Unheeded Warnings:
The Struggle to Restore Democracy
What is almost as necessary as breathing… technology! Since the final years of the twentieth century, technology has been intertwining itself with society. As of now, technology, and the products offered with its usage, have become integral parts of society and the functionality of it. However, the one thing that technosociologists could have never predicted was technology’s influence on the performance quality of the world’s gubernatorial bodies. The most trivial aspect of this already disturbing fact is that the products and services offered by way of technology -such as Facebook, Google, and others- impact how constituents think and how governments function.
Siva Vaidhyanathan, a world-renowned media scholar,[1] published The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry) in 2011. Within the book, Vaidhyanathan offered detailed descriptions about where the state of technology and media consumption was headed. Throughout Vaidhyanathan’s 2011 book, he implores readers to worry about the impact of Google and Facebook on everything, including their consumers.[2] In The Googlization of Everything, Vaidhyanathan draws attention to consumers’ blind faith and the underhanded data mining that Google continuously practices. “Google conditions us to accept and believe that that list does in fact deliver what we want,” said Vaidhyanathan.
“Google works so well, so simply, and so fast that it inspires trust and faith in its users.”[3] When speaking about “Googlization,” Vaidhyanathan encourages readers to recognize how Google has changed the world and identify when Google invades communities and personal spaces.
Throughout the book, Vaidhyanathan stresses how “the Googlization of everything entails the harvesting, copying, aggregating, and ranking of information about and contributions made by each of us.” What is problematic about these practices is that the “process exploits our profound need to connect and share, and our remarkable ability to create together — each person contributing a little bit to a poem, a song, a quilt, or a conversation.”[4] One aspect of social media and the internet that many consumers have trouble remembering is how the companies within the industry are businesses. Vaidhyanathan refocuses readers by breaking down the business side of Google. The essence of the so-called business is advertisement. “Because Google makes its money by using our profiles to present us with advertisements keyed to the words we search, precision is its goal,” said Vaidhyanathan. The University of Virginia professor[5] continued by explaining how Google garners such advertisement deals. “Google wants advertisers to trust that the people who see their paid placements are likely customers for the advertised products or services… [t]hese advertisers have little interest in broadcasting… [t]hat’s a waste of money.”[6] Because Google collects such valuable consumer information, the ads are especially effective. Google tailors its advertising services to almost precisely fit the data collected in order to turn a more substantial profit.
Despite his statements being predictions, at the time, Vaidhyanathan’s worries are justifiable. In 2017, Vaidhyanathan published another book, Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy. Vaidhyanathan’s unheeded warnings predicted the outcome of future years. Vaidhyanathan explained in 2017 how Facebook actively disconnects its users while simultaneously undermining democracy.[7] It is safety say that his 2017 book justifies his 2011 book on many concerning levels. Vaidhyanathan wrote Antisocial Media after the insanity of the 2016 United States presidential election. In chapter seven of Antisocial Media, Vaidhyanathan proffers that Facebook played a disrupting role by being a “disinformation machine.” He asks the very critical question, “[w]ho supplied the data that these ad accounts might have used to target so many Americans?”[8] The previous question sparked debate on whether or not Facebook hindered democracy. Do Facebook and other companies like it disconnect consumers and undermine democracy? As Vaidhyanathan proves throughout Antisocial Media, the answer is yes.
After the election, “it became immediately clear from that moment that Facebook has contributed to — and profited from — the erosion of democratic practice and norms in the United States and elsewhere.”[9] What makes this egregious act even more disgusting is “that Facebook makes such manipulation so easy and renders political ads exempt from the basic accountability and transparency that healthy democracy demands.” Because “Facebook does all the targeting work all in-house, […] Facebook officials seem not to grasp the difference between commercial advertising and political propaganda.”[10] This discrepancy corrupted democracy. Moreover, this discrepancy exists because Facebook does not foster a “tradition of accountability and transparency.”[11] Vaidhyanathan utilized a consumer example to display Facebook’s vast knowledge of people. Advertisements intended “for 20- to 30-year-old home-owning Latino men in Virginia would not be viewed by anyone outside the niche.” Advertisements geared towards this specific niche “would be ephemeral… [and] could promote falsehoods or misinformation.” What makes this example a hard pill to swallow is that “[n]o one could respond to or even question claims.” Facebook’s anatomy is a detriment to both society and democracy. Simply put, Facebook does not realize its reach and influence. Vaidhyanathan even noted how “platforms such as 4Chan and 8Chan have been known to launch many of the most troubling campaigns of harassment and disinformation.”[12]Once again, Facebook established a precedent for spreading disinformation without remorse.
