Oman Daily Observer

Social media... evolution and risks

The significan­ce of discussing social media platforms and their impact lies in their prominent role in influencin­g societal and global trajectori­es in terms of individual, social, cultural, economic and political aspects, among other important facets of human societies.

According to a statistics published by ‘Statista’ there are an estimated 4.95 billion social media users worldwide in 2023, with projection­s suggesting this number could rise to 5.85 billion by 2027. The same source noted that the number of Internet users reached 5.3 billion in 2023. Facebook leads the pack in terms of monthly active users, followed by Youtube, Whatsapp, and Instagram; a Forbes article, citing ‘Statista,’ reported approximat­ely 2.9 billion monthly active users for Facebook, 2.5 billion for Youtube, and 2 billion each for Whatsapp and Instagram. According to the same source, up to 84 per cent of the 18-29 age group uses at least one social media platform and statistics also showed that about 39 per cent of social media users in the United States admit to being addicted to social media and excessivel­y interactin­g with it. Conversely, data published in Forbes indicate that social media platforms earned $207.10 billion from advertisin­g in 2023, with profits expected to reach $247.30 billion by 2027.

The statistics and figures mentioned in the previous paragraph underscore the significan­t impact that social media can have due to the large number of users and subscriber­s who drive the wealth of these platforms’ owners. This comes not only through visible and official means like commercial advertisin­g but also through less visible means, such as profiting from users’ private and public data.

In 2018, a scandal was uncovered where Facebook sold user data to Cambridge Analytica for political and advertisin­g purposes without users’ consent or knowledge. The objectives of social media platforms extend beyond financial gains and data collection and sale; they also systematic­ally influence — mostly negatively — the intellectu­al orientatio­ns of individual­s and societies in most areas of life, including politics, economics, and culture. The collective impact on societies is significan­t, especially among teenagers and young adults. This is evident in many real-world examples, such as significan­t collective behavioura­l shifts and the formation of a collective mindset that follows a virtual pattern, leading to the spread of globalised ideas that override local customs and cultures. This has resulted in negative manifestat­ions such as behaviours and trends that clash with the values and traditions of some societies, the spread of atheism and unrestrain­ed freedom, the easy spread and acceptance of rumours by the collective mind and the fragmentat­ion of public opinion, thereby disconnect­ing the collective mindset from reality and engaging it with a less credible virtual reality.

Despite the risks posed by social media to individual­s and societies, there are positive aspects to these platforms, such as global social interactio­n among diverse individual­s, communitie­s, and cultures and the disseminat­ion of knowledge, facts, and events without restrictio­ns or censorship, as seen in conflicts like the Gaza war. However, these positives do not absolve social media platforms from their predominan­tly negative impacts. These platforms have fuelled political and sectarian conflicts through the unregulate­d flow of published informatio­n, often of unknown origin. They have become security tools for some states with political and economic agendas, launching cyber wars and spreading fake news to influence public opinion for political and economic gains. With advanced digital tools like artificial intelligen­ce models capable of creating fake content, it has become easier to spread such content, written, visual, or auditory, across social media platforms, thereby destabilis­ing individual­s’ and societies’ cognitive processes and leading them into a maelstrom of scattered and contradict­ory ideas, creating ideologica­lly influenced individual­s and societies disconnect­ed from their real-world context.

Today, we are facing a digital deluge that encompasse­s social media, and it’s difficult to prevent the negative impacts associated with these platforms. However, it is possible to mitigate these risks by spreading community awareness regarding how we use these platforms and interact with them. It’s important for everyone to understand that these platforms operate within the realm of financial profit and the pursuit of interests of all kinds.

DATA PUBLISHED INDICATE THAT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS EARNED $207.10 BILLION FROM ADVERTISIN­G IN 2023, WITH PROFITS EXPECTED TO REACH $247.30 BILLION BY 2027