Is social media worth saving?

I kind of like social media.

I like that it helps me keep up with old friends and family on the other side of the world. When I finish a new episode of a show, I love that I can log onto Twitter and see what other people think about it. It’s always made me feel like I’m part of a bigger community than my physical presence in time and space allows me to have. Sure, it has problems, and it’s a total time-suck, but I’ve always kind of thought it’s worth saving.

That being said, Kate Wagner’s article 404 Page Not Found has me thinking. In the piece, Wagner critically and artfully interrogates the development of the internet over time.

Wagner mentions Geocities as an example of the old, creative internet. I checked out some images of old pages -- they look pretty fun! Image from vapor95.com

As someone who’s only ever known the modern internet, it was eye-opening to read about past versions. Wagner describes Web 1.0, the early version of the Internet, as a place where users had to code and design their own online spaces, which meant they had an interactive relationship with the technology they were using.

Wagner contrasts this with Web 2.0. This is the internet I’m familiar with: a ready-made thing that we experience, not something we really interact with in a meaningful way. Websites and social media platforms from this era are sleek and minimalist. They’re beautiful, but distant from us, and absent of the personality and character that Web 1.0 had.

What I think she’s getting at is that using the Internet used to be a creative activity in and of itself, and now…it’s not. Wagner mourns this loss, and I get it. I’m sad that I missed out on the era of personalized pages and creative coding. My modern social media isn’t really a place where I express myself. It’s just a grid of pictures, like everyone else’s.

Taking stock of this loss, Wagner quips, “Unfortunately, Facebook was just, like, easier to use.” I do think, though, that we shouldn’t be too quick to mock the usability of today’s social media platforms.

Isn't it kind of cool that anyone can use modern social media, even if they don’t have the time, money, or skill to craft their own website or profile from scratch?​​ For example, my Grandma loves to catch up with her long-distance friends on Facebook, and even that’s sometimes hard for her. If Facebook were any harder to use, she’d lose those connections. For a lot of social media users, connecting with a community is the most important part of the experience, and making platforms easier makes those communities more inclusive.

It’s definitely a murky issue. Wagner’s criticism is valid, and I agree with her in many ways. At the same time, though, there are elements of modern social media I feel that it would be wrong to dismiss.

Maybe, the real problem with modern social media isn’t that it’s easy, but that we aren’t forced to think critically anymore on sites that do the hard work for us. If we push ourselves to think critically anyways, we might find a way to bring creativity back without losing accessibility.

A silly little example of what Weird Facebook is like -- you can see how they're "uglyfying" the platform. Image from Pinterest.

The concept of “Weird Facebook,” which Wagner briefly touches on, is actually a really good example of this. These Facebook accounts use the platform’s own features to mess with its sleek aesthetic and subvert its intended purpose, subtly critiquing the brand image Facebook aims to present.

These accounts are bringing creativity back to social media through their critical engagement with it, which I think is the way to go.

I still love my little communities on Instagram and Twitter, but I want to keep thinking about how I’m engaging with those spaces. Though I’m not entirely sure what that will look like, it might just begin by reading more articles like Wagner’s that prompt me to look at the internet I’ve grown up with through a new lens.