is social media eroding our autonomy?

If we had a dollar for every time we have praised the "accomplishments" technology has given us, we would end world poverty. Without a doubt, technology has become a gateway resource, enabling us to access a plethora of information at our fingertips, making it accessible and a necessity for all of us. Accessibility, efficiency, and immediacy have become deterministic requirements in order to prioritize or identify if something is considered valuable to us.

They say money buys you time, and time is money, but yet, technology takes both away from us. Especially in the microcosm of technology that is social media. It takes away time that we can use to reflect critically on our decisions, how we read, the lifestyle choices we make, and ultimately what is "best" for us.

Accessibility and efficiency feed the hunger for more and more without knowing when it is appropriate to stop. So who are we to say we are free and autonomous when we are exposed to an excessive amount of information without proper instruction? Is our autonomy being disrespected? The answer is yes.

Social media has given us the opportunity to fulfill our physiological need to socialize, interact in communities, and network, with access to social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, among others.

In Kate Murphy’s article "We Are All Socially Awkward," Murphy claims that humans need to socialize when lonely, or else our body detects this as a mortal threat. This further supports the purpose of social media, which helps us build a sense of belonging in the communities we cultivate and claim our power in society, even when we think we are incapable of doing so.

Nonetheless, social media has the potential to not only fulfill such a need but also push a positive impact on our autonomy by giving us the resources to embody our self-governance and voice our personal beliefs, opinions, and morals. And, all at the same time, this is exactly why our autonomy is not being respected.

In order to dissect the idea of our autonomy not being disrespected, it is necessary to engage in depth with the philosophical understanding of autonomy. Autonomy, by definition, is (in Kantian moral philosophy) the capacity of an agent to act in accordance with objective morality rather than under the influence of desires.

In simpler terms, it is one’s ability to act on their own values or morals. Autonomous competencies are the skills and ability to reason and think critically about one's values, envision alternative outcomes, form an idealistic image of the good, and consider oneself as a self-directing agent deserving of respect; these are examples of competencies required to be able to act autonomously.

Among many of the key factors that contribute to the self-governance of one's ideas, it is important to emphasize that this is "rather" or in opposition to the influence of desires, which may affect how one reacts or shapes one's objective morality.

This is where social media slowly starts to poke at our autonomy. The nature of social media is algorithmic, which is possible through the digital footprint that we leave as we interact and engage within the platform. We "consent to" when agreeing to the terms and conditions of such apps.

Not to mention how much more we are exposed to advertising and marketing that is ultimately intended to reach a specific audience. Nevertheless, it is not possible to reach the target without the digital footprint we have left. It is not breaking news that this large amount of data has been sold in order for companies to profit.

Siavosh Sahebi from the Department of Philosophy at Macquarie University, in her research article "Social Media Negative Impacts of Autonomy," defines the cycle of social media companies selling our data and advertising as entering "into an increasingly personalized, private transaction."

In other words, we are being exploited through our vulnerability to socialize when, in reality, we are only leaving our footprints to be used against us. The use of the word "private" in this context wants to emphasize the false sense of intimacy we feel on these platforms through "connection" and "socializing."

Being private, on the other hand, implies how easily we can misinform and how vulnerable we are to being exposed to false information, false realities, false expectations, and careers that are best for us. These all interfere with our capability to claim our authenticity and beliefs as our own.

Some may oppose this "personalized transaction" as a fair trade or price to pay to freely use the services these platforms offer. Although our choice to accept these terms and conditions may be considered a decision one has the choice to not make, it is not autonomous when this "consent" can be forced upon us due to the exploitation of social media users.

Furthermore, we are left with no choice when social media has become the new "human resource" to connect with one another, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the way we network in professional, academic, and social work. We are forced to take it or leave it because if we do, we miss out on opportunities or what we think is worthy of our attention.

In the article "How Camera Phones Stunt Bravery and Short-Circuit Human Decency," the author Erika Thorkelson quotes "fear of missing out" as having "cemented our limited attention span to the immediacy of the moment." What Thorkelson means by this is, that the fear of missing out can cause impulsiveness, which is the act of reacting without thinking and acting on emotion.

Considering how easy social media has made it to be informed of events in actual time, we become used to knowing everything when it happens, causing us to fear missing out on what’s happening and not analyzing further beyond the false sense of "knowing."

I personally have fallen into the trap of FOMO, and it is one hundred percent not because I chose it to be that way. I cannot name the amount of times I have deactivated all social media to only find out the next day that I missed out on a career opportunity, a social event, and an educational event.

I chose not to be on social media, and my morals do not align with what social media does, which makes it not autonomous anymore. Yet I have no other choice but to become part of it, or else I will not "know" what is the next "life-changing opportunity." My autonomy has been disrespected, and I have been left with no freedom to follow my true desires.