May 22nd, 2011 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Opinion
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This Techcrunch post, The Illusion of Social Networks, is worth thinking about. The author Semil Shah suggests that we have a tendency to use social networks to create illusions for our audiences. And over time these illusions compound to create something that may not reflect real life. It’s a type of socical psychomanipulation.
But I wonder if Shah overstates the shady side of human social conduct. I’m more optimistic about the promise of human connectedness. The crowd is smarter than we think. And while we can create any story possible, it’s ultimately the responsibility of the listening masses to decide what’s real. It’s our job to ask the hard questions. Be it television, the web, or our own homes, we’re individually responsible for who we let into our world. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
September 13th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Medblogger Shout Outs, News, Opinion
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Last week Michael Arrington wrote an important piece in Techcrunch, “Blogging and Mass Psychomanipulation.” It details how as bloggers we play to our readers for positive regard. We give ‘em red meat.
I think there’s social health psychomanipulation. Many of us indulge the obvious social health memes. We universally bash pharma, blindly buoy the empowered, and champion just about anything at the intersection of digitally democracy and health care. Too many want to be accepted, retweeted, and linked by an evolving hierarchy of power brokers looking to advance one self-imposed new standard.
And every now and again I fall into the trap and offer bread and circus.
If you’re preoccupied with traffic metrics and the blind need to belong, go ahead and jump on the bandwagon. Push those big red “easy” buttons of social health. Contribute to the echo chamber. Then read Michael Arrington’s piece and look in the mirror. Who (or what) are you really trying to advance?
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
