Impacts of Monetizing Social Connections
Social Decline:
Through huge increases in expansion and engagement, driven by the stock market and network effects, Google and Meta have gained a disproportionate amount of control over communication. This is causing a decline in social support systems like the ability to form a sense of self and make meaningful connections to information. With the goals of these companies being to maximize engagement, they are no longer prioritizing relationships between people and are instead looking toward a future where people communicate directly with them via generative AI and "ambient computing." This will have devastating effects for the quality and authenticity of information that individuals receive. It will contribute further to the decline of social support systems. However, these issues can be slowed by systemic changes to take away power from Google and Meta as well as education for users about the effects of these issues.