I can’t wait for the day people begin seeing the world and humanity as they are, instead of seeing them through the information filters @Facebook & @Twitter have created.
It never was, and won’t be perfect BUT...1/

....at least it’ll be #human, not defined by an algorithm pursuing profit and addiction.

Just like religions, ideologies, and traditions imposed filters on how humanity perceived reality for generations, today social media platforms are the insidious meta-filters. 2/

You, reading this post, may intellectually get the notion that Twitter or Facebook don’t define the real world or people - but on an emotional and behavioural level, that intellectual understanding will more often than not be meaningless. 3/

That is especially true now where, with social distancing, more than ever, the way we engage in our societies is increasingly digital. 4/

Although some powerful research has been done on this front, much more is needed. This is truly hard to study as now even none social media sources of news, such as newspapers and Television news channels, have shifted to be more conducive to social media culture and engagement5/

And for the social media companies themselves, this is seen as a win. It is domination, and they believe their creations are a gift to humanity. At one point, they could’ve in fact become a true gift — but that broke down once profit margins and growth were prioritised 6/

Based on what I have seen in my line of work, from India to Brazil, from Wisconsin to Egypt, from Brussels to Nigeria, this filter is tearing apart those fragile things we call empathy and solidarity across communities, and creating more trenches across the planet. 7/

I have hope that we will be able to fix it — but listening to the stories of #FacebookSurvivors this week, so much harm has already be done. 8/