Santiago Giraldo: "The main challenge is to believe that personal data has no value"

24/07/2024

In this interview, Santiago Giraldo Luque, associate professor and coordinator of the Degree in Journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, shares his perspectives on the role of social networks in today’s society. Giraldo Luque, with a solid academic and research career, talks about his recent book, "Segrestats per les xarxes", where he explores the challenges faced by adolescents in the digital age, common myths about social networks and possible solutions to mitigate negative effects. With an experience that includes participation in numerous international projects and extensive academic production, Giraldo Luque provides a critical and informed vision of these relevant issues.

 

What was your inspiration behind the book "Segrested by the Nets"? What motivated you to investigate this issue?

 

The main motivation is that for about 10 years I began to analyze the social mobilization of citizens linked to social networks and I realized that in social networks there is not really a relevant discussion about what a social mobilization can have inside, but they are simple aspects very superficial linked to emotion. This made me begin to study social networks as a factor of political participation and I discovered that they had many problems. This grew increasingly and connected with what we saw in the classrooms: the absolute disconnection with what happened in the classroom, lower school performance and, obviously, it was evident that they were influencing the identity construction and the social relations of young people. Then, since 2018 we began to ask ourselves what was happening, why they did this and what was really their use of screens. We knew a lot about surveys, but we didn't know the reality and no one had the data, except the big platforms. We really wanted to see what they were doing, and we started researching slowly and we realized that the problem is much more serious than it seems.

 

As an expert in care economy, what do you think are the main challenges faced by adolescents in the digital age? How does this affect their health and well-being?

 

I would say that the main thing is to believe that your data is worthless. I think platforms do their job very well by making us believe that privacy and data are not important, and we check this because practically no student has put us any reluctance to capture their data to do the research. I am not saying that we use them badly, but that there has not even been a question of how we keep them. The low value we give to the main commodity of the 21st century economy is relevant and it is very important that young people, especially the smallest ones, are aware that the information they put on the net, all the data on their everyday behaviour, are extremely valuable. This information is used by other people to become millionaires and can be used for more perverse purposes. Being aware of this would be the main point to address the situation from the care economy.

 

In the book you also try to deny different myths about the use of social networks by young people. Which are the most common?

 

I believe that one of the important things is the time we use or the time we think we spend on the networks, when it is actually much larger. Although young people are now more aware of the time they spend there because most have time control applications, the problem is that, despite being a lot, they do not take any action to try to reduce it and it is increasing. So we can control it is a myth, that is little, it is a myth, that platforms have control of use is also a myth. Normally, on a scale of addictions, when the use of the screen is over 3 hours is considered problematic. But we don't diagnose the whole population as an addict, do we? However, there is a major problem.

Another myth is about socialization. I do not conceive of socialisation as superficial as that which occurs on social networks. When you interact with a content that interests you less than 3 seconds, you are really not paying attention to socialization or the person you interact with. Making a "like" is not a real feeling of humanity. Many people believe that it uses networks as a mechanism of socialization, but it has countered the potential of strong relationships, trust and friendship. Cases such as children who beat other children and record them, rapes that are being recorded, are now more frequent with social networks.

Other myths I deal with in the book include the idea that social networks are a model of the liberal economy, when they are actually monopolies built with terrible monopolistic practices, or that they are good for health, which is not true. They cause problems in young people, especially in children, and that is also a myth.

 

What measures do you think should be implemented to combat this inappropriate and abusive use of social networks by journalism students and future students?

 

I think there are three parts. The first is institutional regulation, the second is what users can do and the third is parents. In the case of university students, parents should no longer do the work they have not done previously. Young adults should take responsibility, especially if they are journalists. With regard to the institutional part, I sincerely believe that, just as alcohol and tobacco are prohibited for children under 18, if it is proven that the use of social networks is problematic, as has been demonstrated in the last 5 years with an increase in diagnosis and suicide, the use of social networks for minors should be banned. Recent law does not address the control of platforms, but rather focuses on parents and schools. I think it has been shown that the mechanisms for the operation of platforms are addictive and more attention should be paid to this.

In the case of young journalists, the basic question is: what do they want to be when they are old? Do they want to produce content for a social network where they will not pay them, where they can have fame if they are the 1% that achieves fame, where disinformation, pornography, reggaeton, etc. are mixed, or do they prefer to maintain an adequate channel of information, where their work is recognized and rewarded? I think we have made a mistake in pouring all the content free of charge on the networks because they do not value the work that is done. We have to compete against all the information waste there is. Just as health has suitable spaces for medicine, democratic life depends on good information. As journalists, we have to rescue our work.

 

Where can those people who are interested in reading the book "Segrested by the networks" find the book?

 

The book can be found on the Internet and in any bookshop in Spain.