Okay, so have you ever opened social media to check one thing and somehow ended up scrolling for thirty minutes? That happens to me every single time I open Tiktok. I even saw a comment once that said, “That’s why it’s called tic-toc.” (like a clock sound). These social media habits might seem harmless, but they can shape how we feel without us even realizing it. Before this reading, I mostly thought social media participation meant posting, liking, or commenting. However, the article Sneaky Rhetorics, Habitual Media, and the Affective Politics of Lurking on Facebook changed my perspective. Maggie Fernandes, Matthew Homer, and Jennifer Sano-Franchini show how even silently scrolling can influence us.
How Social Media Habits Shape Our Emotions
The authors explain that everyday social media habits can change our emotions. These habits also affect how we receive information. They describe lurking as being a form of browsing even though you’re not actually publicly contributing. On social media, we also call this form of stalking, “monitoring spirits.” One thing I realized while reading is that just because you are quiet online doesn’t mean you aren’t still a part of what’s happening. You can still feel anxious, entertained, or weird by the content you see.
For example, if we think about scrolling past a friend’s pictures of them eating out in a restaurant and then afterwards seeing an upsetting news headline about someone who passed away, our feelings can change in an instant. The article made me think about how easy it is for us to just move past emotional experiences without even stopping to question them.
How Algorithms Shape What We See
This also connects to algorithms, platforms, and data because the reactions we have help companies know what we like. The more we repost, like, and comment on something, the more the platform pushes those types of videos onto our feeds. The very buttons we use to express our feelings are what other people see as our responses. Meanwhile, our attention benefits the platform.
All in all, my biggest takeaway is that digital rhetoric happens even when we are not speaking. Platform design, repeated habits, and emotional connections all influence and change our experiences.
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