Tag Archives: Twitter

Discussion: Does social media negatively impact spirituality?

Rose and Lily (image by CresySusy, Flickr, CC)I wanted to try a slightly different angle with this post and create a call-out for discussion surrounding a particular topic. Before I begin however, I think it’s important to highlight the wonderful work that continues to be done by WikiLeaks (yes, their servers are down at the moment due to incredibly high levels of traffic) in providing a space for whistleblowers to find a voice.

The recent publication of over 90,000 documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan needs to be commended as many times as possible. Obviously digesting all of this material can be quite a daunting prospect, so I would direct you to the analysis done by the New York Times as one of the best mainstream media examinations of the leak.

With that important announcement dealt with, let’s get onto the question at hand: does social media negatively impact spirituality?

Let me get the initial response that we all have out of the way – ‘It depends how you use it. It’s only a tool.‘  I agree with this sentiment entirely, but for the sake of promoting discussion let’s forget about that point for a moment and presume it a given. What I wanted to look into, specifically, is whether social media in its various forms (and most particularly manifestations such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn that rely on individual digital identities) helps to promote aspects of our being that tend to have a negative impact on spiritual progression. Even more specifically – does social media feed our egos beyond all else?

Now, I’m expecting a number of you to bring up different ideas around just what spiritual progression, and spirituality, actually means – and I’d really like to promote such a response as it’s obviously one half of the question being raised here.  For me, a large component of spiritual progression revolves around the dissolution of individual ego and striving to seek success purely for personal gain.

Alfons Mucha - 1896 - SalammbôAs one progresses spiritually, there seems to be an almost universal tendency to see that progress as being done for the greater good of all rather than merely the individual. You are no longer seeking enlightenment (or however it is phrased) for personal glory or gain; you are doing so in order to play your role in the uplifting reintegration of the entire universe. A feat that, ultimately, means that you as an individual ceases to have any relevance; or even existence.

From this perspective, we can still come to either conclusion in regards to social media. In some regards, it enables us to better empathise with those within our network – understanding to a far greater degree the intricacies that their lives involve and therefore being exposed to some of the many different and varied ways of expressing the human condition.

If we enter into it with the right frame of mind, these tools can certainly provide us with a small glimpse into a form of consciousness that is wider than merely our own. The peer group becomes a microcosmic expression of the macrocosmic collective consciousness, and we might in some small way learn to immerse ourselves within it.

On the other hand, there is almost no better set of tools for the negative influence that our ego is capable of than those provided by social media. Here we have an exponentially increased ability to portray ourselves as kings of our own universes – mavericks, femme fatales, social influencers, political powerhouses, erudite authors and every other form of social category that might be desirable/hip/independent/better-than-you.

In fact, what I have tended to observe is that those who are more spiritually aware (notice I don’t use the word ‘progressed’) tend to also be those who use social media in an ego-aggrandising manner…and before you start, yes I myself am guilty of this crime and am not just passing judgement from my tower of perfected serenity. Observing this behaviour in myself is actually what led me to start seeing it in others in my social media networks, and once you start really looking for it it’s amazing just what you will see. In moments of intense spiritual focus, it can actually be quite a depressing and even terrifying experience.

estupid ego (image by !unite, Flickr, CC)I wrote a post related to this exploration, entitled ‘Crafting a Digital Identity‘, which was when I first started becoming self-aware of this tendency within my own behaviour and began to see it clearly in others as well. From what I can gather reading around the subject, I don’t think it’s something that is purely a coincidence formed out of the rag-tag group of peers that I seem to have assembled online.

The individually inflated ego is one of the true identifiers of the human condition and one that will always latch onto any available tool and outlet in order to enhance its influence. Social media quite often, ironically, leads us to become more inward looking and self-obsessed.

So, if spiritual progression finds much of its utility from the productive dissolution of this egotistical behaviour than surely social media must be seen as a highly negative and spiritually destructive influence at its worst; and at the very least a dangerous set of tools that we must be ever vigilant of if we hope to use them positively.

