How Social Media Works--and Doesn't

WE ARE SO over the internet. Most big-think commentary on digital culture these days tends to conclude that the online world is merely a reflection of power structures and social dynamics in the offline world. Predictions of digital utopia have given way to an acknowledgment that we organize our digital networks the same way we organize our personal lives: our blind spots persist, and rather than expanding our worldview, the internet allows us to silo ourselves further. We forge many superficial connections as we sit alone for hours on end. In the worlds of media and politics and entertainment, the little guys stay little, the big guys control almost everything. In web-speak, the internet has become “meh.”