English Language & Usage Asked by IntrepidPig on January 14, 2021
The context of this question is social media. In light of the various unfortunate events that often seem to stem from internet echo chambers, I’ve been thinking of ways to mitigate the tendency of social media to create echo chambers.
Social media sites usually allow you to “subscribe” or “follow” someone whose activity you’re interested in. However, both of these words have connotations that imply you agree with the opinions of this person. However, following a Twitter account is very different from following the teachings of Jesus. Subscribing to a YouTube channel does not mean you also subscribe to their school of thought. The use of these words on social media sites makes it unlikely for most people to “follow” or “subscribe” to anything they might disagree with, stimulating the creation of echo chambers.
In the interest of making the world a better place, I believe that we should promote thoughtful disagreement at least as much as we do mindless agreement. As a step towards that, something needs to replace the traditional concept of subscription on the internet. What word could be used to replace “follow” or “subscribe” on a social media site that doesn’t have implications of agreement?
The options that are most viable to me right now are “listen,” “observe,” and “monitor.” However, “observe” also has connotations of agreement, although maybe less so than the ones in place now. “Monitor,” on the other hand, has an almost negative or overly cautious tone. “Listen” seems like it’s in a good place, but for the sake of thoroughness, I’m submitting this word request here. The word should be a good fit for a social media site, and a verb will probably work the best, but it’s not impossible for it to be a noun or other part of speech. For example, instead of “following” a user, you could add the user to a list of “<insert noun here>s”
What about 'spectate'? There could be a hint of the "I'm just here for the fireworks" about it, but there aren't many truly neutral alternatives. Or 'track'?
Answered by J. Michaelson on January 14, 2021
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