The capitalist market economy is investing in generating suspicion and addiction through the social network that seems to be a profitable business of human emotion
Slavoj Žižekin in a film argues that “in postmodern society, we are obliged to enjoy. Enjoyment becomes a kind of wired perverted duty.” These lines point to the existence of new means of profit in human emotions invented by the prevailing capitalist economic structure. Capitalism in its course has developed more effective and violent means of controlling human emotions through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and many more. It is pertinent to any individual attempting to understand contemporary times to know how social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, have fashioned and internalised new rules of enjoyment.
It is relevant to ask ourselves a few questions: Do these new mediums of expression actually address the question of human liberation or simply re-structure our very understanding of liberation?
The systematic deployment of new rules of morality or immorality, good or evil, and right and wrong has given enough reason to its user to believe that the discovery of Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp has been a great source of entertainment and symbol of a blissful life. It seems as if these social networks of entertainment have empowered them by providing absolute charge to its user on control of its handling that seems to be a spectacular phenomenon. Though the user has a monopoly on the use of social network account in the sense that they can write and post whatever they feel, these domains have also constrained or more importantly violated individuals in several manners.
The social networks have encroached into the personal domain of an individual’s secrecy as WhatsApp and Facebook give its user an option to know whether a person is online or when s/he was last seen. This created a new addiction among its user for its use to judge the action, reaction, trust and loyalty of others.
Behind the screen, one plays the role of a detective to watch over the behaviour of their loved ones. It created a kind of suspicion which resulted in animosity and secret revenge that oblige its user to use it not for the communicative purpose but as a mean of surveillance. They start playing the role of a watchman carefully watching the suspicious activities of a concerned person on these platforms.
The complex system of these social networks designed its feature in such a way that suspicion gets internalised as a factor that dominates the activities of its users. It is important to know that suspicion and addiction go hand-in-hand. The capitalist market economy is investing in producing suspicion and addiction through the social network that seems to be a profitable business of human emotion.
Another hidden rule that needs critical reflection is how social networks have imposed new understanding of enjoyment. It means we have reached a stage where we have confirmed certain ways of enjoyment which define whether we are enjoying or not. If one is not part of the confirmed scheme of enjoyment, s/he is not performing his moral duty. Scientifically and psychologically, sense of enjoyment is associated with the mood of an individual. It is interesting to note that enjoyment becomes kind of a burden because mood does not have an independent identity. It has to function in relation with the social factors eg morality, good, bad and evil.
If we study history carefully then we will find that the process of defining, inventing and forming morality, good and evil, is undemocratic because few were assigned this task. If it is so, how can something that comes out of an undemocratic process be democratic?
But it does happen because all those who are not given a share in defining enjoyment are made to believe that the list of enjoyment keeps a good care of all and it is in common interest. The maker and the giver of enjoyment ask the taker of enjoyment not for their opinion but their conformity and through their conformity, they make enjoyment as a part of their duty and not of their right.
The sense of enjoyment shifts from the self to the others. Here, I mean we need others to make ourselves believe that we are happy. In post-modern society, we have become the seller of enjoyment. The interesting psychological fact about the seller is that s/he never consumes or relishes little of what he/she produces or sells. It is because of the burden or duty of selling that we compromise our basic and natural instinct of enjoyment.
Friedrich Nietzsche, in his work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, argued that “ever since there have been humans, the human being has enjoyed himself too little: that alone, my friend is our original sin.” I think that this statement is relevant to the present context of post-modern society. Now the question arises: Where do we sell or buy our enjoyment? Today, we have created several means or networks where we can buy and sell enjoyment eg Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Whatsapp.
It is interesting to note that we are no longer free to enjoy but we are forced or obliged to enjoy. We check our Facebook and Twitter account to get some enjoyment. The desire of enjoyment is very natural to us and there is nothing wrong to have it. But my problem is with the pretence of enjoyment.
The moment we open our Facebook account, we become subject to certain rules which put limitations on the self-mastery or individuality of enjoyment. For example, sometimes we like those photos or posts of friends that we do not want to like but have to like because we also want to get our posts and photos liked. Therefore, we create a market for those products which give us a sense of enjoyment.
It is because of a discourse that Facebook is always treated as an instrument of spreading happiness. But with a closer psychological analysis we will find that it is at the same time an instrument of spreading jealousy, enmity, and unhappiness. The problem with this new market and its product of enjoyment is that it tells us how we can make ourselves happy, and not how we can make ourselves worthy of happiness.
The need of the hour is to examine the unexamined rules of enjoyment, to challenge the producers of enjoyment discourse who have played an authoritarian role in giving meaning to our emotions without our consent. We need to preserve and protect the individuality of enjoyment to make it worthy.
(The writer is Assistant Professor at Department of Political Science, Bhagini Nivedita College, University of Delhi)
