We've all experienced the bewitching allure of Facebook. For many people, it's the first social media outlet they check in the morning and the last one they check in with at night. We use it as an entertaining distraction, a way to search for people and to amp us up during times of social and political chaos. And guess what? The people behind Facebook, the ones monitoring all this activity, know exactly how to keep us hooked.
You don't need to be a detective to notice how Facebook controls its users. Just like any other internet search engine, Facebook uses the different things we search to figure out what kind of person we are and present us with media accordingly. This is a big part of what attracts us to the website: every time we log on we are shown a mix of what we love and what we hate. The jumble of information fuels our fire and forces us to keep scrolling. Facebook wants us to keep searching for more content so that the website can get as many views as possible.
Essentially, it's all a positive feedback loop. We get on Facebook, watch videos, like pictures, search for people, join groups, etc. Then, the magical Facebook algorithm memorizes these actions, and the next time we log on, more content similar to what we viewed before pops up again. Facebook turns into a best friend; it encourages the stuff we like but also gives us opinions on what we should like. Without our actions, Facebook would not have the information sufficient enough to provide us with an addicting experience.
We already know that there are people behind this phenomena. Experts in computer engineering, graphic design, coding, and so on specialize in managing our addiction to social media sites, like Facebook, every day. In a world where the internet is everything, being able to control the attention span of social media users becomes essential. We fuel the fire of sites like Facebook because we always come back to it, no matter how much it controls us.
Like it or not, if you use Facebook regularly, you are further embedding yourself into the Matrix of the internet. And whenever you watch endless videos, without further researching any of the content within them, you encourage the brainwashing that social media is implementing. Do not simply sit by and let yourself absorb any and all information that is presented to you. You are not Spongebob! Instead, use what shows up on your news feed for the better; research, and form an opinion. We don't have to be robots.
Yet, at least.
