Is social media tearing society apart?

[bat soup]

This guy helped to create Facebook. Now he says that he never uses it and he thinks that it's destroying society.

I personally have pretty much completely stopped using Fakebook. I don't post there anymore and I don't look at stories. But I think that there are other apps like Instagram that potentially even worse.

 

[bat soup]

1:24 "How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible? And that means that we need to give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while".

 

[Dust 2 Dust]

Yes, it is. The endgame of social media is civil war.

 

[Poonstra]

It for sure ain't helping humanity forward.

 

[bat soup]

Yes, it is. The endgame of social media is civil war.

In the UK we're close to that already, with the whole Brexit saga and the effects on Scotland and Northern Ireland. Probably the UK won't even exist for much longer. It is known that politicians use data from Facebook and other tech companies to precisely target who they need to convince and to figure out which arguments they will respond to.

And in the USA it came pretty close, with the Congress being stormed by a mob stirred up online. We've seen revolutions and wars all over the world that were initially called "Facebook revolutions". That turned out nicely, didn't it, with ISIS controlling half of Syria and Iraq.

Politicians have always been manipulative, but the point is that now they have a new tool. It's a tool not just for advertising but for controlling people's minds and warping their perceptions. It's also extremely addictive, creates depression and anxiety, damages productivity and leads to suicide...

One thing that interests me particularly is the rise of all of these hashtag groups like BLM, MeToo etc. You have people taking extreme positions on both sides of any particular issue and then starting to hate and wanting to destroy anyone that doesn't agree with them.

 

[Guy69JackBlue]

In the UK we're close to that already, with the whole Brexit saga and the effects on Scotland and Northern Ireland. Probably the UK won't even exist for much longer. It is known that politicians use data from Facebook and other tech companies to precisely target who they need to convince and to figure out which arguments they will respond to.

And in the USA it came pretty close, with the Congress being stormed by a mob stirred up online. We've seen revolutions and wars all over the world that were initially called "Facebook revolutions". That turned out nicely, didn't it, with ISIS controlling half of Syria and Iraq.

Politicians have always been manipulative, but the point is that now they have a new tool. It's a tool not just for advertising but for controlling people's minds and warping their perceptions. It's also extremely addictive, creates depression and anxiety, damages productivity and leads to suicide...

One thing that interests me particularly is the rise of all of these hashtag groups like BLM, MeToo etc. You have people taking extreme positions on both sides of any particular issue and then starting to hate and wanting to destroy anyone that doesn't agree with them.

I find it funny that the Taliban has a Twitter account.

I heard about by reading a news story.

 

[Modern Man Advice]

It for sure ain't helping humanity forward.

This. While it has the potential, that is not the reality...

Modern Man Advice

 

[BackInTheGame78]

No, the way people use it is the problem. Never confuse improper use of something with the actual thing being the problem.

Example...people can OD on prescription medication and die. Is that the drugs problem? No...if used properly, it is helpful and necessary. It is the people's use of if in a negative way that is the problem.

Social media gives you a lot more choices to make. A lot of people have trouble making good choices in their life so when confronted with many more choices on a daily basis to make, they tend to make a lot of poor ones.

 

[Bigpapa]

This. While it has the potential, that is not the reality...

Modern Man Advice

also the point of internet was to make information more accessible and easily digested . I think that the reality is far away from the intention

 

[Mike32ct]

It was ok when people were using SM to catch up with old classmates or post pictures of say travel or cooking.

But once people started using it for debates and rants on political issues, then the wheels came off.

 

[RangerMIke]

Social media is changing society, not destroying it. Technology always changes society, the railroad, radio, telephone, TV, internet, cars, planes. Just the way things are.

 

[bat soup]

It was ok when people were using SM to catch up with old classmates or posting pictures of say travel or cooking.

But once people started using it for debates and rants on political issues, then the wheels came off.

It started out so innocently. Facebook at first was for sharing photo albums.

I think the "likes" feature is where the trouble started.

 

[bat soup]

Social media is changing society, not destroying it. Technology always changes society, the railroad, radio, telephone, TV, internet, cars, planes. Just the way things are.

It creates connections where their were none before. In a way it bypasses society, makes it obselete and creates a new one.

 

[Mike32ct]

Social media is changing society, not destroying it. Technology always changes society, the railroad, radio, telephone, TV, internet, cars, planes. Just the way things are.

Understood. But the railroad was (and still is) a necessity to move large/heavy goods.

Is SM a necessity?

 

[In2theGame]

The seed of it all was when America Online started in the 1990's. Now it's used for so much bullsh!t, there's too much mental overload. From spying on ex BF/GF, finding out what all your "friends" are doing, pushing propaganda from large companies, showing the world that you're an exclusive trip, etc. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Especially when it comes to the modern dating market.

 

[Guy69JackBlue]

Understood. But the railroad was (and still is) a necessity to move large/heavy goods.

Is SM a necessity?

Instant communication is a necessity.

 

[Kotaix]

Social Media in and of itself isn't the problem. The problem is that the social media platforms are now under the de facto control of a cult of deranged authoritarian morons who think censorship and lying are acceptable. Add to that that social media has been allowed to become a monopoly and you have the current nightmare scenario.

Society is actually being torn apart by a bunch of do-gooder useful idiots who are more interested in their own egos and virtue-signalling than they are in representing any kind of truth.

 

[Billtx49]

Social media is changing society, not destroying it. Technology always changes society, the railroad, radio, telephone, TV, internet, cars, planes. Just the way things are.

Definitely. Big changes have big societal effects, and a major change takes time to be accepted and become the norm of a society.
i.e., individuals within that society have to adapt to their new reality.

Until that time arrives the details will be somewhat scrambled compared to how they were beforehand…

 

[BadBoy89]

The problem with social media is it exposes human vulnerabilities. Everyone wants attention, to be loved, to be noticed, to be talked about. It’s almost a basic human need. People think they can get this from social media, but they can’t. It’s empty and it’s unfulfilling, they think are *connecting* with others when they are not.

Yet it’s not so much social media per se, it’s 2 things that are destroying society.

a) When (young, hot, fertile) women are given educational, financial, legal, and sexual Power.
b) When society, courts, public opinion, movies. music, tv, internet, magazines, and advertising always back (young, hot, fertile) women in all cases

The whole system revolves around these women, and when you give these women power, a man’s ability to *connect* with them is mostly based on his genetic appeal. Then when they are older, his ability to *connect* with them is based on his usefulness / financial appeal.

Its a recipe for disaster.

 

[JayAce]

The problem with social media is it exposes human vulnerabilities. Everyone wants attention, to be loved, to be noticed, to be talked about. It’s almost a basic human need. People think they can get this from social media, but they can’t. It’s empty and it’s unfulfilling, they think are *connecting* with others when they are not.

perfectly said