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social_media_as_catalyst.md

Social Media as Catalyst

or, "Gaze into your news feed, see the Creator"

Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are wonderful tools for connecting with otherselves. However, I will be focusing on their not-so-wonderful sides because it is here where we encounter catalyst.

What is the unique illusion of social media?

  • a subset of internet experience
  • unified platform under one authority's administration
    • security
    • rules
  • ability to explore and connect across the network
    • posting messages
    • "liking"
    • "friending" / "following"
  • channels of interaction defined by software
    • makes user friendliness a priority
    • these are choices made by people who own the platform or work for it
    • they are abstractions that are not themselves the interaction, but a formalization of them
      • being friends on Facebook, following on twitter is only one way of connection
      • they are artificial constructs
    • they reflect the interests of the company (profit) over those of users
    • "Program or Be Programmed" by Douglas Rushkoff
  • Approaches a distinct virtual reality
    • compelling
    • engaging
    • one becomes invested in it

How is it the same?

  • Provides a mirror of self
  • Is no less about dealing with other-selves
    • orange ray
    • yellow ray
  • We cannot completely know anybody
  • It matters to people just the same
  • There is love there
    • this is one of the most surprising things about social media: a real, documented, traceable window into the psyche and how love can be twisted or magnified in a human life

How is it different?

  • Ephemeral
  • slippery identities
    • anonymity
    • multiple accounts
    • sharing others' post
  • the ability to broadcast
    • one can reach so many more people than by normal communications
    • it's easy to begin to crave the feedback that you get from the sheer numbers of people you're communicating with
  • the constructed self
    • Narrow band
      • omits body language
      • omits tone
      • omits other non-verbal cues
    • you can represent yourself exactly as you might wish to be in real life
      • this can take away from working on self in real life
    • you can develop relationships unmoored from your real self
    • we construct selves in waking life, too, of course, but they tend to be more polished, complete performances. Social media allows us to represent ourselves in only a certain constrained set of dimensions
  • the intimacy of communications
    • you can share much more of your life in more detail, but with less care or finesse, than you might otherwise do
    • the ease of posting makes it trivial to let one's errant thoughts manifest and have the same weight as thoughts that might be more truly representative
  • The formality of friendship
    • when a system tracks your status of connectedness to another, it is no longer something purely organic
    • friending/following becomes a formal declaration with a rigid definition and set of consequences in tow
  • Timing
    • asynchronous, yet immediate
    • pervasive -- it follows us now on our phones
  • Encourages narcissism and self-centeredness
    • Our posts are always about us, what we think, etc.
    • This encourages a mode of thinking that is constantly trying to compose the next thing that makes one look cool
  • The character of debates
    • They can suck one in
    • They can go on forever because of their asynchronicity and the ability of others to jump in
    • They make it especially hard to really hear others
  • Staying power
    • Never before have essentially documented communications been this pervasive
    • They last forever!
    • Searchable
  • We are not on neutral ground
    • Social media's character is manipulating by for-profit companies
    • We may not always see when our conforming to their platforms works against our genuine interests
  • the extent to which social media are gadgets that distract
  • investigating feelings of power

Using the catalyst of social media

Behaviors you encounter

Trolling

  • Provoking a disruptive response from people
  • Involves often using ("energizing") peoples distortions against them
  • This is a wonderful, wonderful mirror to use
  • How you respond isn't nearly as important as using the trolling to reflect on your emotions and issues

Virtue signalling

  • Representing oneself / one's beliefs in a morally absolute way in order to attack others
  • Muddies the waters by fomenting arguments
  • If you are correct, you don't need to listen

Social media is not obligatory

  • You can quit
  • You can take breaks
  • You can always come back
  • Fear Of Missing Out

Understand the importance of timing

  • you don't need to react to pressure
  • give yourself time to feel
  • use the asynchronous nature of social media to

Energy center issues

Red Ray

  • harrassment and threats
  • It's important to work on your own sense of self so that you have an accurate view of threats
  • every time we arrest honest conversation because of these kinds of concerns is a shame
  • on the other hand, don't risk it if you feel vulnerable
  • use to contemplate issues of mortality and acceptance
  • forgiveness
  • alert the admins

Orange ray

  • encountering a wide variety of other-selves
  • finding ways to connect one-on-one
  • needs special care because of the narrow-band nature of the contact

Yellow ray

  • how can one's conduct on social media convey the most light and love in the wider network / society?
  • social media can be a great way to simply observe and witness what's going on in the world
  • you can use your platform to "signal boost" voices that you feel need to be heard

Green ray

  • opportunities to demonstrate compassion
    • understanding deep hurt in people
    • recognizing when an attack is not about us
  • opportunities to demonstrate unconditional love
    • by taking time to process catalyst, the asynchronous nature of social media makes it possible for us to answer fear with love
  • "Forget ye the counting"
    • the reach of social media is deceptive
    • the number of friends or followers does not equal the number of genuine connections
    • nobody reads everything you write, usually
    • we don't know what effects we have, so stop looking for validation
  • it's not necessary to have a "take" on everything
    • acceptance of viewpoints that you may not agree on
  • think of everything you post as primarily a "carrier wave" for the real love you want to convey
  • consciously use accounts for expressing love
    • you can even create a special account for this

Blue ray

  • focusing on the subtlety of conveying points
  • focusing on communicating to, rather than talking at
  • focusing on projecting an honest profile
    • similar to the way those of Ra asked Don, Carla, and Jim that any photographs they take of sessions be authentic
    • since we know our contact with others is narrow band, it makes it that much more important to strive for rigorous honesty with our own image
  • active listening
    • sometimes people have pressure built up
    • they can't hear you until they've released the pressure
    • listening can be the best way to be heard yourself
  • asking questions
    • shows respect and love
    • a way of drawing people out and modeling the kind of relationship you want
    • this is a wonderful way to mirror (socratic method)

Social media as ersatz journaling

  • Social media is inherently documenting
  • Use it to forgive yourself
  • use the documentation inherent in it as a form of journaling

The proto-social memory complex

  • Persistent records
  • Easily searchable
  • Highly networked
  • Privacy / surveillance
    • social media companies really do not wish to respect privacy because it makes their jobs more complicated and fraught
      • Mark Zuckerberg: privacy is no longer a social norm
      • Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."
    • presently, power dynamics create an imbalance of transparency
    • "This is the heart, shall we say, of third density—the relating of self to groups, the opening of self that will in fourth density become the social memory complex when thoughts are shared, private thoughts simply skirted about, seen, appreciated, respected and left alone." (Q'uo, January 19, 1997)
  • deep, rich connections between entities
  • as we approach social memory, we are going to have to take more responsibility away from for-profit administration and give it to each other in trust
  • social media is an opportunity to build trust that will make fourth density social memory possible
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