So what do you think? There are plenty more areas I could cover with this, but I wanted to leave them for the time being to see whether or not this experiment in creating a topic discussion here on Future Conscience might be fruitful. So please do comment, and at length if you feel up to it. I’m very interested to see where you might take this…

Is social media a negative influence on our spirituality? Or do the connections and information we gain allow us to rise above the less savoury aspects and overall find great value? What are the pros, what are the cons?  If we become a social media driven society, which at this point in time looks like quite a likely conclusion, then what impact will that have on our ability to be humble…to connect with things greater than ourselves and our own forged image?

Or is this post just another example of somebody waxing-lyrical and posting it on Facebook in order to appear ‘deep’?

6 Effective Ways to Annoy Your Social Network

Do Not Want! (image by adactio, Flickr, CC)It’s official – social networks are getting closer to taking over the world with each passing day.  Soon, our money will be emblazoned with that slightly-crazed look of smug satisfaction of young Zuckerberg; our payslips will prominently display the words ‘Property of Facebook’ next to your name; and the evening news will just be an automated reading of Twitter updates from those with the most followers.  All of these things, and more, are going to happen – you know it’s true.  No doubt about it.

So, why not knuckle down and make sure you’re at the top of your game when it comes to making Facebook-friends and influencing Tweeple – make sure you don’t succumb to these awfully effective ways of getting yourself overlooked; ignored; or, even worse, cast aside and forgotten with nothing more than a single flex of a finger.  Here are, in no particular order (except maybe the last one), 6 highly effective ways to piss off your social network:

1)  News Feed Spam – let’s start with the really obvious one, the one all of us are annoyed by and yet a remarkably large number still engage in.  12 months ago it was application spam: what crops are you growing, which religion should you belong to, what soft-drink is most like your personality.  These were annoying enough, and they are definitely still there; however we can for the most part choose to ignore specific application notices, still allowing us to hear about your hangover whilst avoiding tales of Fluffy the red-billed platypus that you just adopted by selling your fairy-starfish to some person we don’t know.

But that was 12 months ago, before the whole world discovered Twitter and the fact that they could link their tweets to their status updates.  Now, the thing about Twitter is that people often write things that don’t really fit into the Facebook zeitgeist (hashtags, for example) – and, even worse, people often feel the need to write 27 updates in the space of an hour because they are at some event or whatnot.

Even Facebook knows this is annoying, and have recently implemented a function which hides all your news feed spam behind a ‘show 156 similar posts’ heading.  If you combine your Twitter feed to your Facebook status updates and automate the process, you WILL annoy your social network at one point or another.

2)  Start a Facebook War – We’ve all been there.  A long romance turns sour, a couple breaks up.  But now the question is, how are the battle-lines drawn amongst the social network?  You have to unfriend him (even though you still really like the guy), and your partner has to unfriend her (displaying the building blocks of the double-dating friendship for all to see)…it all turns really messy, really quickly.

Of course, this is done to stop the dreaded shadow of online jealousy taking hold, a mythical beast that we have newly created; rising Phoenix-like out of the ashes of old-school jealousy stronger and more destructive than ever before!  Why has this person written that?  Who is this new friend and is she hotter than me?!  What is that event you are going to, and why wasn’t I invited?

In the end though, Facebook Wars really suck for everyone involved.  Let people choose their sides and respect the decisions made, they weren’t all in the relationship with you – and the fact is if the bastard/bitch really was an evil scumbag from the lowest circles of Hell, everyone will choose your side anyway.

3)  The Clingy, Attention-seeking Codependent – RoseLoverX has sent you a message: ‘Where have you been?!!!  It’s been two days since I heard from you!!!!1!‘.

MysticMeg is ‘feeling like the whole world hates her today and I should just die, please kill me‘.

