Let me make one thing clear. The problem with the platforms on which we create social networks is not the platforms, but the people. If you live in a house with toxic people and you all move into another house together, the environment will be the same. It’s no different here. Toxicity travels from one network to another, like Super Mario collecting coins. Allow me to walk you through the evolution of the most famous toxicity platform in the history of the millennium.
Facebook is today the social network for older family members, Instagram is the network for those who still know the Ramones but no longer know how to maintain accounts, LinkedIn is the whistleblower network of the decade, TikTok is the network for stupid dances, #Fakebody, and incomplete and obscene stickers, ClubHouse is the social network that never existed before. Threads? I’ll tell you in a month.
But they all have something in common. the people. From different generations, it’s true. But sharing a boring popular saying, a rajatanga-style dance (asereje) and a photo with #Sundays have more in common than one might think at first glance.
It is not the platforms that threaten people’s safety, but rather the people who threaten the safety of the platforms. In the words of Jean-François Marmion, “We are all fools sometimes.” On the networks, sometimes, often.
Maybe the solution for social media to stop being toxic and empty is to remove people from the equation. If that’s not possible, I leave you with a recommendation from Frederico Bombaris, which I think might make some sense.
“Coffee trailblazer. Social media ninja. Unapologetic web guru. Friendly music fan. Alcohol fanatic.”
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