In his research, he has highlighted the power of social approval. But Coye Cheshire, a professor of information sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies how we interact online, thinks there might be something more complex at play. Part of our increasing looseness with what we post on the Web has to do with the realization that one raunchy photo is just a single data point among hundreds. “We see this all the time on social media in protests, and the same is true for graffiti. “The fact that the world is going to see you increases the risks you are willing to take,” she said. But Zeynep Tufekci, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says the vast amplification of the potential audience a single person can reach has raised the stakes for all online activity. People, of course, have always found ways to manipulate media - whether print, television or digital - to get attention. We are, in other words, one another’s virtual enablers. Our growing collective compulsion to document our lives and share them online, combined with the instant gratification that comes from seeing something you are doing or experiencing get near-immediate approval from your online peers, could be giving us more reason to act out online, for better or for worse. It is one way to understand why people upload things that make us gasp, from my friend’s playful bare-all portrait to more sinister, illegal activities, like the defacing of parks and monuments with graffiti and other acts of outright vandalism. It works whether or not we post the typical social media fodder of lush vacation pictures and engagement announcements or venture into realms that showcase our most daredevilish antics and risqué behavior. All those retweets, likes and favorites give us a little jolt, a little boost that pushes us to keep coming back for more. That feedback loop of positive reinforcement is the most addictive element of social media. It had dozens of likes as well as some encouraging comments. It was scandalous, arguably over the top for a photo posted in public where, in theory, anyone who wanted would be able to see it. Sandwiched between images of sunny afternoon outings and boozy brunches was a photo of my friend in a hotel room, wearing lime green thong underwear and very little else. A FEW weeks ago I was skimming through my Instagram feed when my mouth dropped open.
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