I implore anyone with a basic understanding of Girard's mimetic desire and having an interest in technology and culture wars to read this masterful essay on mimesis, violence and Facebook.
thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/20…
thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/20…
1/ Mimetic desire: we desire objects because others desire them. 
2/ Desire is more related to the subject being mimicked rather than the object of desire.
Our desires are mediated by a subject who we consider a model.
Our desires are mediated by a subject who we consider a model.
3/ Social media doesn't alter the structure of social relations it merely makes some of them salient.
Social media amplifies mimetic desire; the richest, prettiest, smartest, XYZ-est people are known to everyone.
Social media amplifies mimetic desire; the richest, prettiest, smartest, XYZ-est people are known to everyone.
4/ Due to escalation of mimetic desire, rivals are created and violence arises.
Girard offered Scapegoating as the way to release this tension.
All sacrifice and religion arises from this.
Girard offered Scapegoating as the way to release this tension.
All sacrifice and religion arises from this.
5/ Modern world abhors violence.
However, he argues, the modern era is characterized by a discrediting of the scapegoat mechanism, and therefore of sacrificial ritual, which creates a perennial problem of how to contain violence.
How do we redirect this mimetic violence?
However, he argues, the modern era is characterized by a discrediting of the scapegoat mechanism, and therefore of sacrificial ritual, which creates a perennial problem of how to contain violence.
How do we redirect this mimetic violence?
6/ Social media is the new conduit for channelizing mimetic violence.
7/ It suggests that abuse, harassment, and bullying – the various forms of scapegoating that have become depressing constants of online behavior – are features, not bugs: the platforms’ basic social architecture, by concentrating mimetic behavior.
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