From community to consumerism: What is social media for?

At its inception, social media brought us closer together. It enabled us to communicate with people on the other side of the world; to reunite with friends and loved ones with whom we may have lost contact; and to expand our horizons and communicate with others outside of our usual worlds. It created a sense of community and understanding.

Now, however, it increasingly divides us. The algorithms increasingly push rage bait, and the rise of the influencer has meant that platforms have become more about consumerism than community. Social media is contributing to the polarisation that is plaguing our politics; keyboard warriors and the influx of bots have increasingly valued arguments and disagreement – at any cost – over fact-based debate and open-minded disagreement.

Ava Santina, Political Editor at PoliticsJOE, and Kirsty McNeill MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Scotland Office), come together to explore what’s at stake and what we can do about it as users, and consumers, of social media.

Event Schedule

6:00pm: Pre-event socialising and networking
A cash bar will be available for refreshments.

6:30pm: Event begins

7:30pm: Event ends

Speakers

Ava Santina is Political Editor at PoliticsJOE. Ava covers Westminster politics and appears regularly as a commentator on programmes across BBC, Sky News and ITV. Before joining PoliticsJOE, she spent several years at LBC, where she was lead producer on James O’Brien’s programme.​

Kirsty McNeill MP is the Scottish Labour and Co-operative MP for Midlothian and serves as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland. Before entering Parliament, she was an Executive Director at Save the Children UK, one of the world’s largest children’s charities. Between 2007 and 2011 she worked as an adviser to Gordon Brown.