The Good and The Bad: Social Media

Feef Mooney : photo, Mark Haussman

It was my friend, Fernando Perdomo, who really got me into social media. Prior to this time, I rarely visited Facebook and I had no Instagram account.

I'm sure this is a topic that is discussed, if not with friends, then inside one's own head.

Everyone will admit that once you get on a social media platform, it's hard to stop scrollng. This reminds me of the old days when, as a kid, I used to watch MTV: if I didn't like the video playing, the next might be better. Before I knew it,, hours had passed, and I remember watching late into the night. It was, in parts, calming and frustrating. You lose track of time, where you are, what you have to do, who you should be talking to, and how you should be taking care of yourself.

Social media is mesmerizing. You might be reading about a disaster, a political scandal, fighting, violence, depravity, bacchanalia, or you might be watching a musical performance that blows your mind. It's gotten to the point, I think, where everyone who puts their music up on Instagram isn't funning around. They know what they are doing. You get compelled and you check in.

And isn't that a good thing? It seems to me, some days, there is no end of talent, humor, passion, musicality, sexiness, beauty and bravado, energy and drive.

I am often left with a feeling of FOMO. Where was I? How did I miss that moment and that show? What kind of boring life do I lead that I am not swaying in a sweaty crowd downtown with those hipsters!

On the negative side: FOMO sucks. So does seeing girls in tiny shorts wowing a crowd, and feeling like sex appeal 20-something is required to get attention. But we all know that compare and despair is not a good thing.

We've been told that music is liberated from the big record companies now and that we can do it ourselves. This is an extremely positive feeling. Anyone can make anything and put it up for the world to see.

The problem is bringing the audience to your page?

It's now known that Facebook is for "old people." This may mean 40-something and up to ..80-something? Instagram is for millennials and maybe Z Gen.

And then Z Gen and Alpha discovered Tik-Tok.

So the socials are demographically divided? Yes, I think so.

We have also the algorithm to deal with. We don't understand how this works. Will we ever? Many put up teach-ins in learning how to bamboozle an algorithm.

While we are busy preparing "content" for our page, we might be having a jolly good time. And if we are, and if this motivates our creativity, how could this be a bad thing?

It's fun.

The problem can be in the needing to check and recheck to see how others are responding. If you post something meaningful to you, you have no guarantee that it will mean anything to anyone else. It's a crap shoot.

You also do not know how long anyone spends on anything.

And when you think of your scrolling self, you must acknowledge that your mind is constantly hungry for what is coming next. Could the next be even more interesting than what you just saw? Oh, but, hey, wait: what did I just see?

Is social media giving us a dopamine high? Does that high easily vanish? Is it affecting our attention span? Is our need to be stimulated taking us to extreme levels? So that we are only transfixed by the extreme, and thus perhaps becoming inurred to violence?

To wrong-doing?

Or does social media inspire activism? We might say that The Cinerama Dome was saved by one guy who was able to gather 30,000 names on a petition to save it.

And how was this accomplished? Social media.

Because all of us spend far too much time on it.

Checking our results. Searching for god knows what. Doomscrolling.

It is available to us at all hours.

It is perfect for any media source that likes to supply "BREAKING NEWS."

We've come to expeect catastrophe and death and evil events.

Is this healthy for a society? Is this how cults happen? People glued to repetitive information they get on social media that feeds their deepest darkest paranoia and rage?

We might also have the idea that social media will give us a career in music. It certainly takes a commitment, an investment in time and imagination. It may or may not affect a career. It's been said that the numbers of those who view your posts affects the business that might decide to book you on a tour or into a festival. Gather those likes, friends. Work your arse off for them, because the industry is watching.

But is this true?

I can't vouch for the credibility of this theory. I only know that most of the good that has come to my life and to my career is because I was out in the real and met people face to face. I saw and interacted and made decisions based on the vibe I got "in person."

And I was surprised when I was offered an opportunity. I do not think that any of my breaks came from social media.

But I will say that having music and quotes and ideas and photos has given people a sense of what I value. They might value and like similar things. And thus, we form a certain kind of friendship that is really nice.

There is community on Facebook and Instagram too. You just have to wade through the now prevalent ads that seem to target your predilections. If you can put up with those commercials, as we have had to on television, then you might see the good in spending time on social media.

I don't think that SM is a substitute for real people and real relationships. The kind where you can hug and laugh and cry, and argue and fight and make up. No algorithm can interfere with that kind of love.

Lest we get too self-involved and isolated, it's great to remember that showing up for someone in person is still infinitely more powerful.

Social media does keep us connected, and I don't think I can walk away from it.

It's not entirely good but it is not a bad thing.

I have to remind myself, each of us is worth way more than the sum of its algorithmic parts.

And that keeps me going.