Many of you have been asking me about the assassination of the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk earlier this week during a campus event at Utah Valley University. At the time of this writing, little is yet known about the shooter’s motives, but there have been enough cases of political violence over the past year that I think I can say what I’m about to with conviction…
Those of us who study online culture like to use the phrase, “Twitter is not real life.” But as we saw yet again this week, when the digital discourses fostered on services like Twitter (and Bluesky, and TikTok) do intersect with the real world, whether they originate from the left or the right, the results are often horrific.
This should tell us all we need to know about these platforms: they are toxic and dehumanizing. They are responsible, as much as any other force, for the unravelling of civil society that seems to be accelerating.
We know these platforms are bad for us, so why are they still so widely used? They tell a compelling story: that all of your frantic tapping and swiping makes you a key part of a political revolution, or a fearless investigator, or a righteous protestor – that when you’re online, you’re someone important, doing important things during an important time.
But this, for the most part, is an illusion. In reality, you’re toiling anonymously in an attention factory, while billionaire overseers mock your efforts and celebrate their growing net worths.
After troubling national events, there’s often a public conversation about the appropriate way to respond. Here’s one option to consider: Quit using these social platforms. Find other ways to keep up with the news, or spread ideas, or be entertained. Be a responsible grown-up who does useful things; someone who serves real people in the real world.
To save civil society, we need to end our decade-long experiment with global social platforms. We tried them. They became dark and awful. It’s time to move on.
Enough is enough.
Just left social media after all of this, probably will be working on deleting most accounts entirely soon. The coverage, reaction, everything about this event and what it means made me sick to my stomach. These platforms bring out the worst in people, I never thought that in this country we would be pushed to the point where people would be using their actual names, attached with their jobs no less, openly celebrating a political assassination. Regardless of views we should all understand this to be wrong.
I realize that this was finally the last straw for me to walk away from these platforms once and for all.
This might be one of your most important posts yet, Cal. I wish I could have said this as clearly and succinctly as you.
Couldn’t agree more: I wrote a book on this “Against Platforms”. I make essentially the same argument. I also make the case that it is our institutions that have been hollowed out by platforms, and like this post, ask us to not just leave behind the platform experiment but also to reimagine how our institutions can serve us in their absence.
Fully aligned with Nathan’s comment here. Thank you Cal. I am grateful to have someone to look to that I can trust and will think calmly and rationally.
Seeing what networked, algorithmically powered media has done to people in my own family (for us it’s not the kids, it’s the parents), this couldn’t be a more important post. Well-stated. Someone should share this on Facebook (in spite of the irony).
The reactions from my parent’s generation on social media are deeply concerning.
“They tell a compelling story: that all of your frantic tapping and swiping makes you a key part of a political revolution, or a fearless investigator, or a righteous protestor – that when you’re online, you’re someone important, doing important things during an important time. But this, for the most part, is an illusion. In reality, you’re toiling anonymously in an attention factory, while billionaire overseers mock your efforts and celebrate their growing net worths.”
Very well said. Reminded of the book “Propaganda” written by the frech genius Jacques Ellul:
“The more his needs increase in the collective society, the more propaganda must give man the feeling that he is a free individual. Propaganda alone can create this feeling, which, in turn, will integrate the individual into collective movements. Thus, it is a powerful boost to his self-esteem. Though a mass instrument. It addresses itself to each individual. It appeals to me. It appeals to my common sense, my desires, and provokes my wrath and my indignation. It evokes my feelings of justice and my desire for freedom. It gives me violent feelings, which lift me out of the daily grind. As soon as I have been politicized by propaganda, I can from my heights look down on daily trifles. My boss, who does not share my convictions, is merely a poor fool, a prey to the illusions of an evil world. I take my revenge upon him by being enlightened; I have understood the situation and know what ought to be done; I hold the key to events and am involved in dangerous and exciting activities. This feeing will be all the stronger when propaganda appeals to my decision and seems to be greatly concerned with my action: “Everything is in the clutches of evil. There is a way out. But only if everybody participates. You must participate. If you don’t, all will be lost, through your fault.” This is the feeling that propaganda must generate. My opinion, which society once scorned, now becomes, important and decisive. No longer has it importance only for me, but also for the whole range of political affairs and the entire social body. A voter may well feel that his vote has no importance or value. But propaganda demonstrates that the action in which it involves us is of fundamental importance, and that everything depends on me. It boosts my ego by giving me a strong sense of my responsibility; it leads me to assume a posture of authority among my fellows, makes me take myself seriously by appealing to me in impassioned tones, with total conviction, and gives me the feeling that it’s a question of All or Nothing. Thanks to propaganda, the diminished individual obtains the very satisfaction he needs”.
