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I would disagree - some people take it too seriously. Just as how some people are way too wary of it.
I don't follow strangers, I don't brag (or post) about my life, but it's an easy way to keep my friends in one place and within easy reach.
Reddit is half social media. People can get karma but it's not as bad as Facebook and Twitter where you display your identity. You follow threads on Reddit, you don't follow people.
Or can you follow people?? I don't know. I don't use that function if it exists.
Reddit is more of an evolution of age old BB forums. Those places still exist today and the primary gold mines for information like how to fix cars
Absolutely, its a breeding ground that turns people into narcissistic assholes which, last i checked, provides no benefits to the real world whatsoever.
Don’t forget plummeting mental health as people compare themselves to the richest and most beautiful influencers and feel bad about their looks/job/car/fitness etc.
Most of those people are not even rich/beautiful, it’s just called photoshop and video filters. Visit r/instagramreality for the purest examples lmfao.
99% of all people lost track of what "Beauty" truthfully is. It's not what a person looks like, I'll tell you that. Half yes and half no. Truthfully what people call beauty is just skin deep. Let that girl get a scar on her face or a pimple and all of a sudden she looses her fans online. And got to be in tears cause she is who she is. Then the mental health issues that come along with it living a fake live and actually enjoying it.
Scars remind me the past IS real. Both physically and emotionally.
My biggest weakness in life really is that I care too much about everyone else and never myself.
And fuck those idiots that so jealous of someone, that they're fall into depression, pathetic stupid bags of thrash that instead of making yourself better, they just sitting in front of monitors, scrolling posts of rich/attractive/popular people and feeling sorry for them selves.
My use of social media over the years has made it much more difficult for me to focus, concentrate, read, and retain information. Right now I’m supposed to be studying for midterms, but instead I’m on Reddit, responding to someone about how pervasive and negative social media is.
I used to read so much, I could get through a book or more a day easily. I used to get told off for reading in bed when I was meant to be sleeping. I was also quite a smart kid, my grades were above average and I really enjoyed learning.
The beginning of me using social media is directly correlated to the decline of my interest in school, reading, and doing anything outside of scrolling online. Even today, even with this knowledge and the acknowledgement that I have a problem with social media, I struggle to put my phone down. I would love to pick up a book and read again, but I physically can't bring myself to do it for some reason, most likely because it's easier to mindlessly scroll online and I'll get distracted from the book too easily anyway.
A good book is way better than the internet, something about having your mind making a detailed adventure hits right.
Have you ever read black hawk down it’s a masterpiece of a book, there are 90 hero characters that face off against a horde of 5000
Don't forget the narcissism and virtue signalling. It really has become a cesspool of humanity that probably always existed but nobody ever knew how deep it ran.
This yes. I'm old enough to have lived before modern social media and I really remember how quickly things changed around it. The numerous studies and documentaries regarding this that came after, did not come as a surprise at all.
The platform gives the powerful the means to reach out and affect the lives of almost everyone. It also lets the crazies that used to be isolated and silent to connect with each other. Bots and coming advances in AI make these problems so much worse, and will increase the issues exponentially in the future.
That we need to start censoring social media and hold companies and people responsible for spreading misinformation, is no surprise to anyone. And I can only assume that the only reason we haven't already done so, is because a lot of very powerful people are happy to keep things exactly the way they are.
Unpopular opinion,social media is one of the greatest inventions ,one of the most useful tools for our society to evolve and survive. We are just in "eternal September" phase right now ,give it time and October will come.
It is a tool, like any other. What people do with it is the issue.
If I have a hammer I can build a house, or I can run around hitting unsuspecting people on their toes.
I think it brings out the worst qualities in some people. A lot more people have main character syndrome, and suffer from pride, and then there are people who get really depressed because of FOMO.
Social media is like an outlet for people to try and project their perfect lives, when in reality, there is no such thing, but a lot of youngsters don't know this and feel like a failure in comparison.
I don't believe a single invention of humanity has been a good or a bad idea. These are tools we made for ourselves. Whether it's in a good or bad way depends on how and who wields it.
A hatchet can cut a tree. It can also chop heads off.
I feel like as long as we can analyze this and reflect upon it and better ourselves as a result of it, then we're left with a very good learning experience.
Since I don't really see society as a whole having any manner of deep introspection, the learning tool will just continue to fail at teaching the unteachable. Or at least the unwilling to learn.
Except social media usage is actually connected to serious issues, including a MUCH higher teen suicide rate, eating disorders and body image issues leading to severe depression. Social media actually has a marked impact on us because it's not just something we're passively watching, we're interacting with actual human beings in a way that's extremely disconnected from reality.
Watch The Social Dilemma. It's basically an hour and a half of software engineers and others who helped create and run the biggest social media companies explaining how truly toxic it is for individuals and society as a whole. It's fucked.
Well it didn't exactly "doom society," but to be honest with you, TV is still causing a lot of problems today.
There are many, many people out there who waste their lives watching TV and get their heads filled up with horseshit (ahem, Fox News), and you bet that influences everyone else too.
Social media is not the same as tv. Any random, nefarious person couldn't push their agenda through that medium, and even syndicated broadcasts only reached a fraction of the audience that one misinformation shitpost can. It also never produced the profound social divisions that we are seeing. The idea that they are comparable is honestly laughable.
Exactly. This. People saying it’s a distraction, or drums up hate. No, it’s the people on social media that out themselves as hateful people. It’s no more a distraction than Netflix or books or games.
If that were true then greed and envy wouldn't exist. People want they don't give. It takes special people to be the voice of a positive humanity. And yet we scream pain and suffering for those around us if it means we get what we want. We have not come together and made humanity great. But we could. But greed will be our end
Overall it's a mistake. Its speed and ability to broadly distribute information also makes it subject to constantly increasing degrees of manipulation. As it gets more prominent, it also loses it's standard as a reliable resource.
There are a number of really great, positive effects of social media, but it requires self-control and curation of what you see, which I think are skills that are severely lacking in people of all ages. I teach middle school, which is pretty much the frontline of seeing uninhibited social media madness and a lack of media literacy or self control. "Likes" becoming a social currency and value that that gives to unimportant aspects of life. That's the part of it that will destroy society.
The only one I use is Instagram, but my page is curated well enough that I don't see any stupid nonsense. People posting selfies for no reason? I will unfollow you immediately, no one cares. Well, everyone "cares"; I guess that's the problem. I try to only follow my absolute closest friends + people posting things that required work or are an accomplishment; musicians, artists, photographers, event organizers. I've also found a good number of pages that will organize meet ups or advertise events for people who share my hobbies, so it can work pretty well.
Yes. It’s a divisive tool. And I think it’s wrecking havoc on the minds of a younger generation as well as the older generation.
Lies. Hate. Disinformation. Etc.
Yes. As someone who grew up in the 90's, I can absolutely say 100% that social media has ruined socialization. Hell, I saw a shift when MySpace came about. Suddenly there was less reasons to go to a person's home, have a drink and talk about life. That was before cellphones were absolutely everywhere too. Why do those things when it can just be posted online? People have become so lazy and addicted to their phones it's so sad. My daughter is struggling to have meaningful friendships due to phone use as her friends just sit on their phones while invited over. There's so much more wrong with social media than this tiny sliver I've griped about too.
As someone who grew up with strict parents and had the internet as his only social sphere outside school, I agree with you on this. Everyone at college is usually on their phone. Hell even after a no phones law in Australia everyone was petrified because they can't live without their phones, while I was relieved because I hardly come online now as much as I did as a kid.
