Human Meltdown – The Harsh Reality of Social Networks

August 13, 2007
by Latitude

With the development of online social networks and communities, it has created a space to be more anonymous, so previously socially unacceptable actions now don’t seem that bad to the people involved. They can feel like they are not governed by the same rules and laws and we veer towards anarchy.

As the space has become more dominant with huge amounts of users and reach within the communities, it has also fuelled the egos of those involved, believing they have power and control to influence many. And they do.

This past week has seen a big uproar with advertisers pulling their ads on facebook because they are being shown against the BNP group. This is only getting airtime due to facebook’s current popularity.

Showing on inappropriate sites has been a problem in traditional online display advertising that most advertisers don’t even realise. Due to display advertising blind networks you could be shown against any kind of site. However companies have been happy to do this for years, so it’s a bit rich to come crying when you’re ad is shown up against a subject you don’t agree with on a social channel like facebook!

Also the BBC are reporting on ‘pro-ana’ (anorexia) groups on facebook and mySpace commenting that they are now getting more reach due to the community base. This may be true but they don’t mention the community backlash this has been evoked with many ‘anti-ana’ groups being setup.

This brings me back to my earlier comment about the anarchy. At some point, as it reaches critical mass, a social community without strict laws and policing will probably self-implode.

This is also seen in the recent events on Second Life where corporate buildings have been bombed by the community, and avatars leaving the American Apparel store have been gunned down. This has led to a mass exodus of businesses leaving their space on second life including the closure of the American Apparel store.

Stricter rules and policing are needed by the social media sites involved such as facebook and mySpace to control this. But this is very tricky. Myspace say they are working with anorexia help organisations to advise on the best approach to take. However the biggest problem is trying to censor or ban things such as BNP and ‘pro-ana’ appearing in these networks. Neither are illegal, and banning them just creates more awareness and goes against the whole internet ethos of freedom of information.