Social Butterfly Series
The Butterfly Effect: small insignificant changes and events in complex systems can lead to significant effects over time.
In this series, we will explore the application of the butterfly effect to human decision-making in social media environments.
The right way?
What would the world look like a few years from now if we all took 2 minutes to consider the implications of a post before sharing it; if we re-considered our own biases before commenting on it; if we allowed people time to write well-constructed arguments before bombarding them with scrutiny; if we made small efforts to understand a person’s background before judging and publicly shaming their opinions; if we read clickbait headlines with a healthy degree of skepticism; if we greeted our neighbours more often; if we listened more attentively before we spoke; if we addressed every interaction with self-awareness; if we started to think pragmatically about the social and environmental problems that need to be addressed, rather than mindlessly participate in a bipartisanship narrative that is increasingly fuelling hate; if we used social media as an opportunity to develop our communication skills, to re-learn how to converse and have constructive debate, even if we disagree?
The wrong way?
What will the world look like a few years from now if we keep falling prey to the attention-seeking and profit-making algorithms of the platforms we use to communicate with the rest of the world? If we do not take ownership over our own thoughts before we allow the internet to influence them blindly, or before we recklessly share them and their impact grows outside of our control? If we keep focusing on rights online, to such an extent that we forget about individual responsibility? If we do not follow through with our public online support in real life?
How about a well-intentioned realistic way
What the world will look like a few years from now is partially up to each one of us. It is certainly unrealistic to change our entire lives, but genuine actions and mature discussions could prevent us all from going completely nuts.