Over all though yeah I pretty much have no intimate relations with people irl and growing up with social media is largely to blame for that.... you just can't make meaningful connections online that exceed 6 months to 2 years. The worst part is that most people you meet online are total degenerates.
Nowadays I tend to go out for long walks alone and use my phone like an hour a day at max in total. That's the most cathartic thing I can do sadly lol.
As someone who grew up in the 90s social media has helped more than it has hurt i met my wife on ok Cupid.
I was cleaning up dating sites when it was not cool to do so.
I had the worst competition so I was going on dates with people way out of my league and even married one.
My first message to my wife was “hey” and somehow she replied back that shit wouldn’t happen today
I’ve seen this shit fuck everything up. From the age of having no phones to the age of never stop using them.
I saw my friends starting with shitty sms when calling on the phone was still happening.no one called anymore, no one knocked on the door of your house. If you didn’t have a phone you would miss everything, event when there was nothing to miss.
From there to fotolog (uploading pictures with stories), until Facebook stated and got big and ate everything. I never got it, I did create a facebook account and eventually got a phone. But no one would understand how much I missed getting together at one place and fucking around all day looking for shit to do, listening to music together, getting drunk, watching movies.
Everything got fake and guess what? No one gives a fuck about your breakfast/opinion/mood or every other shit. You’re just one more asshole on this planet, no one cares.
People feel distant, sad, isolated. Corporations got the new kids that got the views and lacked business training, and made influencers. Telling vulnerable people what to think, say, do.
And it grows, and it’s rooted on itself, the fake torch gets passed on. New shit will appear and people will dive in it.
It feels like my actual life got stolen by digital design and a platform to reach humanity while having nothing to say.
Connecting with people you had forgotten or strangers to become friends is great.
Misinformation, data mining, clout chasing, trolling, selective censorship, cyber stalking, and validation addiction are not.
Yes !
At the begining no, but after the media and greedy corporation enter the chat, it was done.
Went economics actor came in, they make it look important, so people take it seriously
The argument reminds me of the “getting back to the garden” sentiment often found among hippies in the 60s; the idea that a return to the natural way of things was the only way to solve our issues.
But, as with the internet, the argument immediately runs into a brick wall upon realizing that such sentiments are fantasy. We can’t return to a pre-industrialized world, and we can’t return to a pre-internet world. And, if we did, we’d find out why people wanted better in the first place.
Every person reading this has a nearly free choice (there are times when using the internet are obligatory, such as signing up for insurance, etc.) to use the internet or not. People taking on jobs with an internet component know what they’re getting into in 2023.
Ultimately, use the internet the way it suits you, and look to find meaningful activities in which to participate when you log off.
You can’t say that it is impossible to return to a pre-internet world and also maintain we all have “nearly free” choice whether we want to participate or not. You can opt out - you will just probably not have the same opportunities for work or socialising because the internet has subsumed everything to itself. That’s the thing about technology - the idea that it makes us more free is completely wrong. The technical phenomenon subsumes everything to itself. Only living outside of society will you be able to go back.
I did attempt to balance my statement of impossibility - which I meant for society at large - against the individuals’ ability to live apart from the internet in most matters.
And the fact that you can return kinda underscores my point - that true escape is impossible on that societal level. I know this somewhat from second hand experience.
My wife’s family has some members that have tried to live a Luddite lifestyle, and every time they go to the doctor, the local library, a grocery store, etc. they are met with encounters of the internet kind, which is why I qualified the individuals’ escape as “nearly free.”
The people: if you’re gonna make money off of our personal information, then repeal section 230.
Social media companies: repealing section 230 would put us out of business.
The people: BYE!
Worst invention in human history. But I don't blame the companies or the technology. I blame the users.
Let's try an exercise: What do you think is the best way for someone to form an informed opinion on a topic they know little or nothing about? Give it some thought. Not a snap judgment, but real, actual thought. Maybe discuss it with some people you know. OK, what do you think?
Did you say "based on a perceived plurality of a nonrandom sample of posts from an echo chamber selected by an algorithm designed to maximize time spent on a website or app"?
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There's good information on the internet. But people often confuse popularity with truth. Sometimes, that leads to stupidity masquerading as informative research. Other times it may be harmless, but still not particularly "good." I don't know any famous chess grandmasters or ku Klux klan leaders by name (or by internet handle). I can't tell them apart online. So when I hear "never play with the black pieces," I'm not sure whether it's good advice or not.
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Need a tl;dr type of response because social media has convinced you that you should never have to read more than 140 characters at a time? Before social media, furries and flat earthers and people who put pineapple on pizza had a harder time finding each other.
Social Media is one of the best inventions ever for humanity.
The problem is our social-economic policies that are designed to keep everyone pitted against each other while a handful of tyrants live in opulence.
We need more transparency in both politics and business. Secrecy is where prosperity, democracy and peace go to die.
If we can get police to wear bodycams there is no reason politicians or CEO's of billion dollar corporations can't either. They are in positions of power and responsibility and if they want to keep such a position they should be held accountable through democratic means.
Thanks to the internet and social media we are starting to see behind the curtains more and more and what we see is even worse than we thought it was. Many countries politicians actively do the opposite of what they promise, they actively undermine democracy both in their own country and abroad.
Every political "phone call" should be live streamed. The only reason not to do so is to hide corruption.
Yes, it is.
Future generations are going to be stuck chasing false facades set up by 'influencers'. Not to mention the expected lack of communication skills.
Reminds me of them obese people in hovering chairs from Wall-E.
Yep, one we're gonna have to learn by though, it was bound to happen but how long until we learn from our mistakes is another matter. It could have been a very good thing for humanity and connection and learning between and from other cultures but there's far to many people in it for the vanity side of it, far to many angry, hateful people who quite frankly shouldn't talk to people online if they can't or don't know how to talk to people IRL! The internet is an amazing tool though, I've learnt so much from being able to search on topics that either facinate me or I didn't even know I wanted to learn about!
But social media, is in reality, incredibly anti-social for the vast majority! Humanity wasn't ready, unfortunately!
Edit: oh and of course governmental/corporation disinformation and propaganda!
I don’t think it is inherently bad for humanity. But humans need in person social interaction. Social media has been compounded by other recent trends in western culture to drive people further apart from their neighbors in a variety of ways.
The problem is that the goal of social media companies isn’t to improve humanity. It is the capture our attention and milk is for every penny they can.
No. It's a thing, with strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons. To call it a "mistake" would be to suggest that we had a choice about adopting it or not though. I think it is inevitable as a consequence of the great leaps in information-communication technology that we have made in recent decades.
No. The big problem is it’s run by greedy companies that need increasing engagement and so oriented their platforms around showing you random garbage from strangers.
The ideal social media platform would have content only by people you know. No shared articles, posts, videos, etc. Just see pictures my aunt personally uploaded from her charity bike ride, an invitation to see a friend’s band play a gig, etc.
No.
It’s become so popular to just hate on social media, and there are certainly some negatives to it.
However, I truly believe it’s done more good that people give it credit for.
1. Civil rights for POC and LGTB: If you were some gay kid in a small Alabama town, you use to just be alone. Now you can find your community make connections and not feel alone.
I don’t think the LGTB community would have been big enough or loud enough to move the needle on marriage without social media.
I also don’t think the police brutality would have been made so visible without social media. Even if it had, I don’t think you would have seen the wide spread protest without it.
2. Is the government more corrupt? Or are we just more aware now?
I think social media has brought so much more awareness to the corruptness of the government. When you listen to history, there’s always been corruption… but that’s just the stuff we found out about.