You’ve been saying this for a long time, and your followers get it. We’ve now reached the tipping point. Gov Cox is calling it a watershed moment and is alos imploring the nation that enough is enough, that people need to go outside and touch some grass. Individuals have a lot of power to stop the insanity, but I fear so many are literally addicted and won’t or can’t. Keep beating the drum. Thank you, Cal.
The only sane reaction to the crazy seems to be to quit using social media, finally the kick in the butt I needed to deactivate all my accounts.
Thank you.
Was society so civil before social media? Toxic viewpoints like Kirk’s were still shared on the radio and the television, though I suppose social media helped to spread them.
They are only “toxic” in your opinion, or because you are uninformed, relying on secondary sources with out of context quotes instead of primary sources. Calling Kirk “toxic” immediately alienates conservatives, and in doing so you are part of the problem by posting such things online, even though this is not social media. Notice how Cal’s original post did not show one way or another what he thinks of Kirk. It’s not even the point after all.
Thank you, Cal. I admire your courage in speaking out so directly about the destructive impact of social platforms. I stand with you, enough is enough.
Thank you, Cal. It’s horrifying that we got to this point, but not surprising.
It’s hard to stay optimistic, but, as other commenters have mentioned, I hope this will in fact be a tipping point to our society and that we can finally move on from the social network experiment.
This needs to be shouted from every rooftop, every hour, of every day. Never stop pushing on this thread, Cal. It’s our only way out of a very bleak future.
Overconsumption of media is destroying our social fabric and many are too busy scrolling to realize it. I am afraid that not even an event like this is enough to convince people that we need to fix this ourselves.
I came to this conclusion yesterday as well. Not only do these platforms make me anxious and feel unwell, I can not honestly tell myself that my consumption and contribution to this content is making a positive difference. I think it is still most likely that people will continue to use these platforms and civil society will continue to degrade, but I think finding ways to stay informed without social media is a MUCH more positive and possibly impactful contribution to fighting against it.
I could not have agreed with this blog more. Snd as some have said, these social media hollow-out our institutions, politics, democracy and even out childrens futures. Social media does not provide freedom of speech, it actually does the opposite. It is seen in every country, as well as mine (The Netherlands). Soon I will remove my last social media account (LinkedIn), as I wil replace it with a wordpress resume.
It’s like Doritos. We all know that Doritos are bad for us. But there they are. And they make a lot of money. How do you get rid of the the Doritos??
Very well said, Cal. I intend to share this post with everyone I know, especially those who still rely on these platforms for their information.
Keep up the good fight. More and more are jumping on board, finally.
“…you’re toiling anonymously in an attention factory, while billionaire overseers mock your efforts and celebrate their growing net worths”
Very well (and succinctly) said.
Been listening to your podcasts a lot as of late, I’ve been on the fence about leaving social media. After witnessing the aforementioned event unfold, I too was sick to my stomach and I removed these apps from my phone. This article confirms that I made the right move. Thank you Cal.
Completely agree, Cal. Thank you for all your great work through the years on this — it helped me quit social media back in 2016 and I’m infinitely better off for it.
I tend to agree, but internally have struggled to know if I should be engaging in a positive way to counter the negative. Is a positive voice more impactful than just not engaging at all?