What if social media disappeared?

What if social media disappeared? Hard to imagine, right? Social networks are not even 20 years old, and designing a world without them is already a thought experiment. The Press lent itself to the exercise.

A plausible threat

Computer platforms that host social networks are not immune to major failure. The outage that suspended the services of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram for six hours on October 4 reminded us of this.

What if the outage had lasted longer? Definitive? It's unlikely, but possible, in theory.

“A computer attack could virtually destroy all the data [of social networks] or make their service inaccessible for a long period of time,” says Stéfan Monnier, professor in the computer science department of the University of Montreal.

In practice, the attack would require a high level of organization, detailed knowledge of the targeted services, and would have to circumvent “all kinds of measures that are put in place to have backup copies”.

Nevertheless, these attacks, which "are increasing in frequency and severity", are already "a major concern" for States and private companies.

It is on the basis of this hypothesis that we left the field open to various experts, including a philosopher and a novelist, to write the scenario of the death of social networks – one among a field of possibilities –, between the apocalyptic film and frank comedy.

The shock wave

It could happen anytime. A Monday in November, well.

On the way to work, between two sweeps of the thumb, an error message appears on the screen. Around the globe, more than four billion social media users stare at the same endlessly spinning wheel.

“I always wonder: where am I going to be when everything goes down? “, says the author and follower of apocalyptic stories Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard (Wild Life Manual, High Demolition, Royal).

In the scenario that he invents aloud, the first hours of the megafailure are rather quiet. No rush, no sirens blaring in the distance. The event does not strike the imagination as a pandemic (or a zombie attack). There's something absurd about it, even.

If human beings have lived millennia without Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and the like, then why is it so hard to imagine a world after them?

Because going back is not possible, believes Milton Campos, retired professor of communications at the University of Montreal.

“You have to understand that the arrival of digital technology is the result of research and effort, but also of a human need. »

We are billions of human beings. To manage collective life – to administer the species – we needed to develop these [networking] tools.

Milton Campos, retired professor of communications at the University of Montreal

“And since human beings, from a cognitive point of view, are problem-solving animals, they have integrated these tools to solve life's problems,” Campos adds.

Like a cyborg, points out Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard. Social networks have endowed us with superhuman capacities, such as the ability to communicate to the other side of the world, in a fraction of a second.

Well, until now.

The reorganization

The shock taken, the tension goes up a notch.

After a few hours, the first symptoms related to withdrawal from social networks begin to appear. They come in the form of anger, irritation and depressed mood, lists ^Dr. Marie-Anne Sergerie, who is interested in cyberaddiction.

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“If these symptoms stand out, it's because they were associated with excessive use [of social networks]. For other people, it won't be an issue. Everyone will experience it in a different way, depending on the function that social networks occupied in their lives, ”she nuances.

These platforms serve both as communication and work tools, entertainment and ensure the free flow of information. Without them, the whole social organization must be rethought, notes the author Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard.

It's the return of the collection of birthdays ("I only know my mother's!"), email chains ("unfortunately") and the mourning of virtual archives ⁽ son's graduation, 50th wedding anniversary), all evacuated in the megapan.

And to keep up to date with the gossip of the city – because gossip also fulfills a social need – where do we meet? “I like to imagine that the theaters and the Bell Center would become the new steps of the church! laughs Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard.

In addition, the collapse of social networks would cause a stock market crash that could potentially affect the real economy, foresees David Dupuis, economist and professor at the University of Sherbrooke.

“There are stock market crashes that remain just that, but there are others that have the power to affect consumer sentiment. We then enter a more gloomy period and people, as a precaution, will tend to contract their consumption. It could certainly happen,” explains Mr. Dupuis.

The reflection

After weeks, even months, the dust settles.

We slow down the rhythm, imagines the French philosopher Pierre Musso, specialist in the sciences of information and communication. In his book Critique of networks, he is interested in the genesis of the “network”, the first figure of which dates back to Antiquity and refers to an intertwining of threads like a fishing net. Later, with the industrial revolution, it became the railway, then electricity and the internet.

If it becomes more powerful and complex with each transformation, the network has taken a completely different step for 20 years.

“The planetary scale and the speed of use of social networks have transformed the rhythm of society. We are on very short times and very high frequencies, which modify attention and behavior,” says Pierre Musso.

Conversely, their disappearance is a decelerator.

We consume less, predicts professor emeritus at HEC Montréal and retail specialist Jacques Nantel. In 2021, $1 invested in advertising on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok is more effective than the same amount invested in any other advertising medium (thank the optimization algorithms).

In some cases, social networks themselves become marketplaces.

“It's a bit like removing half of the products in a grocery store. We are less tempted to buy things, especially since a large part of our consumption, especially in developed countries, are non-essential products. And the purchase of these products is very much activated by social networks,” adds Mr. Nantel.

We militate at a different pace, too.

“On social networks, there is the trendy element. Something is in, people are going to share a piece of information, think the job is done and move on,” remarks historian and rapper Webster.

Close to activist circles, he witnessed the transition from street activism to the Twittersphere. From leaflets to hashtags. From action to reaction. Perhaps it would be interesting to bring out the boxes of milk and the pamphlets, he believes.

“If you want to show your indignation, your anger, you have to get out of your house. It requires more investment, more time, but that's where we see who is really convinced by his cause. »

Lesson

So how does this story end? Ultimately, the philosopher Pierre Musso sees two outcomes. Let humanity celebrate “the liberation of these networks that monitor and capture data, advertising revenue and attention”.

Or she revolts.

The imagination of the network is the freedom to communicate, to express oneself. In the name of this individual freedom, there could be demonstrations, petitions.

Pierre Musso, specialist in information and communication sciences

If he had to predict the future, Pierre Musso is betting more on the second outcome. Why ? The answer is in your pocket.

“In the history of human beings, there are very few objects that we have accepted to wear on our person as essential. The clothes, the jewels, the glasses, the watch. And the smartphone. To interrupt social networks would be to rip off a large part of the activity on the smartphone, something that is deeply individualized, that is experienced and perceived as part of oneself. »

The final word goes to the author Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard, who has the trick to surprise us.

“The story ends with someone in their bedroom hitting 'Enter' and a new social network is online. After all that we would have learned, we rebuild exactly the same business and the cycle begins again. In the end, I think my story would be a comedy... It makes me want to write that book! »