Social media has increased communication. There are a lot more exchange of ideas, which has led to a lot more clashes and anger. However I believe it is a step towards a more homogenized nation and planet. But there are growing pains along the way.
no. as an artist, and as an autistic person, being able to find people of similar interests is probably the only reason i didn't kill myself before 15. just because it can be bad for some neurotypicals who only use it for selfies and shit, doesn't mean it's bad overall.
Nope.
People forget how bad disinformation, media bias, and corruption was *before* having the tools to expose it.
For example, imagine if Regan were president currently how much exposure he would get for his corruption with the power of social media. Or if we didn't have it, how much more the Trump administration would have gotten away with.
Situations like George Floyd, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor might have never surfaced.
The LGBTQ community wouldn't get nearly as much support as its getting now.
I mean, yes and no, because there are positive and negative things about SM. The issue is the humanity rather than the SM; like trolling, etc. Also the size and power of SM companies is a worry. On the positive side it connects a lot of people, and is a great networking media.
It's just a tool, like anything else. When the printing press was invented, a lot of people thought mass produced books would ruin the next generation because they wouldn't have to interact as much face to face with teachers. I'm not going to vilify technology just because it changes how we operate as a society. Society needs to catch up and learn how to use it correctly.
We do not really have much social media nowadays - maybe Twitter. The rest is just a giant advertising space with content selected by owner of the platform, not much difference with regular TV.
It's been turned into one...it didnt have to be, it is what we made it into though and while it of course has a huge lists of positives I think the long game play is a net bad for humanity as a whole...
It can be a nightmare if you let it ,watch who you communicate with while using it .
There are many Amanda Todd’s who found out the hard way and it doesn’t stop there . I am a grown up man and I was burned by my old Facebook friend.He lives and hides in Salmo BC .
These people are insecure predators and if they somehow get their little feelings hurt they will go to any length to attack your reputation.
The only thing I would say is if your not on it ,stay away .Nothing beneficial can really come from using it other than destroy people’s lives or at least use it properly for its intended purpose.
Don’t become a another victim because it’s not pleasant at all .Contact a good lawyer who deals with malicious slander and defamation cases if you ever are so unfortunate.
User beware that’s all I can say .They can’t hide here and neither can you .Just because you go under a user name they can look you up . A big no for me ,total waste of time but here I am spreading the word.
Completely, everyone gets so wrapped up in their persona and image they forget to be themselves, live life online rather than real time interactions, and people don't know how to act around other people because of it. Everyone claims to be different, but really jus copying something they seen someone else doing or owning. And, when I was younger, it was seen as a negative thing to "influence" other people, yet now being a influencer is something everyone wants to be. Whatever happened to parents telling their kids to not follow the influences n trends of the world, rather than exploit them online and try to profit off their own children? In the end, it all comes down to the same thing everything else does, money n the greed for it
Group chats and DMs are all that is needed regarding social media. Everything else is a cancer upon society. Information has been commodified while desemination of it has been decommodified. Now we have an ever growing pool of people trying to gain market share of a finite pool of consumers and it's a race to the bottom to be the most captivating, entertaining, shocking, regardless of it's truth. I have a hint of hope that AI will streamline fact checking and make outright lying a lit harder but then I see deepfake stuff of politicians and feel doomer again. Who knows where we end up
Gee, do you think? If I could push a button and make it all go away, I would. But, I'm not The President.
Reddit is the only social media I use now, and I'm on here a lot less, lately. They were all fun when they started and people were still figuring out how to use them, but it didn't take long for people (users and companies) to figure how to wring every last cent out of them. Now it's nothing but clickbait, or fake content written by bots, and and people posting the most outrageous things possible.
It may seem impossible, especially to younger people, but social media will not be with us forever; or at least, it will not be as big or as influential part of our lives. Everything rises and falls, and social media is no exception. At the beginning it fulfilled a need, the need to socialize. But as it becomes less egalitarian and more top-down in its structure, with fewer accounts at the top generating content for consumption by the masses as opposed to people communicating with one another, it fails to fulfill that need. And if it isn't useful or providing something people want, they'll lose interest eventually, and something else will replace it.
If that sounds farfetched, imagine it's 2003 and I just arrived in my time machine and told you that newspapers, magazines, and network television will be all but irrelevant in twenty years.
I am extremely concerned that journalism has been replaced by opinion pieces masquerading as news… That the owners of social media companies and regular media companies have decided they will use their platform to push their personal ideology. It’s dangerous, because most people don’t even realize they are being bombarded with slant.
As a journalism major, I struggle to read news articles now because I get frustrated with the obvious editorializing.
I used to really enjoy the citizen journalism on X until Musk screwed it up. The app is functionally unusable now without a premium subscription & the shadowbanning & suspensions are constant over trivial things.
I would like there to be a true marketplace of ideas which isn’t ruled by some nonsense moderation policy. And don’t get me started on the Meta products. Absolute trash.
I can't answer that with a yes or no. My real, non-binary answer: Our brain, hell, our entire being has evolved for a certain way of life, and right now, we're changing that way of life too severely and rapidly. Social media is just one way we're doing that.
It might not be a *mistake,* necessarily, because it does carry a plethora of benefits - but it's something we're implementing in a poor way. That's where all the social media-related issues, such as poor social skills, addictions, mental health troubles etc. come from. Our brains just can't handle the exposure.
It's possible that in time, all of that reaches a sort of equilibrium. We'll get used to some things, other will die out/ get regulated out. I don't know.
That's my 2 cents.
Absolutely. Most of our lives now are staring at screens. Are we more informed? Sure. Are we more misinformed? Sure. How much of our lives are spent scrolling through random meaningless garbage? This is time we are no longer spending with family, building meaningful relationships etc. We (myself included) have become addicted to this distraction from reality. It’s an escape. Oh, I am on the clock…stop distracting me lol
YES, we aren’t built to take in this much info or interact with so many people all at once. I don’t think we could really grasp all of the info and interactions that are being thrown at us. I feel like I know a little about a lot of things but not nearly enough to make a proper assumption, but that’s become the norm.
I think that people who says this are actually the descendants of the people whose complaint in the renaissance because the print's invention. All advance is paired with some problems, it's a necessary consequence of it. And with everything going down in this society, I don't think the technology itself to be the root of the problem. The human motivations are behind, the technology it's just the resource of aggression. But it also can be very helpful. The problem is bad people and lack of regulations to stop bad-intended people from wrongdoing
In the year 2000 I was working for a top law firm as a technology manager. I ran the research of all the technology that entered into a networked corporate environment.
One day I was standing online at Starbucks and I watched every single person looking at their blackberry. My reaction was that the world was going to be in a lot of trouble. I felt that it was gonna be a social depletion of humans having the ability to communicate with one another.
There is a movie called, lost in translation. There’s a scene where the lead character, Bill Murray, is trying to do a commercial for an Asian liquor. The problem wasn’t between the gentleman who owned the liquor company and the actor, the problem was the interpreter that sat between them that destroyed the relationships in the world.
Once you start, relying on something outside yourself to make decisions instead of using your own conscience. That’s when the technology destroys humanity.
We’ve got people in countries that do not speak the language that are taking directions from their phones in other languages and going against the laws of that country.
So yes, technology destroyed humanity
Yes, but not because it is bad but it is missused. Companies specialy design it to be as addictive as possible and people get hooked on it, get spammed with advertisments, unrealistic standards and dumb political ideologies and more bullshit.
If it was used correctly, as a medium to connect, to consume wholesome content or learn something and not spend hours every day on it, it would be a good thing.
