The implications of being unsocial on social media platforms

Early research on social media supported some of the optimistic views about their positive impact on social capital and linked their use with the exposure to more diverse views and greater engagement with society. Still, more recently, scholars have started looking into "unsocial" behaviors on social media platforms, such as unfriending, unfollowing and muting, and examining their social capital implications. In this essay, we review the extant research on these selective avoidance and disconnection practices and advance the concept of "digital safe spaces" -online environments created via post-hoc filtering and curation of social ties- to further discuss their role in contemporary democratic societies. We find that digital safe spaces may provide fertile grounds for civic and political expression, particularly for minorities. However, the creation of these digital enclaves may also drive minorities further away from the political mainstream and may lead to the reduction economic and political opportunities for the citizens who are excluded from "safe spaces".