Hot Take: Future Sociology Won’t Know What To Do With Social Media

How do you think we will study social media in the future? Will we look back on everyone’s personal accounts, analyze them for trends, and map out each and every way our lives have been changed by the monolith that is social media? Probably not. We may be able to keep track of what trends bled over into the press or specific posts that broke records for engagement (think the Ellen Oscars selfie). But I would argue that if we could record, track, and analyze the vast amount of information circling around each corner of the internet, we’d find fascinating and potentially useful data for the world of sociology and anthropology.

From the beginning, I recognized that TikTok was quickly becoming the place where we establish and learn current social norms. And now I can’t unsee it. Whenever a “2024 Ins and Outs” comes up on my feed, I watch and listen closely, not always realizing how much it informs the current status quo. These lists are particularly fascinating because they’re rather easy to record and analyze, and you can see patterns of what the general consciousness agrees we should do or not do. There are many commonalities — like everyone wanting to drink less, spend more quality time with friends, etc. Then, there are some areas of contention where there’s not one major train of thought.