I send a message on Messenger to my 14-year-old son, who's in the next room, letting him know that it's time to go. He replies, “k.” Sound familiar?

Parents often lament that gaming and social media are ruining their teenagers. Articles from social commentators and researchers abound about the ills of social media. What is the cause of this outrage? Is social media really the enemy? What about all the good that can come from it?

“To dwell is human.” (Ivan Illich)

Rest with these words for a moment. Settle back into them and feel how well they sit—truth is the best lumbar support.

Social media is widely used in the Māori world. This is partly led by famous individuals: Stacey Morrison, for example, has about 20,000 followers on Instagram, and Mihingarangi Forbes has about 38,000 followers on Twitter. The Māori language features heavily in posts from many Māori public figures.

How do we solve our disagreements? A couple of examples could paint a picture... Consider landlords and tenants. Not long ago, disputes were settled through dialogue—a process involving a bit of give and take that ideally produced some mutual understanding and a way forward. Now, however, those private disagreements have become digital fodder. Instead of negotiating in good faith, parties often resort to portraying their dispute in the most sensational terms, seeking the moral high ground in the court of public opinion.

Everything, everywhere that is terrible is social media’s fault. Hate, disinformation, depression, political polarisation, the decline of trust, and of course, Donald Trump. Social media gets blamed for a lot. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter should carry health warnings, some insist. Perhaps one of those unsmiling photos of Mark Zuckerberg looking like he has just instructed his men—"Kill everyone in the village.”

Over 5 billion people (Statista, 2023) are currently connected to the internet. Simply speaking, that’s like having access to about two-thirds of the world’s population through the smartphone in your pocket. Digital technology has revolutionised information access, empowering individuals to acquire unprecedented volumes of knowledge. But it has also ushered in rampant misinformation and disinformation—posing a grave societal threat.

We stand on the verge of a dangerous precipice, an alluring and perilous temptation. The world is currently experiencing a technological revolution, and once unimaginable utopian dreams are now within our reach. The critical question is: Will we use this power to improve or destroy ourselves?

Now, I’m not saying I’m right... With all due respect... I mean this genuinely...

How often these days do you start social media posts in this way?

I find myself doing it more and more, hoping to enter a conversation or make a contribution without upsetting someone.

“Assembly” is a poem that came together on its own, using two pages from opposite sides of the book “Rules of Order.” It was created shortly after the US Supreme Court overturned the Federal Roe v. Wade abortion legislation in response to the heated and divisive social media posts and comments from both sides of the issue.”

In an age of endless scrolling, clicking, sharing, liking (and hating), an important question to ask is: “How do our online interactions affect us?” Aristotle claimed that “we are what we repeatedly do.” When we think about how much time we spend online daily, that’s sobering.