The ‘enshitification’ of social media
Where are we in the sliding spiral
This one comes straight from blog territory, so mercifully no academic references are in train below. Read the blog here: https://thesiswhisperer.com/2023/07/10/academicenshittification/ and the highlights below.
Pat notes:
“The enshittification of social media has been going on for years, but has become more visible with the agonizingly slow death of Twitter. I deleted the Twitter app after Elon took over and fully embraced the fractured social media landscape. On my phone I now have three Twitter like platforms - Mastodon, BlueSky and Threads - in addition to Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. 'Promote your work' on social media is now an endless game of cut and paste with no time left over to talk to people.” Which sucks! But it seems since then, that the whole thing has amalgamated into LinkedIn which raises interesting questions for the tenor of debate on said platform!
Continuing, she notes:
“My social media guru, Dr Mark Carrigan, shares my discomfort, but, as usual, expresses it more eloquently, especially when he talks about how universities are now pushing social media engagement as a way to create research impact: "The content of this encouragement tends to repeat motifs such as "get your work out there" "publicise your research" and "make an impact", which are becoming increasingly misleading with each passing year. These ambitions are not in any way impossible but achieving them in a sustainable way is becoming more demanding, with greater risks that are yet to be adequately handled within universities. It feels the professional normalisation of social media has reached its crescendo at precisely the point where the risk/return ratio no longer makes sense for many academics."
Too many platforms, too many places to push things, and overall, just a mess really!
She continues,
“I give the same advice about social media to academics as I do to women asking what to wear: do whatever the hell you want. Share your work - or not. If you share it, stop worrying about click throughs and views as you have little control over who will see it unless you pay. I guess paying is an option, but personally I'd rather not - but you do you.”
Just do your own thing, I guess?
“We must be clear eyed about the opportunity costs of social media engagement for researchers: both individuals and groups. Stop wasting people's time and find other ways to further your impact agenda'. Let people get on with The Work - whatever that means for them.”
Go and work your work, people! And don’t let things become Shit! :)
References
https://thesiswhisperer.com/2023/07/10/academicenshittification/
Running Word Count (the second 100,000): 89,296