The hashtag #mysocialtruth is a movement created by Humane Tech and is meant to start a conversation about the use of social media platforms. The reasoning behind it goes a lot deeper than what you might think.

Social media platforms of all kinds make money off of how long their users are using their application. The longer someone is on the site, the more money the company makes. Therefore, the longer they keep us intrigued and on the site, the more money they will make. Social media platforms were designed to keep us distracted from our everyday lives so they could make more and more money.

How are they making this money? Other companies selling a variety of things pay the social media platform to advertise their products (whatever it may be). The platforms don’t care about the actual content of the ads, as long as they’re not explicit in any way. For example, an ad for a “fat loss” supplement may be shown to a teenager, the ad exaggerating how easy it is to lose weight. From then on, that ad will be in the back of their mind when they go to eat with friends. The science behind exercise will immediately lose value, since this supposed supplement will just “do the work for them.” This is just one example of many major issues these platforms have.

The algorythm is designed against us, showing users somehting outraging to keep them engaged on the platform. Ads are now “creating content” so that their products or services reach more people. The photo or video could look like a piece of content from your favorite creator, but it turns out that it’s not. Content creators have been posting #ad content, as well. Some of them don’t actually use the product themselves, they’re just looking forward to getting paid.

I have been so plugged into social media lately thst I’m finding the targeted ads to be more and more specific. It’s honestly borderline creepy. We must stop these platforms and companies from taking over our lives. We need to #unplug and learn how to celebrate being outside of the social norm.