StalkerDude7 has written on your wall: ‘hey, heading out for lunch want to come?‘  StalkerDude7 has commented on your status: ‘hey, having an after-lunch smoke break – meet you out back?‘  StalkerDude7 has commented on a photo of you: ‘hey, drinks after work?? 😀‘.

I don’t think I need to explain this one…

4)  Business, Business, Business!! – They’re called social networks for a reason, and you just have to abuse the crap out of everything that such a term could mean.  Like some obsessed multi-level marketing Amway freak, the only time anybody ever hears from you is when you are promoting something or talking shop.  In the search to become the newly crowned social-media guru in town you completely forgot that it’s about having a conversation, not shouting your wares from the rooftop or ignoring the majority of friends for those few others who are committing the same crime.

If you walked into a house party and there was one guy there who stood on the couch, grabbed the karaoke microphone, and started bellowing out a list of business connections he’s made and how they can benefit you I think you would steer clear and head out back to chat with all the social smokers.  Sometimes we want to hear how your professional life is going, such an insight can actually be quite illuminating and allow us to better understand the many facets of your daily life.  But if you have forgotten that we are actually your friends and are just treating us as virtual customers – or, far far worse, ‘influencers’ BLEH!! – then you just won the Annoy Your Network Oscars.

5)  Point Out Facebook/Twitter Sins – oh, wait…damn it!!

6)   You’re Above it All – and the prize for the most effective way to annoy your social network goes to…those people who refuse to participate and yet are still constantly feeling the need to remind you about how absolutely awful and soul-destroying social media actually is.  Every time you check Facebook on your phone, there they are pointing out how lame it is and how it’s not real friendship.  With each tweet you send they ask you: ‘what, sending a message out about what you’re eating for dinner??‘.

You might not want to join in for privacy concerns, fair enough.  You might even have been really into the idea, but then a bad experience with an online stalker or ex-girlfriend causes you to think otherwise.  Fair enough.  But if you’re one of those types who takes every mention of Facebook or Twitter and turns it into a Sunday Sermon against the evils of social media than guess what?  We don’t care, we’re having way too much fun getting to know one another!  Meat-life ignore!

Care Bears (image by johntrainor, Flickr, CC)

Life without social network annoyances

There you have it, 6 highly effective ways to annoy the people in your social network.  There are  plenty more to be added, so if you’ve got something in particular that you really hate seeing when you log in – something that just grates your cheddar – please do share it below so we can all revel in our mutual loathing of things that all of us do.  Always remember though, it isn’t that you do these things; it’s how OFTEN you do them that really makes them annoying.  We all do them, and much worse besides, but most of us make sure that we have a nice healthy balance and don’t become so easily pigeon-holed.

So, what things annoy you about social media?


[ad name=”Google Adsense-Link Banner x4″]

Social Media: Crafting a Digital Identity

With the absolutely overwhelming boom of various forms of social media it has often been said that we now know our friends more than ever. You know how they feel when they wake up, who they went out with on the weekend (and who they got particularly close to…), and the various interests and associates that you may never have otherwise realised you had in common. But there is an elephant in the room here, and that is that we are all crafting our digital identities (to a greater or lesser extent) to portray the us that we want people to see.Continue Reading

500 followers! A thank you and an update

Well, the Future Conscience Twitter stream has just passed 500 followers today so I wanted to take a moment to say thanks to those who are following us and give you a brief update as to the direction that Future Conscience will be taking over the coming months. Continue Reading

Technorati and the state of the Blogosphere

Technorati has just completed their run through of posts relating to their 2009 State of the Blogosphere report. Then intention of the report is to examine the trends within blogging that have taken place over the past twelve months, exploring the changes in growth and media that is being utilised by the bloggers that responded to their survey.Continue Reading

Tweetivism: social justice or internet lynch mob?

It has been undeniable that 2009 was the year that Twitter put itself on the map. Not just as the home of the early adopter, or as a tool for celebrity brand control, but as a method of social activism and justice.

Continue Reading