Amazing how much we care about who owns social media…

“Amazing how much we care about who owns social media platforms and totally miss that social media platforms own us.”

@chrismartin17 author of “Terms of Service: The Real Cost of Social Media”

Just sayin’ 😳

Ok, I haven’t read the book but I’m really interested to check it out (also “Amused to Death” which Chris mentions in several podcasts) but this quote from twitter really struck me because I think it’s important to keep perspective while we operate in these playgrounds that aren’t really owned by us. Like they say, "if you're not paying for it, you're the product." For me in particular as things shift here it’s important to not lose myself and my purpose to the increasing demands of the platforms that I’m active on.

In listening to Chris I appreciate that his solution isn’t to just delete all your accounts and grow some potatoes in the woods or whatever but to really stay present in the space that we’re operating in. I remember growing up in Vegas and learning all of tricks the casinos use to not only keep you spending money but to keep you *inside* the casino. It’s a carefully crafted experience and if you don’t realize the manipulation it’s easy to spend *way* more money than you ever though possible. They don’t get to build glass pyramids or ridiculous water fountains in spite of people winning so much money; people simply aren’t winning. The house truly wins because they operate the environment that people play in from the moment you step through the door until your bank account is empty and your credit lines are exhausted.

We’d probably do well to treat these platforms with the same amount of skepticism. Like Vegas, there’s a lot of fun to be had but we need to stay present to the power of the house. I'm really interesting in learning more about how to operate in these spaces as a Christian because I really don't think we have it all figured out yet. If you have recommendations let me know!

On second thought, maybe "having fun in Vegas" isn't the analogy I should go with here. 🤔