Using Facebook For Creativity Instead of Envy

creative-tree

My problem with Facebook is simple: it causes depression by emphasizing consumption and envy rather than creativity and happiness.

Gamifying creativity

What Facebook needs to encourage and incentivize is positivity through creation and kindness. They need to get their users to make things.

Customized postcards. Little songs or beats. Photography. Drawings. Paintings. Etc.

And all these things are linked to marketplaces where people can vote on, purchase, and use the various ideas into additional creations.

People become known for creating good EDM beats. Or drawing quirky sketches of couples that capture something real about them. Or writing short poems that cut to the center of our lives.

And now, instead of signing in to see how shitty your life is compared to everyone else’s, you sign in to see what others think about the things you’ve created. You sign in to read comments from people who were enriched by your creations.

Facebook is a shipping infrastructure for feelings, and it is unfortunately tooled right now for envy and regret. Let’s use its power to transport something far more positive; let’s use it to encourage, harvest, and share the dormant creativity within all of us.

This is the only thing that will ultimately save Facebook. They need to find a way to make it a happy place to visit instead of a sad one.

Notes

  1. Image from BALL media group.

Related posts: