An essay on the emerging political economy and the future of the social media

Abstract

This paper discusses the issue of social media within the context of the existing and emerging political-economic philosophies; arguing that although technological revolutions facilitate the emergence of new political-economic philosophies, it is these philosophies that determine the direction and deployment of these technologies. It is further argued that all indications point to the emergence of the inverted totalitarianism in the West, where free communication is seen as a real threat. The traditional totalitarian states already control the social media by controlling access to the internet, so for them, social media is another, and a slightly more challenging problem. The future of social media, it is argued, is highly uncertain and if both the online communities and civil societies are not careful and do not act in concert to inform and educate the public; there is a great chance that the social media will become another tool for control, propaganda and surveillance of the citizenry.