Broadly speaking, social media's always-on nature is unnatural. And researchers have theorized that by lumping people with disparate views together in a faceless melee, the technology that was supposed to bring us together has made us more polarized. One recent study found social media could cause an increase in eating disorders and poor body image in men and women. A flood of research has found that this shift in the companies' priorities has shaped everyday users for the worse. Major platforms such as Facebook have long abandoned their goal to "bring the world closer together" in favor of "profit-motivated and engagement-inducing designs" that keep us hooked and drive growth, Ben Grosser, an artist and faculty associate at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, told me. Welcome to the Great Social Media Splintering. But instead of spelling the death of social media, it may be the beginning of a better era. Whatever you think of social media's future, it's increasingly clear that the big-platform party is over. As people grow tired of toxic and addictive platforms that undermine real social connection, this new wave of social-focused upstarts could end up producing a healthier online environment. So far, none of the new sites can compete with the sheer size of the old, centralized networks, but they do offer some hope. Some of the new entrants are trying to recreate the original, clutter-free social experiences big platforms used to offer, while others are experimenting with radical ideas to reboot the concept from scratch. People are also turning toward a new crop of social-media platforms that have emerged in the past few years to capitalize on the void left by the deterioration of large platforms. Instead of the stilted experience of hanging out in a shopping mall, group chats feel more like an intimate dinner at a friend's house. These havens are free from the round-the-clock avalanche of meticulously curated content, ads, and brand campaigns. In these smaller spaces, populated with friends and family, I don't feel the crippling pressure to overshare and harvest my every thought for possible work opportunities. Like many young people, I've taken refuge in close-knit private circles such as group chats. As the big players have deteriorated into a chaotic mash of shouting and sponsored content, alienated users are decamping for a hodgepodge of platforms. But in an effort to feed the rapacious desire for growth, these platforms have transformed from places for people to connect to entertainment channels. And I'm not alone: People are spending less and less time on social media.įor more than a decade, social media has brought people together on a handful of platforms, most notably Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Looking at many of my profiles, you'd think they were abandoned. I haven't posted on Instagram since December, I've gone from tweeting several times a day to a couple of times a week, and I haven't signed into Facebook or Snapchat in ages. I've become a social-media ghost over the past few years. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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