In recent years, social media has been accused of all sorts of evils, particularly in creating “addiction” through mechanisms deployed to capture and retain our attention “at any cost”. However, Camille Alloing, a researcher in digital communications at UQAM and author of the book The Affective Web: A Digital Economy of Emotions, rejects this thesis. We spoke with him to better understand the current state of research on social media.
Here is an initial observation:
“In my work, I do not see addiction in the neurophysiological or psychological sense of the term. Believing that social media can generate any form of addiction is granting them far too much power. It is rather that they respond directly or indirectly to needs – whether it be the need to socialize, to love, to be outraged, or, conversely, to be distracted and think about things other than current events.”
The professor emphasizes the mechanisms at play on the platforms. What makes them successful is their deployment of an arsenal of features (the like button, emojis, shares, and comments) allowing us to communicate our feelings and emotions.
“The platforms have the ability to generate affective reactions in us that prompt us to share content with others. And that responds to a [fundamental] need that we have. We need to love, to be outraged, to be angry, and above all, we need to create connections with others.”
Moreover, through his research, Camille Alloing notes that the “affective” response transcends cultures.
“When we conduct analyses comparing different cultures, whether in the Western world, between Quebec and France, between the United States and Germany, we realize that while the way of expressing oneself may change, the emotional intensity remains the same. Because it is an emotional intensity that is valued by the platforms. Attention does not necessarily go to the one who ‘speaks the loudest,’ but to the one who finds the words, sounds, and images that create an emotional reaction. That’s what the studies show.”
Affective instrumentalization
That being said, the researcher acknowledges a number of collateral effects that raise questions.
Advertisers and media have understood very well how to use social media; they have seized this emotional and affective standard, and there is a whole communication ecosystem that has been created around the platforms. However, it is evident that this is a way of communicating that is always very intense from an emotional point of view. And one can question the impact of living in a society where debates and confrontations of viewpoints occur with such intensity.”
Rather than expecting solutions to come from the platforms themselves, the researcher advocates for better public education on the use of social media, as well as greater legislation by states.
“There is a real question of regulation to be asked at the collective level, both among citizens and states. We will need to relearn how to live as a group online and rethink a new form of digital citizenship,” concludes the researcher.
