we see a value in social media and have emphasized it in our society.

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Contradiction posted by big tech companies

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Contradiction posted by big tech companies

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Recently I read an article that discusses the attention economy of Tinder, the online dating app. The article mentions that even though the accuracy of match algorithm is increasing, the tech company does not necessarily want to help you find your loved ones so quickly because its profit and bottomline depend on users' time spent on the app. Same with other social media platforms, whose initial purposes were probably to bring people together and foster a closer community. However, the operative actions ultimately came down to do whatever they could to keep users on their apps as long as possible, eventually leading to potential interference of physical social interactions.

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I think it truly depends on the tech company and their goals. For example, Youtube obviously wants viral videos and number of views, but recently they have come under fire for their Youtube kids content. They have promised to improve the quality (value) of the content in order to gain the trust of users again. I think companies have to balance being viral and being value because the users do have input. Using technology/social media/website gives us power, we get to decide whether we use certain technology which impact’s tech companies profits. It is not like each individual necessarily has a ton of impact on the company as a whole, but the power of aggregated individuals is great.

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Thank you for the question. I think social media and our behavior are mutually shaped and influenced by each other. In this era of information explosion, we are flooded with different information streams every day, some information we actively want to obtain, and some we passively approached. Our learning states, behavior patterns, and mindsets are subtly shaped in this process.

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At the same time, technology has played a very essential role in this process. Technology has made the dissemination of information faster and wider. At the same time, advanced computer algorithms can intelligently recommend to users the content they prefer, which to a certain extent accelerates the deeper impact of information on people. Technology are tools, and we also need to use a dialectical thinking to reflect on the role of technology in media and the role it has played in shaping our cognition.

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At the same time, technology has played a very essential role in this process. Technology has made the dissemination of information faster and wider. At the same time, advanced computer algorithms can intelligently recommend to users the content they prefer, which to a certain extent accelerates the deeper impact of information on people. Technology are tools, and we also need to use a dialectical thinking to reflect on the role of technology in media and the role it has played in shaping our cognition.

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I believe that social media and people have a mutual influence; a big data algorithm allows social media to categorize the content we frequently click and then continuously push comparable content for recommendation, so that the public receives filtered information and the information loop closes.

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I'm also of the view that it is a bit of both. It shapes so many of our actions and behaviors - how we shop, our relationships , our shorter attention spans for instance. Its effects have been both positive and negative too. This question also made me think of how social media platforms have evolved , adding new features, was this sparked by how we act on social media ? For, instance instagram from a primarily photo sharing app to becoming an e-commerce platform

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I agree with most of my peers that it can go both ways. However, I think designers also play an role in determining how we react on social media. For example, there are rules and conventions on different websites. On Quora, the main goal is to tell a story that fits into the theme of people’s questions. When people like or agree with the story, they can upvote it. Otherwise, they can downvote. Such design is to ensure that people share certain stories that are compelling to others in the community. Therefore, it reinforces how people should act within a specific website.

Of course, algorithms also play a big part in what we see on social media. However, I want to argue that I think social media creators started heavily focusing on algorithms because we want to read relevant information that we’re interested in. This is what captures us into the social media platform and one of its selling points. People want to see things that they’re interested in. For example, on TikTok, I watch a bunch of slim creator small business videos. The algorithm notices that I like such content and it keeps on showing me new content from different slim businesses on my “For You Page”. With Quora, when I read an answer to one question that piques my interest, they keep emailing me about some other questions that I might be interested in reading as well. These all are influenced by my actions and behaviors. Social media designers are always trying to improve their algorithms so that it can match the demands of its audience.

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This reminds me of Instagram's suggested posts feature, which suggests comparable things based on the posts I enjoy on a daily basis. And, by suggesting products that may be of interest to you based on your search, consumers may be able to purchase directly on Instagram. Users will be drawn to an integrated service like this and will stick to one social media platform.