Social Media or Media Manipulation?

Hello all. It has definitely been quite some time since my last post. I don't always have the best follow through, which is something I am currently working on. I have a tendency to start many projects and then abandon them for something else. Blame it on a short attention span? Perhaps. But we also live in a world where we are bombarded with information constantly diverting our attention from one topic or one item to the next. This wasn't always the case. I remember a time before smart phones, before GPS, before Facebook, and before we abandoned textbooks for the world wide web. We had to remember addresses, phone numbers, directions and facts. Now you can just "google it." It's the information age and everything is at our finger tips. And the internet and social media are great tools for research and connection with others. But what happens when we spend hours on our phones or on our laptops idly scrolling or playing games instead of being active, making social instead of virtual connections and living life? I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called The Social Dilemma. Former high level executives of Twitter, Google, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest came together to discuss what the marketing strategies of these organizations have evolved into over the years, and why these individuals left their companies.

On one hand, I recognized that we consumers are being tracked as to what websites we click on when we make purchases. It becomes obvious when you buy something from a company, and then suddenly that company's ad appears on your Facebook page. But before this documentary, I wasn't aware of the extent that our activity was being tracked online. The documentary revealed that when you do a Google search, depending on the trends of where you live will depend on what information comes up in your google search bar regarding a subject. They used the example of climate change. Depending on your geographic location if you type in "climate change," it may come up as "a hoax," "a global problem," etc. There's an algorithm that monitors information you click on, and then this is used to predict your behavior patterns and future information you may want to see/read. Which means people are being exposed to viewpoints similar to their own. They aren't even exposed to contrasting opinions or another person's perspective, because an algorithm directly influences and reinforces your own thoughts, ideas and opinions. No wonder there is so much polarity in everyone's perspectives nowadays. We used to have to be cautious of stories on the news, in newspapers and in magazines to determine which were credible sources. But now there's an endless stream of information available to us all hours of day and night. And many times it is not factual at all.

To conclude, please practice discernment as to what you believe when reading/listening to information given to you. Please keep an open mind and heart when it comes to hearing someone else's point of view on a topic. It is only when we listen to understand, not to judge or reply, that we an actually have a harmonious positive relationships. In this manner we will not only accept, but embrace one another's differences. Thank you. Love and Light