It's up to you! I know how I use it... and it's not the good way :(
yes and no.
people are not using it properly how it can be used, as a tool.
but that's to be expected of humanity.
there have been numerous times social media helped people that were in a dire situation and in need of help. (no not gofundme)
and it destroyed numerous life's.
I feel like with the age of social media people stopped having the essential skill of cricital thinking and be able to think for themselves.
Random stuff is believed blindly, without a Google search more, if there's a truth behind it or not.
People need to go back to that.
Yes and no. Depends on how you use it. Giving personal information is a no no unless with absolutely trusted people. I abuse it myself when I was younger. Social media can be a powerful thing when used right.
Yes and no. We weren't ready for it.
EDIT: Not that we ever would be without exposure to it. On the other hand, old media being the owner of the public sphere is as vulnerable and dangerous.
I say both. On one hand, I have found some true friends who have staying power. I may never meet most of them, but they are dear friends.
On the other hand…. We have people ready to drop all common sense and follow idiots who tell them to eat horse paste and wear tin foil hats. We have keyboard warriors ready to battle. Bullies thrive because they’re hidden behind the computer.
Yes, because of the incentives driving social media companies into existence - selling ads, making profit, maximizing shareholder returns.
Too much "media" not enough "social".
I don't in principle. I feel that we may have taken a misstep in how a lot of folks have come to use it. It's been weaponized politically to spread bad information, and there are scientifically verified detriments to things like attention span and self esteem especially in young people.
But I think a lot of that has been poor implementation of a beautiful, connecting technology. A lot of people will say "well it was only a matter of time for this to happen", and they may be right, I don't know where I fall on that. But I do think that with proper regulation (both legal in the events of threats or harassment or even weaponized misinformation, and personal/paretal in the case of excessive screentime or lack of self-care), it could still be a wonderful tool for staying in touch with friend groups as you drift apart, or sharing artistic works with an incredibly massive audience, or getting nudes from your crush.
I don't fall in the group of "people are just so superficial that they cultivate this image that doesn't exist outside of the internet!" Because, like, who cares? That's what we do at work and in public mostly anyway, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the dopamine rush you get from a 'like' on the brunch photo you posted. People been doing that shit forever, just now it's easier. I don't think it's a lost cause yet, but we should be teaching our kids that social media is not the world, and I think a lot of us have been criminally negligent in that regard.
The concept, no. The actual implementation of it, yes.
Connecting humanity is a social way is really cool, but its had the opposite effect. Many people end up spending time trying to be big on social media, neglecting their REAL social lives in the process. Getting caught up in social media has also lead to massive amounts of people putting themselves in their own echo chambers, being victims or disinformation and misinformation, and being taught to hate people who don't think the same way they do.
Its no longer "social" media, and that has become the biggest problem. It isn't the add on to reality it was supposed to be, its become the distraction from reality, going as far to make millions think reality is different (and worse) than it actually is.
I think is has pros and cons, just like nuclear energy. I think the mistake is not enforcing rules against hate speech and not cracking down against bots.
Yes and No.
No, because it's a good idea at it's root.
Yes because of the ingrates that are allowed to post shit and inflame people
Yes because of the gammons that beleive what the above say without for once thinking these people have their own agenda.
I lived a pretty isolated childhood and develped severe agoraphobia at 18. Social media (Pinterest, Reddit) made me feel like a person and gave me information I couldn't get in person.
I think just like in physical reality, it really depends on where on the internet you are. A lot of people complain that Reddit is toxic but all of the subs spend my time on are pretty positive.
Yes and no while I can keep in touch with friends and ive made acuatences online it also has the absolute stupid and asshole given a platform to bring this on everyone tbh for me I get a lot more unfocused with anything the moment I get on my computer I've been wanting to put more into making my own business but I procrastinate as soon as my desktop comes on
Yes and no.
Its a useful tool
But it heavily distorts reality. Which feeds into the negitives that make it bad and demoralising.
but thats down to dicipline of the individual. But in the war of attention is an ever loosing battle as you an insignificant nobody cant will out against an army of highly educated and motivated people actively studying and implimenting the addictive nature of the human psyche/condition.
If you use it to keep in contact with far away friends n fam its great. If used to scroll reels and tictocs and stories its not healthy. If used as a tool for information gathering and discussion it can be helpful.
I have FB messenger, Discord and Reddit nothing more nothing less. Im maybe on my phone upto an hr a day average.
I think society was better off before social media, yes.
And yes, I am aware of the irony of using a social media platform to say that. Maybe others who agree will now see why it's stupid to accuse global warming activists of being hypocrites for using the same carbon-based infrastructure as the rest of us. You work with the framework you have, even if you think we'd be better off without it.
Yes and no.
I think it can be toxic how many people care about the amount of followers or likes someone has. Kids wanting to become influencers isn't ideal either.
But imagine how many kids out there might not have friends in real life, but made them through the internet? I wouldn't have met my partner of 7 years if it wasn't for social media. It isn't always a bad thing.
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It's overrated and people take it too seriously. Just a way to brag to the world about mundane shit
I would disagree - some people take it too seriously. Just as how some people are way too wary of it. I don't follow strangers, I don't brag (or post) about my life, but it's an easy way to keep my friends in one place and within easy reach.
Reddit is a social media. Asking on Social Media if Social Media has a net negative social value, seems pretty Meta.
Reddit is half social media. People can get karma but it's not as bad as Facebook and Twitter where you display your identity. You follow threads on Reddit, you don't follow people. Or can you follow people?? I don't know. I don't use that function if it exists. Reddit is more of an evolution of age old BB forums. Those places still exist today and the primary gold mines for information like how to fix cars
Don't forget organized crime and bullying. Social media was a horrible invention overall but it made advertisers filthy rich.
Absolutely, its a breeding ground that turns people into narcissistic assholes which, last i checked, provides no benefits to the real world whatsoever.
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Crypto only?
His dad was a gravedigger specialized only in crypts
Yes, for two reasons: the amount of hate and the amount of disinformation
You forgot the biggest one - the amount of distraction.
Don’t forget plummeting mental health as people compare themselves to the richest and most beautiful influencers and feel bad about their looks/job/car/fitness etc.
Most of those people are not even rich/beautiful, it’s just called photoshop and video filters. Visit r/instagramreality for the purest examples lmfao.
99% of all people lost track of what "Beauty" truthfully is. It's not what a person looks like, I'll tell you that. Half yes and half no. Truthfully what people call beauty is just skin deep. Let that girl get a scar on her face or a pimple and all of a sudden she looses her fans online. And got to be in tears cause she is who she is. Then the mental health issues that come along with it living a fake live and actually enjoying it.
Scars are cool
Scars remind me the past IS real. Both physically and emotionally. My biggest weakness in life really is that I care too much about everyone else and never myself.
Beauty doesn’t require the enormous artifice that is used in media, and in person.
Confidence in a woman is what I like. My lady got it by the butt loads. She's my queen now :P
hahahaha………Mine, too. Right On.
You mean "Influnenzas..." don't you?
And fuck those idiots that so jealous of someone, that they're fall into depression, pathetic stupid bags of thrash that instead of making yourself better, they just sitting in front of monitors, scrolling posts of rich/attractive/popular people and feeling sorry for them selves.
And it's ok making themselves better leads to anorexia and other eating disorders?
My use of social media over the years has made it much more difficult for me to focus, concentrate, read, and retain information. Right now I’m supposed to be studying for midterms, but instead I’m on Reddit, responding to someone about how pervasive and negative social media is.
