What is your view on the harmony between SNS, which has become a part of people's lives, and the real world?
Toshinao Sasaki (hereinafter Sasaki): The release of Windows 95 was the trigger for the culture of making homepages and the birth of "2channel" in the 2000s, but before that, the Internet and the real world were not linked at all. At that time, a trend spread among the first generation of digital natives, the Ice Age Generation, that the Internet was a free land, that they could do whatever they wanted and would not be criticized by society. The Internet was used with the understanding that it was a "closed paradise."
The trigger that brought the Internet into the social spotlight was the "Kato Rebellion*1" by the late Liberal Democratic Party member Koichi Kato. Kato was active from the early days of the Internet, setting up his own website, and garnered support online during the movement to overthrow the government, known as the "Kato Rebellion."
However, when he actually started the "Kato Rebellion," he was unable to garner support in the real world, and it ended up being the event that ended Kato's political career. At that time, a trend was born in which people thought that "online speech doesn't have much impact."
The trigger that changed this was the boom in blogs that began around 2003. As IT companies began to provide blog services to the general public, people with specialized knowledge, such as lawyers and journalists, began to freely post their opinions. This situation created a trend in which "online posts can't be made fun of."
A typical example of this is the "Livedoor Incident*2." Newspapers and television reported on various things surrounding the Livedoor incident, but at that time, lawyers and others began to use their specialized knowledge to deny various reports. I think this was the first incident that had a very strong impact on society.
After that, the blog boom passed, and in the 2010s, mixi, today's X, and Facebook became explosively popular, and expert knowledge began to be shared widely. From this point on, the conflict between media and the Internet has become even clearer.
In that sense, does this mean that the Internet is swallowing up the real world?
Sasaki: I think so. Another thing I can add is that the Internet was originally the center of otaku culture, a playground, so to speak. However, with the explosive spread of social media, non-otaku and ordinary people have started to infiltrate the Internet. This has changed the nature of the Internet, which was originally a playground.
Speaking of otaku culture, anime and manga have also become commonplace now. In the past, this was hard to imagine, but now, as international and national culture, they are no longer seen as something "for otaku." At the same time, you could say that Internet culture itself has become commonplace.
However, this commonplace Internet does not necessarily mean that it is connected to the real world. This is because there is a structural difference between the real world and the Internet society.
What are the structural differences specifically?
Sasaki: For example, there was the "Baka-tatter incident" a few years ago, right? It is the act of taking pictures of actions that are considered unreasonable and uploading them to social media. I think that this is also an interesting phenomenon when you look at the background, as many of the users who posted what are called Baka-tatters did not have many followers, and their posts were mainly viewed by their friends. However, unless the account is locked, information is sent out in an open state, so if someone other than a friend happens to find the post and spread it, malicious behavior will spread throughout the world.
What this shows is that while private and public spaces are supposed to be separated, the gap between them has become ambiguous on the Internet, making it difficult to recognize.
This can be said in all situations, for example, there is the "echo chamber phenomenon," where information about values and ways of thinking similar to your own is gathered, and by only seeing the same information that is shared among friends, you are under the illusion that the whole world thinks the same way. Therefore, I think that we often see people's statements gradually becoming more extreme.
However, I think this is a phenomenon that does not exist in the real world. In real life, we have the self-restraint to say, "It's okay to say this much, but I'd better stop from saying anything more," but when we enter the world of the Internet, that sense becomes dull and we end up saying things that we wouldn't say in everyday life. I think this is a manifestation of the problem of the blurring of the boundaries between private and public.
There are probably other reasons why information becomes biased.
Sasaki: Another issue with SNS, and how it differs from the real world, is that "what you see varies depending on where you look." I've always thought of the Internet as a city, and while there are beautiful parks and impressive buildings, there are also garbage dumps and dark places.
For example, when you go on a trip and decide to walk around a city, you don't go out of your way to see a garbage dump and get angry because it's dirty. However, there are a certain number of people in the online world who only see such places and get angry. This is because they only see the dilapidated parts of the city.
The nature of the Internet and media is also different, and I think the difference is specifically between "decentralization" and "concentration." In newspapers and television, there are set frames for what can be published. You have no choice but to collect information within the set frame.
It is also said that the media has an "agenda setting function." For example, if NHK reports a piece of news as top news, it has the power to show that the news is important. On the other hand, the Internet is simply distributed, and if the information does not reach the user, the perception cannot be shared. That is why the view differs depending on where you look.
When it comes to issues related to SNS, I think the impact on the mind and body is getting bigger every year.
Sasaki: However, I think it is difficult to live without the Internet and SNS, so I think we have no choice but to coexist and use them well.
For example, military technology developed from the end of the 19th century, but humanity was unable to use military weapons well, and as a result, two world wars broke out. In response to this, in the second half of the 20th century, we tried hard to control it by disarmament and preparing treaties to limit the use of weapons.
In fact, the Internet is just as violent as this, and humans have not yet mastered it. However, it has only been 20 to 30 years since the Internet was introduced, and it has been less than 20 years since SNS became widespread. It is difficult to master it in such a short period of time, so I think we need to keep a long-term eye on it.
*1: An internal conflict that occurred within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in November 2000. Young LDP leadership candidates Kato Koichi and Yamazaki Taku lobbied to topple the Mori Cabinet, but failed.
*2: In 2006, Livedoor Inc., whose representative director was Horie Takafumi, known as Horiemon, was indicted for publishing false information in its 2004 securities report.
"Power is always evil," "The common sense of the people is always right," "The weak should be protected," "Artificial things are dangerous," "Natural origins are best"... Outdated values that continue to linger in Japanese society. A cutting-edge essay that dismantles the "myths" that run counter to the evolution of cutting-edge technology and serves as a guidepost for thinking about the future.
◉Toshinao Sasaki
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1961. Dropped out of Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics. After working as a reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun and the editorial department of Monthly ASCII, he is now a freelance journalist. He has written many books, including "The Age of Curation" (Chikuma Shinsho), "The Layered World" (NHK Publishing Shinsho), "Homemade Meals Are the Best Treats" (Magazine House), and "And Life Becomes a Community" (Anonymous Studio).
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