Talkin’ Social Media Blues

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The “Great Flattening” of the 2020-30s was ushered in by creative, activist musicians who performed songs about empowering people to take control of their online activities.  The musicians highlighted the unethical practices of the Big Tech firms and helped create awareness of the deleterious effects of their platforms – including the sale of personal data, political polarization, and mental health issues. 

Talkin’ Social Media Blues became a popular protest song with no single author.   Many versions of these lyrics are still performed today in dozens of languages throughout the world.

Talkin’ Social Media Blues

In the good ol’ days of the digital highway
I was havin some fun – doin it my way
Homemade videos gave us a giggle
Catchy tunes made us dance and wiggle
Happy and Novel and Harmless and Fun
Like a digital party with everyone
Love and affection across the miles
And it brought us together and brought us a smile
Cat videos, Family Recipes and Baby pictures

Then Zuckerberg had a business plan
To profit by tweaking our thoughts and
Keep us staring at screens, so we can’t refuse
To buy mountains of stuff that we never can use
Algorithms way smarter than us
Keep our eyeballs busy and our minds in a fuss
Teenage girls suffered depression
Cause the mirror don’t appear like her Tik Tok session
Social engineering, Unintended consequences

Well they mined our data and they gave us addictions
To conspiracy theories and political fictions
Spreading hate and confusion across the planet
Facebook stoked the fire and we fanned it
Then the wheels fell off our democracy wagon
Thanks to fake news and leaders braggin
Then the Russians rigged a US election
Now we’re shoutin’ and yellin’ and losin’ direction
Echo chambers, conspiracies, surveillance capitalism

So what are we all supposed to a do?
When they bait yer clicks and they follow you
Let’s take control of a bad situation
Take it on, turn it off, and kill their creation!