Social media apps were once centered around strengthening personal connections, but since the rise of the addictive For You Page (FYP) on TikTok, short-form content has overshadowed these connections. Designed to keep us scrolling for hours, the FYP isolates us from community-based interactions. Instead of growing as intellectuals, we delve deeper into our own personalized echo chambers. Social media has taken a turn for the worse, and we need a revival of 2016 app culture.
Today, many young people have a main profile and a private one, the latter often reserved for close friends called a “finsta.” But when I was in middle school in 2016, my main Instagram operated as a private account. I had maybe 200 followers — all close friends and classmates from my middle school — every post was saturated with the gingham filter to maintain an “aesthetic” on my profile. I put so much effort into writing quirky captions only to sign off with popular hashtags like #summer or #photography. It was tacky, but also felt more authentic than the influencers on my feed today.
I felt like I was in a social bubble. Even though I had access to millions of accounts, my Instagram was relatively dull. I followed a few famous people like Selena Gomez, King Bach and, unfortunately, Brent Rivera. But my real interactions were with people I already knew.
Fast-forward to the rise of modern-day TikTok, where we are at the mercy of strangers posting redundant, “brain-rot” content.
Anonymous gossip and “ship” accounts thrived during this era. With maybe 100 followers, these student-led accounts posted about the people at my school. Was it ethical? Probably not. Fun? Extremely. My friends and I would submit fake rumors about each other, and it felt like a collaborative inside-joke between my class. We were all suspended within a social bubble, exploring the social media wasteland together. I cannot imagine traversing TikTok and Instagram for the first time as a 13-year-old today.
Before TikTok, platforms like Facebook and Instagram relied on what is called a “social graph.” Behind the scenes, engineers were developing ways to connect users within a network of people that they might have been related to, using this insight to target advertisements, according to the Entrepreneur. There was no FYP; instead, your explore page was similar to those of your friends and family. It often distributed content outside your interests, but as a result, your interests evolved.
Fast-forward to the rise of modern-day TikTok, where we are at the mercy of strangers posting redundant, “brain-rot” content. Community has been replaced by the influencer — wealthy, insufferable and making exaggerated hand gestures when they speak. I rarely interact with my friends’ posts; instead, my feed is flooded with strangers. The relationship I have with these influencers is completely one-sided and parasocial.
Originality is being traded for familiarity. Instead of taking bold leaps, social media platforms are choosing to replicate one another.
According to the Entrepreneur, TikTok was one of the first apps to implement an interest model. It works by capturing your likes and dislikes and associating you with other user groups who share those interests. The app uses artificial intelligence to rapidly evolve the FYP to reflect your interests. “Passive scrolling” does not exist. Every second you spend watching a video, scrolling through comments, or following another creator is recorded and tracked. You are at the mercy of highly sophisticated software.
It did not take long for other social media platforms to replicate this model. Instagram developed “Reels,” YouTube came out with “YouTube Shorts” and Snapchat procured “Snapchat Spotlight.” Community-based social interactions were discarded in favor of the interest graph. Think about it: when was the last time you scrolled through the homepage and liked a post from a mutual you followed? I’m not saying these interactions are rare, but compared to 2016, there has been a steep decline.
Originality is being traded for familiarity. Instead of taking bold leaps, social media platforms are choosing to replicate one another. However, this phenomenon is not just restricted to social media. Go to the movie theaters; reboots and remakes seem to be a popular route corporations feel comfortable funding. Why take a risk on a new idea when the sequel is guaranteed to supply profit?
As a result, the interfaces of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are all virtually identical. Scrolling through each, you can easily forget which app you were on originally. A shift toward short-form content can be seen across platforms as our attention spans plummet.
Apps replicating one another are nothing new. Nearly ten years ago, Carol Vernallis released her book Unruly Media, analyzing the complex relationships between social media, films, art, video games, etc. Her work was published in 2013, and she saw similarities between MTV music videos and films; she writes that, “Today each genre’s influences ripple out maddeningly, creating interference, blendings, loosenings of boundaries in ways we’ve never seen.”
Facebook no longer offers one service. According to Investopedia, Meta has expanded its ownership to Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, each platform morphing into the same TikTok adjacent clone. Who knows? Maybe someday there will be one app to “rule them all,” providing every service imaginable. It’s not far off from where we are today.
In 2016, apps provided one function. I yearn for that return. During my first year at Fordham, there was an attempt to forge an online community between Rams. The account @fordhamflirts, would post anonymous submissions from students about their class crushes. Names were not allowed, only descriptors, but many of the comments would be Fordham students trying to guess the described person. I felt like I was back in my middle schools’ social bubble.
To those with spare time: please start a Fordham-related account. Make reviews, give advice, start a club and advertise online. Converting your everyday interests into an online platform will create a more authentic experience for you and your friends.
The solution is a return to community. Follow your friends and people at Fordham and connect with them. I encourage you to distance yourself from the addictive FYP and influencers you will likely never meet. There is a potential to foster real-life friendships by reaching out to Fordham students on social media.