“Mark Zuckerberg thought he was forging a social network to connect people, by encouraging us to share content from other sites so easily he actually divided us by connecting us,” said Vaidhyanathan. The nature of Facebook’s platform makes users “yearn for those small bolts of affirmation — the comment, the ‘like,’ the ‘share’ — [they] habitually post items that have generated the most response.” Facebook’s raid on democracy is not just an American problem, but rather a global problem. The Filipino president, Rodrigo Duerte, leveraged Facebook’s Free Basics service to affect his political campaign. “Duterte’s team of paid social media supporters, up to 500 volunteers, and thousands of bots have manufactured and spread false stories and undermine trust in professional journalists’ team” by deploying “fake accounts to multiply the effects of the disinformation they share.”[13] Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Vaidhyanathan exceptionally proved Facebook’s threat to the democratic practices used worldwide.
Although years off, failure looms around the corner from Facebook, Google, and other companies like them. Medill School of Journalism alum and author Jeff Jarvis offers insight in a 2019 article about how the models that social media companies depend on will eventually fail.[14] “[A]dvertising is a failure,” said Jarvis. Since Facebook and Google make profits from advertising, soon, this business model will hurt them. Jarvis offers consumers hope because “[i]f advertising and brands are diminished, even Google and Facebook may suffer and fall because arbitraging data to intuit intent — like every other advertising business model so far — might be short-lived.”[15] Since the platforms are not invincible, there is hope to save democracy. Jarvis acknowledges that “understanding how to serve communities”[16] is the first step to building a better online environment.
Within college-aged communities -such as teens and young adults- many are outspoken and long for civil discourse. Facebook essentially broke democracy by subjecting each of its 2.7 billion monthly active users[17] to incestuous amplification, and students have noticed. “I’m not entirely sure where the future of democracy is headed, but my answer is more negative leaning,” said Amirah Ford, a junior at Northwestern University. “We’ve seen egregious amounts of false information spread on the internet that’s been treated as true [and] President Trump has spread a plethora of misinformation, and the manifestations of these falsehoods are playing out before our eyes.” Ford is not the only college student who has lost faith in democracy ever seeing an upturn. Taylor Alexander, a senior at Louisiana State University, believes that the future of democracy will become more negative. Alexander, 23, said, “There are uneducated and un-yielding people who form their opinions around online ‘fake news’ (which support their own confirmation bias) and elect people who exploit their beliefs.”
Students are the future, and they can save what is left of democracy, especially in America. By cross-checking news -spread on social media platforms- with more than three other news outlets, students create a more holistic viewpoint on the subject at hand. In addition to the preceding, students can harness social media’s power to be forces for change. Like the Sustained Dialogues hosted throughout Northwestern’s campus, students can utilize Zoom platforms to discuss different perspectives on current events. They can promote the Zoom dialogues through Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. What is nice about most social platforms is that they all can live stream to the masses. With that being said, these dialogues are not confined to Zoom. Said dialogues can even be turned into podcasts where people can listen and learn about opinions other than one’s own. When running this idea past Ethan Strauss, a sophomore at Dartmouth College, he believed dialogues would help curb the suffocating polarization on many social media and news sites. “Polarization is only increasing, and people are becoming more situated in their opinions,” said Strauss, 19. “However, as more people go online, National opinion and social media opinions would hopefully converge and help things somewhat.”
Everything now boils down to how the country progresses forward, and if Facebook and Google make attempts to change. As of now, the ball is in the consumer’s court. Implementing the pre-stated behavioral changes online will slow Facebook’s demolition of democracy. In retrospect, Vaidhyanathan’s warnings should not have been dismissed. Nonetheless, consumers now have information on how Facebook interfered with political campaigns around the world. It is up to them -the consumers- to restore democracy to its most just form.
Source List:
Taylor Alexander, 23, Portland, Oregon, senior at Louisiana State University
Amirah Ford, 20, Yonkers, New York, junior at Northwestern University
Ethan Strauss, 19, Little Rock, Arkansas, sophomore at Dartmouth College
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SivaVaidhyanathan
[2] Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry), 2011.
[3] Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry), 2011.
[4] Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry), 2011.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SivaVaidhyanathan
[6] Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry), 2011.
[7] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[8] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[9] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[10] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[11] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[12] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[13] Siva Vaidhyanathan. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy, 15 May 2018.
[14] https://buzzmachine.com/about/
[15] Jeff Jarvis. “Scortched Earth: We are not being honest with ourselves about the failures of the models we depend upon,” Buzz Machine (2019), https://buzzmachine.com/2019/02/10/scorched-earth/
[16] Jeff Jarvis. “Scortched Earth: We are not being honest with ourselves about the failures of the models we depend upon,” Buzz Machine (2019), https://buzzmachine.com/2019/02/10/scorched-earth/
[17] https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/
