Will Self on How Social Media Plays to "Romantic Yearnings"

by Joanne McNeil,
Social media represent the sexual arm of the internet. They are replete with an idea that is implicit in romanticism and romantic thinking, which is that there are a myriad of possible encounters out there, of which one is optimal: one is mandated for all space and all time. And in a way the social media plays to people’s yearnings on a very strong level, and it animates them to continually re-engage with it on a rather licentious promise but with a rather romantic payoff. And I think that’s why it has such an insidious and overpowering impact, particularly on young people’s minds. - Will Self via Stowe Boyd & Felix Salmon