In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, greater social mobility unleashed a new found freedom of self expression. Predetermined social roles of class, gender, religion and ethenicity declined in importance. The identity formation mechanism of sincerity was replaced by authenticity. But many people are reverting back to a mechanism of identity formation that resembles sincerity. This is called profelicity - like sincerity, it's directed and reliant on an audience.
“WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT?” These were the first words sent over the newly invented electric telegraph machine in May 1844. This message proved to be prophetic. For the communication technologies that followed in the wake of the telegraph, from the telephone, to the radio, to TV, computers, the internet, and now smart phones and social […]
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Social Media – Why it Sickens the Self and Divides Society first appeared on
Academy of Ideas.