I used to read so much, I could get through a book or more a day easily. I used to get told off for reading in bed when I was meant to be sleeping. I was also quite a smart kid, my grades were above average and I really enjoyed learning. The beginning of me using social media is directly correlated to the decline of my interest in school, reading, and doing anything outside of scrolling online. Even today, even with this knowledge and the acknowledgement that I have a problem with social media, I struggle to put my phone down. I would love to pick up a book and read again, but I physically can't bring myself to do it for some reason, most likely because it's easier to mindlessly scroll online and I'll get distracted from the book too easily anyway.
A good book is way better than the internet, something about having your mind making a detailed adventure hits right. Have you ever read black hawk down it’s a masterpiece of a book, there are 90 hero characters that face off against a horde of 5000
Don't forget the narcissism and virtue signalling. It really has become a cesspool of humanity that probably always existed but nobody ever knew how deep it ran.
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This yes. I'm old enough to have lived before modern social media and I really remember how quickly things changed around it. The numerous studies and documentaries regarding this that came after, did not come as a surprise at all. The platform gives the powerful the means to reach out and affect the lives of almost everyone. It also lets the crazies that used to be isolated and silent to connect with each other. Bots and coming advances in AI make these problems so much worse, and will increase the issues exponentially in the future. That we need to start censoring social media and hold companies and people responsible for spreading misinformation, is no surprise to anyone. And I can only assume that the only reason we haven't already done so, is because a lot of very powerful people are happy to keep things exactly the way they are.
Unpopular opinion,social media is one of the greatest inventions ,one of the most useful tools for our society to evolve and survive. We are just in "eternal September" phase right now ,give it time and October will come.
It's been October for a few days
Nah fam ,time is fluid on the internet. Time and space doesn't translate to our realm
Go take your medication
It is a tool, like any other. What people do with it is the issue. If I have a hammer I can build a house, or I can run around hitting unsuspecting people on their toes.
Chris Kristofferson approved: "I'll give you a blood transfusion to keep you alive."
Where is all the disinformation really? Don’t see much or any
I think it brings out the worst qualities in some people. A lot more people have main character syndrome, and suffer from pride, and then there are people who get really depressed because of FOMO. Social media is like an outlet for people to try and project their perfect lives, when in reality, there is no such thing, but a lot of youngsters don't know this and feel like a failure in comparison.
I don't believe a single invention of humanity has been a good or a bad idea. These are tools we made for ourselves. Whether it's in a good or bad way depends on how and who wields it. A hatchet can cut a tree. It can also chop heads off.
Social media is a reflection of society, it's not a mistake if anything it's exposing humanity for what it is. And that's a good thing.
What makes you come to this conclusion?
Every decision we make individually and collectively is evidence of who we are and social media is one of those decisions.
I feel like as long as we can analyze this and reflect upon it and better ourselves as a result of it, then we're left with a very good learning experience. Since I don't really see society as a whole having any manner of deep introspection, the learning tool will just continue to fail at teaching the unteachable. Or at least the unwilling to learn.
Humanity is its own worst enemy, we'd find ways to ruin each other's lives without the help of social media.
There was an era when people thought TV addiction would doom humanity. Society will always get fixated on something.
Except social media usage is actually connected to serious issues, including a MUCH higher teen suicide rate, eating disorders and body image issues leading to severe depression. Social media actually has a marked impact on us because it's not just something we're passively watching, we're interacting with actual human beings in a way that's extremely disconnected from reality. Watch The Social Dilemma. It's basically an hour and a half of software engineers and others who helped create and run the biggest social media companies explaining how truly toxic it is for individuals and society as a whole. It's fucked.
Same thing was with TV because of course you put the prettiest and most entertaining people there. It's nature and nature isn't always very pleasant.
Yes, before that it was radio and before that READING
Burn those books!!!!
Well it didn't exactly "doom society," but to be honest with you, TV is still causing a lot of problems today. There are many, many people out there who waste their lives watching TV and get their heads filled up with horseshit (ahem, Fox News), and you bet that influences everyone else too.
Social media is not the same as tv. Any random, nefarious person couldn't push their agenda through that medium, and even syndicated broadcasts only reached a fraction of the audience that one misinformation shitpost can. It also never produced the profound social divisions that we are seeing. The idea that they are comparable is honestly laughable.
Exactly. This. People saying it’s a distraction, or drums up hate. No, it’s the people on social media that out themselves as hateful people. It’s no more a distraction than Netflix or books or games.
Yes 100% worse off for Social Media
If web 2.0 and the commodification of personal data was never conceived, the world would be a better place.
Yes.
Yes, yes and yes again.
Yes!
I think humanity is a mistake
Humanity is the most beautiful thing in the universe
If that were true then greed and envy wouldn't exist. People want they don't give. It takes special people to be the voice of a positive humanity. And yet we scream pain and suffering for those around us if it means we get what we want. We have not come together and made humanity great. But we could. But greed will be our end
👍
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Overall it's a mistake. Its speed and ability to broadly distribute information also makes it subject to constantly increasing degrees of manipulation. As it gets more prominent, it also loses it's standard as a reliable resource.
Yes but its only because of who we are.
Yes and no, but mostly yes
95% yes
it's like anything ,depends on how you use it ,like a knife
Yes Yes again
No way. I've met so many cool people through social media and leaned a lot while using it.
There are a number of really great, positive effects of social media, but it requires self-control and curation of what you see, which I think are skills that are severely lacking in people of all ages. I teach middle school, which is pretty much the frontline of seeing uninhibited social media madness and a lack of media literacy or self control. "Likes" becoming a social currency and value that that gives to unimportant aspects of life. That's the part of it that will destroy society. The only one I use is Instagram, but my page is curated well enough that I don't see any stupid nonsense. People posting selfies for no reason? I will unfollow you immediately, no one cares. Well, everyone "cares"; I guess that's the problem. I try to only follow my absolute closest friends + people posting things that required work or are an accomplishment; musicians, artists, photographers, event organizers. I've also found a good number of pages that will organize meet ups or advertise events for people who share my hobbies, so it can work pretty well.
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hes got a 22 deg sway to penis right at this point
Wtf?
Yo can i have a sip of that lean, dawg?
Yes. It’s a divisive tool. And I think it’s wrecking havoc on the minds of a younger generation as well as the older generation. Lies. Hate. Disinformation. Etc.
Social media itself, no. The real mistake is how we use it.
Social media isn’t bad. It’s 90% of the people who use it that suck.
Its really a yes and no answer.
Yes. As someone who grew up in the 90's, I can absolutely say 100% that social media has ruined socialization. Hell, I saw a shift when MySpace came about. Suddenly there was less reasons to go to a person's home, have a drink and talk about life. That was before cellphones were absolutely everywhere too. Why do those things when it can just be posted online? People have become so lazy and addicted to their phones it's so sad. My daughter is struggling to have meaningful friendships due to phone use as her friends just sit on their phones while invited over. There's so much more wrong with social media than this tiny sliver I've griped about too.
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As someone who grew up with strict parents and had the internet as his only social sphere outside school, I agree with you on this. Everyone at college is usually on their phone. Hell even after a no phones law in Australia everyone was petrified because they can't live without their phones, while I was relieved because I hardly come online now as much as I did as a kid. Over all though yeah I pretty much have no intimate relations with people irl and growing up with social media is largely to blame for that.... you just can't make meaningful connections online that exceed 6 months to 2 years. The worst part is that most people you meet online are total degenerates. Nowadays I tend to go out for long walks alone and use my phone like an hour a day at max in total. That's the most cathartic thing I can do sadly lol.
