Who Is Thinking for You?

I think throughout this blog I've reflected a lot on how social media has affected me as a creator and the psychological impact it has had on me over the past 4 years.

In this post specifically, I want to reflect on what the digital platforms we use every day are doing to society as a whole, both to the people consuming content and the people creating it.

To me, the biggest danger facing modern society, something that has quietly become part of our social fabric across almost every connected country, is the "algorithm".

If you don't know what an algorithm is or how it works, let me simplify it in two sentences.

An algorithm is a system designed to constantly feed your emotions. It either makes you angry, makes you happy, gives you exactly what you want to hear, or throws ideas completely opposite to your beliefs at you. It does all of this almost randomly for one reason only, to keep you using the platform for as long as possible so your attention can be sold to advertisers. Those advertisers then spend even more money trying to shape your behavior so you keep buying from them.

That is the simplest explanation of what the algorithm really is.

You're looking at organizations whose primary interest is extracting the two most valuable resources you own, your attention and your money. They will do almost anything to get them. Companies spend billions of dollars trying to discover the next psychological trick that keeps people engaged for just a little longer.

Now imagine who rises to the top in that environment.

Anyone who is psychologically unstable gets a microphone if they can provoke you.

Anyone who has read two books and knows how to speak confidently gets rewarded for convincing you that you need information you never actually needed.

Anyone who possesses traits you find attractive gets pushed into your feed.

Basically, anything you naturally gravitate toward becomes something the algorithm can use to keep you hooked.

Now imagine someone spending more than 6 hours every single day surrounded by that environment.

What happens to them after two, three, or five years?

How does their mind change?

How does their psychology change?

How do their beliefs evolve?

You meet perfectly intelligent people who passionately defend ideas that aren't even their own. They end up looking at the world through a distorted lens that has very little connection to reality. Even the biggest decisions they make in life end up being influenced by someone else's story, someone else's Reel, or someone else's TikTok video.

When you stop and think about it, it's genuinely strange.

That's before we even talk about the traumas and insecurities these algorithms constantly reinforce until they eventually become a social epidemic.

I'll give you one simple example.

Look at the constant online war between men and women.

Why does it exist?

Because everyone is defending beliefs that they never truly examined.

Very few people ever sit down and ask themselves simple questions.

What is a woman?

What is a man?

What role was a man created to fulfill?

What role was a woman created to fulfill?

What does a healthy relationship between the two actually look like?

Where did I even get my understanding of these ideas in the first place?

What ideology shaped the way I think?

These are basic questions every person should ask before adopting any worldview. At the very least, you should know where your beliefs came from and why you hold them.

Today you'll find young men with an entire worldview about what the ideal wife should be, but almost none of it comes from genuine conviction. It's simply software installed by the digital world through endless exposure to certain standards.

You'll hear things like a wife should have a full time job to help financially, yet somehow she should also come home to a spotless house with dinner already waiting, as if they both didn't leave for work at the same time.

Then you'll find women with equally distorted expectations of what a man should be.

To them, a real man exists only to satisfy every emotional need, never disagree, never establish boundaries, and dedicate his entire existence to making her happy. Anything less and he isn't considered a man.

Heck, even this blog where I'm sharing my own thoughts and reflections would probably be considered weak by those standards. Apparently a real man is supposed to be emotionally dead inside.

According to that definition, I wouldn't even qualify as a man.

The funny thing is that history's greatest men left behind books filled with personal struggles and deep reflections.

Think about Imam Al Ghazali and Al Munqidh min al Dalal, or Ibn al Jawzi and Sayd al Khatir, along with countless other great scholars and thinkers.

I doubt history has produced stronger men than them.

I used myself as an example because this is exactly how the problem spreads.

The standards created by the digital world slowly become the standards both men and women judge themselves by.

A young man sees everyone saying this is what masculinity looks like, so he blindly imitates it.

A young woman sees everyone praising a certain type of man, so she begins chasing those same standards.

Both sides end up trapped by ideas that were manufactured for them.

If I had allowed those ideas to define what being a man means, you probably wouldn't be reading this blog today.

I probably never would have read timeless books like Tawq al Hamamah by Imam Ibn Hazm either.

And this is only one example of the digital world's influence on society.

There are countless others.

It shapes how you see yourself.

It shapes what goals you pursue.

It shapes your definition of success.

It shapes your understanding of peace.

It shapes your understanding of happiness.

So many of life's most important concepts have gradually become distorted because of algorithms and the agendas behind them.

So what's the solution?

From my own experience, if you've fallen into this trap, the answer is Tazkiyat al Nafs.

I spoke about it in my Ramadan post.

Tazkiyat al Nafs is the very thing Allah subhannah wataala swears by most extensively in the Qur'an. The longest sequence of oaths in the Qur'an, found in Surah Ash Shams, leads to the human soul.

وَٱلشَّمۡسِ وَضُحَىٰهَا (1) وَٱلۡقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَىٰهَا (2) وَٱلنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّىٰهَا (3) وَٱلَّيۡلِ إِذَا يَغۡشَىٰهَا (4) وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا بَنَىٰهَا (5) وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَمَا طَحَىٰهَا (6) وَنَفۡسٖ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا (7) فَأَلۡهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقۡوَىٰهَا (8) قَدۡ أَفۡلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا (9) وَقَدۡ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا

If you truly want to purify your soul and return it to its natural state, reflect deeply on these verses. Learn their meanings and understand the methodology of Tazkiyah.

And honestly, if you're Muslim, one of the best things you can do is study how Sidna Mohammed (pbuh) lived his life.

How did he define success?

How did he view men?

How did he view women?

How did he approach work?

How did he balance worldly responsibilities with social responsibilities?

How did he understand every aspect of life?

Because he is the best of creation.

May Allah guide us toward what is good and protect us from the evil within His creation.