Social media fuels rise in ‘work-image’ issues
A general rule in forecasting says that regulation follows innovation.
Outside of medicine, we are first exposed to innovations in a very pure and direct way. Only after the side-effects become abundantly clear do governments slowly introduce regulations. This order is ideal since we don’t want to over-regulate too early and hinder innovation.
After observing the effects of an innovation for long enough, the negative impacts become clear, and we try to regulate these problems away.
AirBnb for example was founded in 2007 (and introduced in 2012 in Australia), and it made any private dwelling or spare room in a private dwelling a hotel room. This innovation created new income earning opportunities for some, injected more tourism into some areas, and forced hotels to step up their game.
AirBnb also pushed properties from the long-term rental market, turned whole suburbs into AirBnb deserts (Athens and Barcelona being the most famous examples), and made urban planning incredibly difficult.
Around the world, AirBnb is now starting to be heavily regulated.
The exact outcomes are open, but the intention clearly is to regulate away the negative side-effects. AirBnb tries to influence the looming regulations by pushing out policy suggestions themselves and sponsoring local government events. The same narrative rings true for Uber but our main focus today shall be on social media.
Social media has only been around for about two decades and its impacts weren’t clear immediately. Intellectual property rights, interpersonal........
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