Main idea: people being outraged over Elon is just another turn on the hysteria cycle
In Season 2, episode 2, way back in January 2021 – holy cow! – we talked about the Crisis Cycle and the way the media has trained us (like monkeys) to get hysterical about specific things for specific reasons.
The latest crisis to obsess some digital parts of the USA is the imminent takeover of Twitter by the billionaire Elon Musk. Musk has said he will remove the restrictive censorship policies at the social media platform and work to develop the technology so the service acts more like a public square. So we can unpack that a little, I mean, everyone is talking about it.
But let’s also talk about social media in general and how young it is and how we don’t always get the business model or understand the real opportunity or risk of social media.
Then let’s talk about how online outrage seems to be our new favorite thing to do. We love to be caught up in the drama of the celebrities-said-and-then-we-said-and-you-should-be-mad-because. Okay. It’s exhausting. That’s not even all the things that belong in that hyphenated hysterical expression. Here’s a quick where you stand:
Have you recently received via text a tiktok video?
Are you aware Johnny Depp has been testifying this week?
Has anyone ever called your attention to a drama unfolding and you realized, too late, that it was on Facebook?
Do you have rules for your own social media usage?
What about rules for your kids’ social media usage?
What’s the right way to contextualize what they/we are seeing online?
How can we get back into the real world and put perspective on the shit happening online?
It’s all a business, right, so does knowing the business side of it help? Or does our logical business brain just annoy those social media junkies? (LOL)
#socialmedia #twitter #tiktok #libertarian #mom #elonmusk #instagram #facebook #kids #internetsafety
Parenting Porcupines 