If social media disappeared tomorrow, how would the world change?

The initial one would be paralyzing. Millions of people would be left without a primary source of communication, news and filling in their daily lives overnight. Influencers, digital marketers, content producers, the creator economy would all fall down. The crisis would affect small businesses who engage in Instagram shops or use Facebook adverts. There would be no way to organize political movements, both in the form of protests and in the form of campaigns. Dating apps would become a thing of the past, breaking news would have to be consumed at the pace of a snail, and a whole generation of people would all at once find it difficult to sustain the hundreds of casual friendships that come with the modern way of life. Digital advertising, social media firms, technical employment would on its own set off another recession in the attention economy. However, beneath the fray, there would be a change in the way we act and think. In the absence of algorithms that fish and lure us with outrage and envy, political polarization may decrease and adolescent anxiety may lower.

The people would be driven towards less and more powerful relationships. There would be no more need to work and modify our lives online. The information would pass over at slower rates such as traditional media and word of mouth that would likely minimize viral misinformation, but would also silence the voices of the underrepresented communities that have gained their strength through the social sites. It would be disastrous to lose citizen journalism the stuff that goes viral, exposing injustice and keeping those in power down to account. Finally, we would find out whether social media actually addressed the actual human needs or simply created artificial ones. Would they be free and lonely? Would we begin speaking to strangers once again, forming local friendships, sitting in cafes and in park or would we simply leap to the next platform to emerge? The solution would be an unpleasant fact: perhaps it was not the technology that was the problem, but rather the overwhelming need to feel connected, approved, and distracted. We may discover that we were not imprisoned by social media, we created it ourselves as we had to.