CAUGHT UP IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

PSY from South Korea danced Gangnam style on YouTube, and therefore, almost in every flat around the world where there is Internet. Numerous users of the World Wide Web, both young and old, liked and discussed the Gangnam-style dance moves calculated for external effect rather than the fine art of choreography. As a result, on 21 December, right in the middle of the end of the world, which is obviously no accident in view of the fact that they were both being promoted, the low-quality clip crossed the barrier of one billion views.

Evil or good?

The YouTube video-sharing website can be called a social network like Facebook (FB), Twitter, Odnoklassniki, etc. And any video posted, for example, on FB will automatically direct the user to YouTube, where you can watch whatever you want, whenever you want and wherever you want. In fact, if you take a deeper look, YouTube is a powerful means of influencing the public like other social networks. It can form tastes, moods, priorities and thinking given that the vast majority of social network users are young people with their immature minds and unformed world outlook. For example, what compels a person who viewed not a very good movie to click on it again and again? How do you distinguish the good from the bad? Why are the intimate things, which were previously discussed in whispers and with trepidation, now easily posted on social networks for all to see and discuss? Maybe it all depends on education and values in the family?

These are very complex questions that are not even worth thinking about, as there is an obvious reality – some world force is trying to control public opinion by manipulating its tastes and substituting values. And if in the future it becomes necessary to act in a different way, forcing a more complex and subtle ideology on people, it will be done as easily as today, because this force has the Internet and social networks in its hands. There is no need to create another weapon of influence.

Who knows, for example, why someone has posted a YouTube clip saying that an alien has been "found" in the security service of US President Barack Obama. Interesting, isn’t it? If you watch the video, it is definitely an alien. One passes the video to another, and the number of hits is gaining momentum.

Daily average users of social networks are unlikely to think about the magnitude of the effect of this phenomenon on people's lives. We won’t act against our conscience if we say that today, social networks are the most popular activity on the Internet, which is also indicated by world statistics.

A person in a social network. Who is he? He lives in a big world. But if a person is registered in at least one social network, he will never be lost unless he dies. Experts in the field of Internet technology argue that at the moment, social networks are essentially a huge and well-structured database with a wide variety of information about hundreds of millions of people around the world. In the recent period, networks are becoming more open to the outside world, and many users' personal data are already available to the public. The more people communicate in a variety of social networks, the more information about them can be collected without any effort. That is why the controversial claim that "security services collect 70 per cent of information from open sources" is now becoming quite believable.

Modern social networks ask users to disclose almost everything about them: photos, videos, connections, interests, education, information about their job, the places they visit, preferred products, personal thoughts, etc. Most of the information is available without signing up – it is enough to find a user's page in popular social networks. The rest can be seen after adding the user to friends, while all information, including personal correspondence is at least available to the administration of the network, and no privacy settings will hide it.

But on the other hand

German scientists have conducted research into social networks. In particular, they looked into the largest global network - Facebook. What are the conclusions? There are very few positive things. Spending time on the network often causes negative emotions in people. "This is irritation with someone's super photos from a holiday, romantic date or trip, which provokes envy in varying degrees, a feeling that your own life is insignificant, or sadness and loneliness. Many are excited about collecting "likes". This desire becomes obsessive, and one wants to "brag" about their number. Generally speaking, social networks contribute to stress and unhappiness. To describe these states, there are even terms such as "cyber psychology", "Internet psychology", "Internet addiction".

A simple example. A family idyll can instantly collapse if the reason for the quarrel is online correspondence. Paradoxically, the Internet, which brings together people from different parts of the world, separates those who are nearby, while virtual love destroys real love. According to statistics maintained in the United States, online love correspondence puts an end to every marriage in five.

What attracts people in social networks? According to psychologists, it is first of all the possibility to express oneself through self-promotion and self-presentation. You become anyone you like, share your thoughts, ideas and news with the whole world. How much does youth need to be happy? A person feels a kind of microcosm inside himself over the Internet and becomes the centre of the universe at the same time.

It seems good, but there are "side effects" - the same Internet addiction - the insatiable desire to be online, show oneself, count the likes and view the comments. This causes frequent mood swings, depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders. And if social networks, in fact, expand the range of human communication, in reality, they are making it closed and self-absorbed despite the presence of thousands of friends.

Oddities of the Internet

Sometimes amazing things happen on the Internet.

For example, the story of "Stoned Fox" is totally unsettling. What can be good in a stuffed fox in the making of which a number of errors were committed? What should a person be like in order to like this monster, call it "stoned" or buy it at an auction. For those who do not know. "Stoned Fox" is a scruffy stuffed fox with bulging eyes sitting on a chair. The author of the stuffed animal is the British taxidermist Adele Morse. The stuffed animal was nicknamed "Stoned Fox" because of its resemblance to the stereotypical appearance of drug addicts. And it has become a famous Internet meme - in Russia they even decided to organize an exhibition on this subject. In December 2012, "Stoned Fox" became a prototype of a plush toy the description of which states that this toy is a perfect gift "for any occasion".

The examples of "Stoned Fox", Gangnam style and lots of others clearly demonstrate how the Internet easily and deftly creates kitsch in people's minds. Since it is the easiest way, because the most important feature of kitsch, as opposed to artistic imagery, is to reject genuine innovation, unusual, original and sophisticated art forms and perception that requires efforts. According to encyclopedic information, "kitsch-thinking" involves a well-known stereotype that provides a sense of ease, accessibility and proximity of supposedly complicated things. This is cheating yourself and others. Novelty is replaced by a stamp, wit by vulgarity, intense creativity and artistic discovery by triviality and banality. But in order to pass off banality as true art, it should be given a bright, garish and eye-catching "innovative shape".

This is what the Internet is now successfully doing through social networks, managing the mass consciousness. Paradoxically, the Internet, which brings together people from different parts of the world, separates those who are nearby, while virtual love destroys real love. There is an obvious reality – some world force is trying to control public opinion by manipulating its tastes and substituting values. If social networks, in fact, expand the range of human communication, in reality, they are making it closed and self-absorbed despite the presence of thousands of friends. STATISTICS SAY The 100 most visited websites in the world: 20 are classic social networks and another 60 are somewhat socialized. More than 80 per cent of companies around the globe use social networks in their work. About 78 per cent of people trust information from social networks.