In the digital age, social media platforms have become integral to how we connect, communicate, and share experiences. From facilitating connections across continents to enabling instant access to information, these platforms are often celebrated as bridges to a global society. At their core, social media platforms serve a fundamental human need: the desire for interaction, belonging, and shared community. However, the growing commodification and manipulation of these digital spaces threaten their essence, shifting their purpose from serving society to serving profit and power.
The fundamental need for social interaction
Human beings are inherently social creatures. From the earliest days of humanity, community and connection have been critical for survival and emotional well-being. Social media fulfills this primal need by providing a virtual space where people can share ideas, express themselves, and maintain relationships, even across great distances. In many ways, these platforms have democratized communication, allowing voices from the margins to be heard alongside those of established institutions.
The global society of the 21st century relies heavily on these platforms to foster understanding and collaboration across cultures. Movements for social change, such as #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and climate justice campaigns, have gained momentum through social media, transcending borders and uniting people around shared goals.
The distortion of purpose: Manipulation, consumption, and control
Despite its potential as a force for good, social media has increasingly become a battleground for corporate interests, political agendas, and algorithmic control. The platforms, originally envisioned as public squares, have been repurposed as marketplaces where user attention is the primary currency. Algorithms prioritize sensational content to maximize engagement, often at the cost of truth, empathy, and understanding.
Manipulation manifests in many forms: the spread of misinformation, the use of targeted advertising to influence behavior, and the exploitation of user data for profit. These practices shift the focus of social media from being a tool for connection to being a tool for control. Citizens are subtly nudged into consumerist habits, polarized beliefs, and echo chambers that stifle genuine dialogue.
Reclaiming social media as a public commons
The idea of social media as a public commons — a shared space governed by principles of fairness, inclusion, and accountability — is gaining traction. To realize this vision, several key changes are necessary:
Ethical Governance: Platforms must prioritize the well-being of users over profits. This includes transparent algorithms, protections against exploitation, and a commitment to combating misinformation.
Digital Literacy: Empowering users with the tools and knowledge to navigate social media critically is essential. This ensures that individuals are less susceptible to manipulation and more capable of using these platforms constructively.
Community-Driven Models: Decentralized platforms and cooperatively owned networks could provide alternatives to the corporate monopolies that dominate today’s digital landscape. Such models prioritize community needs over shareholder interests.
Regulation and Oversight: Governments and international organizations must establish frameworks to protect user rights, prevent monopolistic practices, and hold platforms accountable for harm.
A call to action
Social media belongs to the people, not to corporations or governments seeking control. It is a shared space that reflects the interconnected nature of modern society. To preserve its role as a facilitator of genuine human connection, we must collectively resist efforts to manipulate, consume, or control its users. Instead, we must champion a vision of social media that prioritizes its foundational purpose: to connect, inform, and empower people in a global society.
Only by reclaiming these platforms as spaces for free and fair interaction can we ensure they serve humanity's best interests, rather than undermining them. Social media must remain a digital commons, where the needs of the many triumph over the desires of the few.