Pandora's Jar: A Hopeful Journey!

Every scroll is a moment of your life

May 11, 2024

Disclaimer

we @ cyberscribble stand as both advocates and critics of technology. While we cherish its potential for advancement, we remain vigilant in ensuring its application serves our collective betterment rather than leading to our destruction.

Our first experience with social media, long before Myspace and Facebook gained popularity, was essentially a mailing list, known as Yahoo Groups. Among our friends circle we shared our updates like 'Who is travelling where?', 'Who is getting married?', and 'Who might win the next election?'. These never-ending chains of emails served as our social feeds or timelines back in the day.

Fast forward 20 years, and now we live in a world filled with social media giants like Facebook, Twitter (now X), Snapchat, TikTok, and others. These platforms bring moments of life around us to consume. People and organizations spend millions of dollars strategizing to appear in our timelines and feeds.

Pandora's Jar

In Greek mythology, Pandora was given a jar and told not to open it as it may have grave consequences. Pandora's curiosity led her to open that forbidden jar, releasing all evils into the world. Some evils released from the jar which are worth mentioning include,

Sickness & disease.
Pain & suffering.
Jealousy and envy.
Greed & avarice.
Hatred and anger.
War and conflict.
Misery and despair.

While all the above were released there was one which remained in the jar,

It was “Hope”

A wonderful but cautionary tale, isn't it? Let’s try to find the meaning of things in this story. Trying to find meanings in stories is a weird human trait indeed.

Interpretation 1:

Through the experience of suffering and facing challenges, we come to appreciate and discover hope.

Interpretation 2:

The cost of humanity discovering hope lies in facing the adversaries that serve as its equilibrium.

Interpretation 3:

Hope is a ‘deceptive expectation’ or an ‘illusion’ which keeps us going through the sufferings and challenges without fruitful outcomes or materializing benefits[2]

Social Media : The Modern Pandora’s Jar

Now, in our lives we are all given a “Pandora’s Jar” in our hands and as usual our parents, mentors and well wishers warn us

use it wisely, don’t get addicted to it

Yet, here we are, scrolling our feeds to read this Newsletter just because we are ‘curious’

Similar to Pandora’s jar social media has bought a lot of ‘evils’ to our world, some worth mentions include,

Misinformation & fake news.
Cyberbullying and harassment.
Addiction and distraction.
Privacy concerns.
Comparison and low self-esteem.
Echo chambers and polarization.
Social isolation.
Distrust and disinformation.

It has also brought many benefits such as connectivity, activism, information sharing, business opportunities, entertainment, creativity, etc. Today, we are going to analyze a subset of these benefits to determine whether they are truly beneficial or merely an 'illusion of hope'.

Social Media benefits as an ‘Illusion Of Hope’

Connections

Many advocates for social media argue that its invention has promoted global connectivity, fostering a sense of community and belonging. However, these connections can often be superficial, prioritizing the quantity rather than the quality of interactions. There is a tendency to value connections based on the number of followers or likes received, reducing relationships to a form of idol worship and opportunistic.

A platform for activism

Social media enables users to quickly raise awareness and mobilize around political and social issues. However, these efforts often fall into what is termed 'slacktivism', where individuals believe they have made a contribution simply by posting and liking online.

For example, many times we have 'supported' a child afflicted with cancer by sharing within our social circle and felt satisfied about what we have done. In the past, we would pray, donate, and discuss such issues at length within our social circles. Now, it is often just a 'support' button click before we move on to the next item in our social media feed [6] .

Professional opportunities

Platforms like LinkedIn offer opportunities for career advancement and networking. However, the pressure to maintain a perfect professional image can be stressful and may hinder genuine personal and professional growth.

In the past, we were encouraged to fail and learn from our mistakes, but now, the consequences of making a mistake can be significant and everlasting within the archives of social media. This discourages experimentation and failure. We often present an idealized version of ourselves to secure better job opportunities and maintain face among the professional masses.

Wearing this 'mask' across generations could weaken our society, as the progress of humanity can be attributed to two crucial factors:

Encouragement of ‘culture of experimentation’.
Acceptance of ‘culture of failure and learning’.

Information sharing

While Social Media can be a valuable tool for learning and accessing a wide range of information, the spread of misinformation, algorithm driven echo chambers and information overload can distort user understanding drastically.

Information overload can lead to difficulty in understanding issues, making decisions, and managing tasks effectively. This occurs because the sheer volume of information creates a chaotic environment, where it becomes challenging to filter out noise and focus on what is truly important. The result is often stress, confusion, and decreased productivity.

What Can We Do ?

Better connections: It's important to strive for both virtual and physical connections within our social circle. Each individual can sustain a certain number of connections and relationships, and this number varies from person to person. Understanding yourself and identifying that optimal number is essential for personal growth.
Activism: First, each of us should assess our mindset and commitment to a cause. If we feel strongly about it, it's crucial to take tangible actions in both the virtual and real worlds, within the boundaries of ethics and reasoning.
Professional/personal growth: We as professionals need to embrace authenticity online. Encourage sharing true experiences, including failures, to foster a supportive professional community.
Information sharing: The practice of 'info diligence' in information sharing is important; we must see ourselves as individuals guarding the chain of sanity within our social circle. It is our duty to practice responsible information consumption and distribution.

Conclusion

We won't draw a conclusion in this article, but we are going to encourage readers to form their own opinion.

The “curious” question we have is , Just like Pandora discovering hope, What are we all as individuals going to “discover” in this journey through the social media age!

We leave you with a thought to wonder!