Remember when the average Joe thought that Internet Explorer’s blue “e” icon somehow stood for “the Internet”? You thought that was bad?
Many in the world are at risk of growing web-literate, so to say, thinking that the Internet is a white “f” on a blue background on their Android phone.
And any time you speak of “Social Media”, you’re doing them a favour.
Facebook, plus of course Instagram, Whatsapp for those who like things simple, and their own Messenger, which they are styling after Line and WeChat and trying to make into a platform in its own right, is not “a” Social Network, but rather THE Social Network. The new AOL, as Jason Kottke said back in 2007. Facebook is what we used to have before Facebook, i.e. the Open Web, but behind closed doors, delivered very well and a bit sanitised. There are plenty of reasons why you should be worried.
One of the main reasons why I am worried is precisely because you are not.
https://youtu.be/YDNmyyrEZho
I don’t see it so pessimistic however. Younger kids are less attracted to the same websites of the thirty/fortysomethings. They appear to prefer more volatile stuff or simply steer clear of them just because “it’s meant for old guys”, a bit like denim and the “Jeremy Clarkson Effect”.
I know, the future is Snapchat.
That video is hilarious, though.