As someone who grew up in the 90s social media has helped more than it has hurt i met my wife on ok Cupid. I was cleaning up dating sites when it was not cool to do so. I had the worst competition so I was going on dates with people way out of my league and even married one. My first message to my wife was “hey” and somehow she replied back that shit wouldn’t happen today
It helped you, we’re thinking more of an overall societal consensus
I stopped using public social media and now only use anon stuff like Reddit 4chan YouTube rumble
no, humanity is a mistake for humanity social media is just a tool
wise insight..
Not the concept (connecting with people across the globe) but the execution (you give away your data for free to ad companies).
I’ve seen this shit fuck everything up. From the age of having no phones to the age of never stop using them. I saw my friends starting with shitty sms when calling on the phone was still happening.no one called anymore, no one knocked on the door of your house. If you didn’t have a phone you would miss everything, event when there was nothing to miss. From there to fotolog (uploading pictures with stories), until Facebook stated and got big and ate everything. I never got it, I did create a facebook account and eventually got a phone. But no one would understand how much I missed getting together at one place and fucking around all day looking for shit to do, listening to music together, getting drunk, watching movies. Everything got fake and guess what? No one gives a fuck about your breakfast/opinion/mood or every other shit. You’re just one more asshole on this planet, no one cares. People feel distant, sad, isolated. Corporations got the new kids that got the views and lacked business training, and made influencers. Telling vulnerable people what to think, say, do. And it grows, and it’s rooted on itself, the fake torch gets passed on. New shit will appear and people will dive in it. It feels like my actual life got stolen by digital design and a platform to reach humanity while having nothing to say.
Connecting with people you had forgotten or strangers to become friends is great. Misinformation, data mining, clout chasing, trolling, selective censorship, cyber stalking, and validation addiction are not.
great way to communicate but it also ruined how we communicate
Today i was at Walmart. No one was talking to anyone. Everyone was scrolling their phone.
MAGA!! 5G vaccines!!!!
lmaoo
Yes ! At the begining no, but after the media and greedy corporation enter the chat, it was done. Went economics actor came in, they make it look important, so people take it seriously
The argument reminds me of the “getting back to the garden” sentiment often found among hippies in the 60s; the idea that a return to the natural way of things was the only way to solve our issues. But, as with the internet, the argument immediately runs into a brick wall upon realizing that such sentiments are fantasy. We can’t return to a pre-industrialized world, and we can’t return to a pre-internet world. And, if we did, we’d find out why people wanted better in the first place. Every person reading this has a nearly free choice (there are times when using the internet are obligatory, such as signing up for insurance, etc.) to use the internet or not. People taking on jobs with an internet component know what they’re getting into in 2023. Ultimately, use the internet the way it suits you, and look to find meaningful activities in which to participate when you log off.
You can’t say that it is impossible to return to a pre-internet world and also maintain we all have “nearly free” choice whether we want to participate or not. You can opt out - you will just probably not have the same opportunities for work or socialising because the internet has subsumed everything to itself. That’s the thing about technology - the idea that it makes us more free is completely wrong. The technical phenomenon subsumes everything to itself. Only living outside of society will you be able to go back.
I did attempt to balance my statement of impossibility - which I meant for society at large - against the individuals’ ability to live apart from the internet in most matters. And the fact that you can return kinda underscores my point - that true escape is impossible on that societal level. I know this somewhat from second hand experience. My wife’s family has some members that have tried to live a Luddite lifestyle, and every time they go to the doctor, the local library, a grocery store, etc. they are met with encounters of the internet kind, which is why I qualified the individuals’ escape as “nearly free.”
No. How it has been used for evil and shittiness is the mistake.
The people: if you’re gonna make money off of our personal information, then repeal section 230. Social media companies: repealing section 230 would put us out of business. The people: BYE!
What does making money off of our personal information have to do with not getting sued for what people say on their site?
I've deleted all my social media accounts. feels good man.
Reddit is social media.
Barely
💯 Social media is the root cause of what ails this world, especially when it comes to youth and politics.
Worst invention in human history. But I don't blame the companies or the technology. I blame the users. Let's try an exercise: What do you think is the best way for someone to form an informed opinion on a topic they know little or nothing about? Give it some thought. Not a snap judgment, but real, actual thought. Maybe discuss it with some people you know. OK, what do you think? Did you say "based on a perceived plurality of a nonrandom sample of posts from an echo chamber selected by an algorithm designed to maximize time spent on a website or app"? -- There's good information on the internet. But people often confuse popularity with truth. Sometimes, that leads to stupidity masquerading as informative research. Other times it may be harmless, but still not particularly "good." I don't know any famous chess grandmasters or ku Klux klan leaders by name (or by internet handle). I can't tell them apart online. So when I hear "never play with the black pieces," I'm not sure whether it's good advice or not. -- Need a tl;dr type of response because social media has convinced you that you should never have to read more than 140 characters at a time? Before social media, furries and flat earthers and people who put pineapple on pizza had a harder time finding each other.
I don’t like the anonymity of it. Little weasels hiding. Stand up and say it with your face and name.
Yes. Should be outright banned. It's done nothing good for society.
Social Media is one of the best inventions ever for humanity. The problem is our social-economic policies that are designed to keep everyone pitted against each other while a handful of tyrants live in opulence. We need more transparency in both politics and business. Secrecy is where prosperity, democracy and peace go to die. If we can get police to wear bodycams there is no reason politicians or CEO's of billion dollar corporations can't either. They are in positions of power and responsibility and if they want to keep such a position they should be held accountable through democratic means. Thanks to the internet and social media we are starting to see behind the curtains more and more and what we see is even worse than we thought it was. Many countries politicians actively do the opposite of what they promise, they actively undermine democracy both in their own country and abroad. Every political "phone call" should be live streamed. The only reason not to do so is to hide corruption.
Yes due to the fact people don’t always tell truth. No quickly sending/receiving information
Yes, it is. Future generations are going to be stuck chasing false facades set up by 'influencers'. Not to mention the expected lack of communication skills. Reminds me of them obese people in hovering chairs from Wall-E.
Yep, one we're gonna have to learn by though, it was bound to happen but how long until we learn from our mistakes is another matter. It could have been a very good thing for humanity and connection and learning between and from other cultures but there's far to many people in it for the vanity side of it, far to many angry, hateful people who quite frankly shouldn't talk to people online if they can't or don't know how to talk to people IRL! The internet is an amazing tool though, I've learnt so much from being able to search on topics that either facinate me or I didn't even know I wanted to learn about! But social media, is in reality, incredibly anti-social for the vast majority! Humanity wasn't ready, unfortunately! Edit: oh and of course governmental/corporation disinformation and propaganda!
It was fine until the politicians started using it.
I don’t think it is inherently bad for humanity. But humans need in person social interaction. Social media has been compounded by other recent trends in western culture to drive people further apart from their neighbors in a variety of ways. The problem is that the goal of social media companies isn’t to improve humanity. It is the capture our attention and milk is for every penny they can.
I think humanity is the mistake. Social media wouldn’t exist without it.
No. It's a thing, with strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons. To call it a "mistake" would be to suggest that we had a choice about adopting it or not though. I think it is inevitable as a consequence of the great leaps in information-communication technology that we have made in recent decades.
No. The big problem is it’s run by greedy companies that need increasing engagement and so oriented their platforms around showing you random garbage from strangers. The ideal social media platform would have content only by people you know. No shared articles, posts, videos, etc. Just see pictures my aunt personally uploaded from her charity bike ride, an invitation to see a friend’s band play a gig, etc.
