On the dangers of social networking, and of not social networking
Last week, I happened across an essay collection by the name of What Is Your Dangerous Idea? (2007), edited by John Brockman. The eponymous question, originally asked by Steven Pinker, asked contributors to Edge for ideas that "are felt to challenge the collective decency of an age".
Many of the contributors discuss ideas that they themselves appear to be comfortable with, but might seem threatening to more traditional thinkers. Scientific materialists, for example, have long been used to the idea that there is no soul, however terrible this might seem to more spiritualist thinkers. So I got to wondering not just what ideas might seem dangerous to society at large, but also what ideas might seem dangerous to me.
I'm sure there are plenty of ideas that threaten both society and I — like, God exists and he's not very happy with what we're doing — but I'd like to stick to the topic of this blog. As it happens, I found myself in a discussion about social networks — primarily LinkedIn — with some work colleagues at around the same time I read the book.
My dangerous idea in this respect is that social networks support an illusion of connection representing nothing more than the mindless clicking of buttons. Facebook and LinkedIn build an audience based on our need to feel connected, and the feeling that it is rude to say "no" to connection requests. They sell this audience to their advertisers, and the advertisers to sell their products to us, all without actually connecting anyone.
The dangerous idea to me is the converse one that users of social networks are, in fact, using these tools to build significant relationships, and that I've cut myself off from society and opportunity by refusing them. One of my colleagues, for example, claimed that many jobs are advertised only on LinkedIn, and I've read elsewhere that (some) recruiters rely on LinkedIn to fill positions.
Probably — and possibly hopefully — the truth lies somewhere in between. Perhaps some people successfully create or maintain relationships using Facebook (probably in conjunction with other tools), and perhaps some people find jobs using LinkedIn. But not all on-line connections are equal, and some are surely so superficial as to be meaningless. Nor is Facebook the only way of maintaining a relationship, or LinkedIn of finding a job, allowing each of us at least some freedom to choose the tools that best suit our individual needs. If it were otherwise, I think the only people who wouldn't be endangered might be Facebook and LinkedIn.
