This article considers the impact of social media on the American Ideal.

"Real life is becoming indistinguishable from the movies. The deceived masses are captivated by the myth of success. They insist on the very ideology that enslaves them. The misplaced love of the common people for the wrong which is done them is a greater force than the cunning of the authorities."
Theodor Adorno, "Dialectic of Enlightenment" (1944)

In 1944, in the shadow of the cloud over Europe created by the madness of Hitler, the Frankfort School of philosophers tried to express the impact of technological development on the individual. Their warnings seem so relevant today. Social media has become the visible manifestation of the American Geist in this day when Twitter has become the marketplace for ideas for most of the citizenry. Past, present, and future meld together in posts and tweets that ignore the duality of truth and falsehood. The connection between the factual reality of words and truth seems to be unimportant to a significant portion of the population. If posted or tweeted words feed the emotional needs of those they reach through the platform of social media, they are treated as true .

Adorno described the circle of manipulation and retroactive need in which the unity of the entertainment system, which at that time was dominated by radio and movies, grew ever stronger in its control of the population. Enlightenment becomes a form of mass deception. Adorno spoke of the addiction of people to the sameness of the ideas and art that were broadcast through the medium of radio waves, and the concern that our very ability to think and create were being compromised. Today that sameness is thrust at us all through radio, television, and social media. We choose the set of ideas that fits with what we already believe, and then the source of our information works to send us the message we already want to hear. This is dangerous territory for many reasons.

I don’t necessarily agree with all of Adorno’s ideas, but they are certainly worthy of consideration. And they seem much more applicable to what we see happening in today’s world. He had watched Hitler’s machine manipulate the masses through the use of propaganda proliferated through movies and radio. Today, it is clear that propaganda is being proliferated through the use of television and social media in a much more efficient way.

To understand the significance of Adorno’s words, one must look back to the beginnings of America. It was the European Enlightenment that gave rise to the idea of the possibility of creating a country that was based on ancient Greek democratic ideas. It was the American Enlightenment that fueled the ideas of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams, those men we call the Founding Fathers, as they debated about and wrote the American Constitution.

The American Enlightenment promoted the application of scientific reasoning to science, politics, and religion. It promised religious tolerance and restored liberal arts and music as important disciplines. It was the cornerstone of the great universities created at the time. It was the basis for the language chosen to be included in our founding documents. It is the essence of the American Ideal.

That American Ideal is at risk today, and much of what pushes it toward destruction is found in our addiction to the fruits of technological advances. Social media seems on its face to give every person a platform from which their ideas can be broadcast to the world. That seems to be very democratic, and it could be just that if it is used positively. This is where Adorno’s philosophy seems so important to me.

According to Adorno, the technological media available in the late forties was a threat to open mindedness because the entertainment encased in the new technology had the power to create the mindset of us all. The masses would be taught to expect and desire that which was chosen by those in control of the system. There was a great chance of abuse of this power which could result in something like what had recently, at that time, happened in Nazi Germany.

On its face, it would appear that social media would take us to the opposite of that paradigm. Now every person has the ability to broadcast to the world what thoughts they wish to distribute. It seems to be an empowering mechanism. Again, I believe it can be if used positively. The Arab Spring was such an example. However, the reality is that most of the ideas exchanged on the medium are not from individual voices.

Information intended to be used as propaganda is introduced to the people through the social media and television. It does not just impact individuals by bending their thought processes through illusion. Instead, it takes things a further step and makes them, makes us all, a part of the propaganda machine. Information without any factual reality is placed in the stream of social media consciousness and spread through use of the individuals who make up the audience. The audience is fed false facts which impacts how they think. That is nothing new. That has happened for many years as technology expanded our ability to communicate. What’s new is that now each of us can be a cog in the machine for real. We all have our platforms that may be used to broadcast the message of the powers that be. Instead of being used to shout back when we are given lies instead of truth, the social media is largely used to promote the falsehoods that are intended to increase the power of those in control.

Every human being has worth of some kind. Everyone has ideas and attitudes and unique perspectives. It is important that we use the social media to promote those real and true aspects of our lives and ourselves. That would truly be a beautiful thing. We don’t all think alike. We don’t all practice the same faith or like the same things. However, we all have valid points of view, and each of them is worthy of consideration by us all. Our voices and experiences together make up life on this planet. What we produce and feel is the spirit of the world, the "Geist" of the modern world. Let us reject being a cog in the machine and make our true thoughts and voices a part of the reality that shapes the future for us all.