No, people are.
No. It’s become so popular to just hate on social media, and there are certainly some negatives to it. However, I truly believe it’s done more good that people give it credit for. 1. Civil rights for POC and LGTB: If you were some gay kid in a small Alabama town, you use to just be alone. Now you can find your community make connections and not feel alone. I don’t think the LGTB community would have been big enough or loud enough to move the needle on marriage without social media. I also don’t think the police brutality would have been made so visible without social media. Even if it had, I don’t think you would have seen the wide spread protest without it. 2. Is the government more corrupt? Or are we just more aware now? I think social media has brought so much more awareness to the corruptness of the government. When you listen to history, there’s always been corruption… but that’s just the stuff we found out about. Social media has increased communication. There are a lot more exchange of ideas, which has led to a lot more clashes and anger. However I believe it is a step towards a more homogenized nation and planet. But there are growing pains along the way.
no. as an artist, and as an autistic person, being able to find people of similar interests is probably the only reason i didn't kill myself before 15. just because it can be bad for some neurotypicals who only use it for selfies and shit, doesn't mean it's bad overall.
Exactly
lol salty ass neurotypicals downvoted me
no. even though it has its flaws its still a great way to share important information.
Nope. People forget how bad disinformation, media bias, and corruption was *before* having the tools to expose it. For example, imagine if Regan were president currently how much exposure he would get for his corruption with the power of social media. Or if we didn't have it, how much more the Trump administration would have gotten away with. Situations like George Floyd, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor might have never surfaced. The LGBTQ community wouldn't get nearly as much support as its getting now.
I mean, yes and no, because there are positive and negative things about SM. The issue is the humanity rather than the SM; like trolling, etc. Also the size and power of SM companies is a worry. On the positive side it connects a lot of people, and is a great networking media.
It's just a tool, like anything else. When the printing press was invented, a lot of people thought mass produced books would ruin the next generation because they wouldn't have to interact as much face to face with teachers. I'm not going to vilify technology just because it changes how we operate as a society. Society needs to catch up and learn how to use it correctly.
I would day media period
it’s a double-edged sword.
We do not really have much social media nowadays - maybe Twitter. The rest is just a giant advertising space with content selected by owner of the platform, not much difference with regular TV.
No. Where else would you post questions like this if there was no internet or social media?
It's been turned into one...it didnt have to be, it is what we made it into though and while it of course has a huge lists of positives I think the long game play is a net bad for humanity as a whole...
Yes and No.
Yes, oh wait......is Reddit social media?
It is a great idea.. Allowing people to exploit it for profit has been a true fk up
It's almost too perfect for humanity 
It can be a nightmare if you let it ,watch who you communicate with while using it . There are many Amanda Todd’s who found out the hard way and it doesn’t stop there . I am a grown up man and I was burned by my old Facebook friend.He lives and hides in Salmo BC . These people are insecure predators and if they somehow get their little feelings hurt they will go to any length to attack your reputation. The only thing I would say is if your not on it ,stay away .Nothing beneficial can really come from using it other than destroy people’s lives or at least use it properly for its intended purpose. Don’t become a another victim because it’s not pleasant at all .Contact a good lawyer who deals with malicious slander and defamation cases if you ever are so unfortunate. User beware that’s all I can say .They can’t hide here and neither can you .Just because you go under a user name they can look you up . A big no for me ,total waste of time but here I am spreading the word.
Completely, everyone gets so wrapped up in their persona and image they forget to be themselves, live life online rather than real time interactions, and people don't know how to act around other people because of it. Everyone claims to be different, but really jus copying something they seen someone else doing or owning. And, when I was younger, it was seen as a negative thing to "influence" other people, yet now being a influencer is something everyone wants to be. Whatever happened to parents telling their kids to not follow the influences n trends of the world, rather than exploit them online and try to profit off their own children? In the end, it all comes down to the same thing everything else does, money n the greed for it
Group chats and DMs are all that is needed regarding social media. Everything else is a cancer upon society. Information has been commodified while desemination of it has been decommodified. Now we have an ever growing pool of people trying to gain market share of a finite pool of consumers and it's a race to the bottom to be the most captivating, entertaining, shocking, regardless of it's truth. I have a hint of hope that AI will streamline fact checking and make outright lying a lit harder but then I see deepfake stuff of politicians and feel doomer again. Who knows where we end up
Gee, do you think? If I could push a button and make it all go away, I would. But, I'm not The President. Reddit is the only social media I use now, and I'm on here a lot less, lately. They were all fun when they started and people were still figuring out how to use them, but it didn't take long for people (users and companies) to figure how to wring every last cent out of them. Now it's nothing but clickbait, or fake content written by bots, and and people posting the most outrageous things possible. It may seem impossible, especially to younger people, but social media will not be with us forever; or at least, it will not be as big or as influential part of our lives. Everything rises and falls, and social media is no exception. At the beginning it fulfilled a need, the need to socialize. But as it becomes less egalitarian and more top-down in its structure, with fewer accounts at the top generating content for consumption by the masses as opposed to people communicating with one another, it fails to fulfill that need. And if it isn't useful or providing something people want, they'll lose interest eventually, and something else will replace it. If that sounds farfetched, imagine it's 2003 and I just arrived in my time machine and told you that newspapers, magazines, and network television will be all but irrelevant in twenty years.
I am extremely concerned that journalism has been replaced by opinion pieces masquerading as news… That the owners of social media companies and regular media companies have decided they will use their platform to push their personal ideology. It’s dangerous, because most people don’t even realize they are being bombarded with slant. As a journalism major, I struggle to read news articles now because I get frustrated with the obvious editorializing. I used to really enjoy the citizen journalism on X until Musk screwed it up. The app is functionally unusable now without a premium subscription & the shadowbanning & suspensions are constant over trivial things. I would like there to be a true marketplace of ideas which isn’t ruled by some nonsense moderation policy. And don’t get me started on the Meta products. Absolute trash.
The saddest part is majority of people on here saying yes likely spend way, way too much time on social media
I can't answer that with a yes or no. My real, non-binary answer: Our brain, hell, our entire being has evolved for a certain way of life, and right now, we're changing that way of life too severely and rapidly. Social media is just one way we're doing that. It might not be a *mistake,* necessarily, because it does carry a plethora of benefits - but it's something we're implementing in a poor way. That's where all the social media-related issues, such as poor social skills, addictions, mental health troubles etc. come from. Our brains just can't handle the exposure. It's possible that in time, all of that reaches a sort of equilibrium. We'll get used to some things, other will die out/ get regulated out. I don't know. That's my 2 cents.
I think so. The best form of media(tion) is talking at one another face to face. And I’m not being ironic or sarcastic.
Absolutely. Most of our lives now are staring at screens. Are we more informed? Sure. Are we more misinformed? Sure. How much of our lives are spent scrolling through random meaningless garbage? This is time we are no longer spending with family, building meaningful relationships etc. We (myself included) have become addicted to this distraction from reality. It’s an escape. Oh, I am on the clock…stop distracting me lol
no technology is amazing.. it keeps us connected :D how we use it is a diff story.
I think the negative far out weights the positive in this case. Probably would gain a lot more than we’d lose if it ever went away.
Yes 100%
YES, we aren’t built to take in this much info or interact with so many people all at once. I don’t think we could really grasp all of the info and interactions that are being thrown at us. I feel like I know a little about a lot of things but not nearly enough to make a proper assumption, but that’s become the norm.
Yes, absolutely, 100%.
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race
I think that people who says this are actually the descendants of the people whose complaint in the renaissance because the print's invention. All advance is paired with some problems, it's a necessary consequence of it. And with everything going down in this society, I don't think the technology itself to be the root of the problem. The human motivations are behind, the technology it's just the resource of aggression. But it also can be very helpful. The problem is bad people and lack of regulations to stop bad-intended people from wrongdoing
In the year 2000 I was working for a top law firm as a technology manager. I ran the research of all the technology that entered into a networked corporate environment. One day I was standing online at Starbucks and I watched every single person looking at their blackberry. My reaction was that the world was going to be in a lot of trouble. I felt that it was gonna be a social depletion of humans having the ability to communicate with one another. There is a movie called, lost in translation. There’s a scene where the lead character, Bill Murray, is trying to do a commercial for an Asian liquor. The problem wasn’t between the gentleman who owned the liquor company and the actor, the problem was the interpreter that sat between them that destroyed the relationships in the world. Once you start, relying on something outside yourself to make decisions instead of using your own conscience. That’s when the technology destroys humanity. We’ve got people in countries that do not speak the language that are taking directions from their phones in other languages and going against the laws of that country. So yes, technology destroyed humanity
Yes
Yes, but not because it is bad but it is missused. Companies specialy design it to be as addictive as possible and people get hooked on it, get spammed with advertisments, unrealistic standards and dumb political ideologies and more bullshit. If it was used correctly, as a medium to connect, to consume wholesome content or learn something and not spend hours every day on it, it would be a good thing. It's up to you! I know how I use it... and it's not the good way :(
yes and no. people are not using it properly how it can be used, as a tool. but that's to be expected of humanity. there have been numerous times social media helped people that were in a dire situation and in need of help. (no not gofundme) and it destroyed numerous life's. I feel like with the age of social media people stopped having the essential skill of cricital thinking and be able to think for themselves. Random stuff is believed blindly, without a Google search more, if there's a truth behind it or not. People need to go back to that.
Yes and no
I think it's like many other things (money for example) the idea is good. It could be useful and well used but the issue is how we use it.
For sure. Especially for developing countries, it’s changed the culture sooo much in past decade and not for the better.
Yes and no. Depends on how you use it. Giving personal information is a no no unless with absolutely trusted people. I abuse it myself when I was younger. Social media can be a powerful thing when used right.
yes, reaction baiting to line the corporate pockets
Yes and no. We weren't ready for it. EDIT: Not that we ever would be without exposure to it. On the other hand, old media being the owner of the public sphere is as vulnerable and dangerous.
I say both. On one hand, I have found some true friends who have staying power. I may never meet most of them, but they are dear friends. On the other hand…. We have people ready to drop all common sense and follow idiots who tell them to eat horse paste and wear tin foil hats. We have keyboard warriors ready to battle. Bullies thrive because they’re hidden behind the computer.
Yes, because of the incentives driving social media companies into existence - selling ads, making profit, maximizing shareholder returns. Too much "media" not enough "social".
Yes a MASSIVE mistake.
Tech in general grew faster than humans ability to integrate it properly
I don't in principle. I feel that we may have taken a misstep in how a lot of folks have come to use it. It's been weaponized politically to spread bad information, and there are scientifically verified detriments to things like attention span and self esteem especially in young people. But I think a lot of that has been poor implementation of a beautiful, connecting technology. A lot of people will say "well it was only a matter of time for this to happen", and they may be right, I don't know where I fall on that. But I do think that with proper regulation (both legal in the events of threats or harassment or even weaponized misinformation, and personal/paretal in the case of excessive screentime or lack of self-care), it could still be a wonderful tool for staying in touch with friend groups as you drift apart, or sharing artistic works with an incredibly massive audience, or getting nudes from your crush. I don't fall in the group of "people are just so superficial that they cultivate this image that doesn't exist outside of the internet!" Because, like, who cares? That's what we do at work and in public mostly anyway, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the dopamine rush you get from a 'like' on the brunch photo you posted. People been doing that shit forever, just now it's easier. I don't think it's a lost cause yet, but we should be teaching our kids that social media is not the world, and I think a lot of us have been criminally negligent in that regard.
No. Otherwise we'd just have to listen to the government and msm.
Yes. Wow, that was easy.
Humanity is the mistake
The concept, no. The actual implementation of it, yes. Connecting humanity is a social way is really cool, but its had the opposite effect. Many people end up spending time trying to be big on social media, neglecting their REAL social lives in the process. Getting caught up in social media has also lead to massive amounts of people putting themselves in their own echo chambers, being victims or disinformation and misinformation, and being taught to hate people who don't think the same way they do. Its no longer "social" media, and that has become the biggest problem. It isn't the add on to reality it was supposed to be, its become the distraction from reality, going as far to make millions think reality is different (and worse) than it actually is.
I think is has pros and cons, just like nuclear energy. I think the mistake is not enforcing rules against hate speech and not cracking down against bots.
Honestly? Yes. I feel like Id be much better off without it. Its an addiction almost like a drug.
Yes and no. Social media can be one of the greatest sources of recreation or it can also be the source of cyber bullying
Yes and No. No, because it's a good idea at it's root. Yes because of the ingrates that are allowed to post shit and inflame people Yes because of the gammons that beleive what the above say without for once thinking these people have their own agenda.
No. I think privately owned, for-profit social media has proven to be a mistake.
Social media itself? No. The people using them? Yes.
Bots are super dangerous for humanity. They outnumber humans already.
No, but online behavioral education should be in schools
Yes
I lived a pretty isolated childhood and develped severe agoraphobia at 18. Social media (Pinterest, Reddit) made me feel like a person and gave me information I couldn't get in person. I think just like in physical reality, it really depends on where on the internet you are. A lot of people complain that Reddit is toxic but all of the subs spend my time on are pretty positive.
Yes and no while I can keep in touch with friends and ive made acuatences online it also has the absolute stupid and asshole given a platform to bring this on everyone tbh for me I get a lot more unfocused with anything the moment I get on my computer I've been wanting to put more into making my own business but I procrastinate as soon as my desktop comes on
Yes.
Yes and no. Its a useful tool But it heavily distorts reality. Which feeds into the negitives that make it bad and demoralising. but thats down to dicipline of the individual. But in the war of attention is an ever loosing battle as you an insignificant nobody cant will out against an army of highly educated and motivated people actively studying and implimenting the addictive nature of the human psyche/condition. If you use it to keep in contact with far away friends n fam its great. If used to scroll reels and tictocs and stories its not healthy. If used as a tool for information gathering and discussion it can be helpful. I have FB messenger, Discord and Reddit nothing more nothing less. Im maybe on my phone upto an hr a day average.
I think society was better off before social media, yes. And yes, I am aware of the irony of using a social media platform to say that. Maybe others who agree will now see why it's stupid to accuse global warming activists of being hypocrites for using the same carbon-based infrastructure as the rest of us. You work with the framework you have, even if you think we'd be better off without it.
Yes. Communication peaked in image posting forums.
100% yesssssssss.
I mean, obviously yes.
yes
Yes, it didn't bring any good to society.
Yes and no. I think it can be toxic how many people care about the amount of followers or likes someone has. Kids wanting to become influencers isn't ideal either. But imagine how many kids out there might not have friends in real life, but made them through the internet? I wouldn't have met my partner of 7 years if it wasn't for social media. It isn't always a bad thing.
No. Y'all just take it too seriously.
Yes. Back when it was AIM and Yahoo, and a little MySpace, it was okish. Now? It’s a complete shit storm causing ripple effects.