I was on the treadmill yesterday and the author of the book just tossed out this concept of "Social Media making us more Anti-Social." We're not terribly social except with our relatively small group of friends when at home, though we love to go out to eat, do bars and do the go dancing thing pretty often. But, even in these environments we're pretty clique-ish, I've noticed. Dumb people irritate me and if we go by averages, at least 1 out of every 2 people I meet is a moron and that percentage seems to be growing. But, enough on that. Think on it a moment, and then lett us know your thought as to If social media is actually growing social behavior or sort of invisibly working against real social behavior, i.e. increasing real personal connections with other people. For me, I offer Exhibit 1... Tinder. here's the google.com search results page for this question, if you just wanted to click through and see your own tailored results to my question: why is social media so antisocial - Google Search
Keyboards distance responders from those they respond to thereby removing any ramifications of anything they say or do. Normal human behavior is governed by morals and fear of consequences. Remove the consequences and morals become fuzzy when dealing with strangers. If I don’t have enough facts to support my position, or if I am to lazy to do the research, I win if I can publicly shame you. So in order for me to be right, I have to become antisocial and attack and shame you. Even more better if my friends join in and attack you too. Hence the premise of your post. Jamie
I apologize if this bothers anyone... I am just a bit tired about talking/writing/reading about COVID-related news tidbits and thought I'd enter into a different set of discussion. RE the above: Jamie, is it purely this lack of accountability that is at the root? Here are a pair of seemingly non-linked questions: Q1: "Is social media behind the increase in school mass shootings?" We’re underestimating the role of social media in mass shootings, and it’s time to change Q2: "Is social media behind the increase in school teenager depression" Does Social Media Cause Depression? | Child Mind Institute Does Social Media Cause Depression? | Child Mind Institute
Yes and yes John that is what social media has done and continues to do. Also agree on your “moron” comment. You state at least 1 of every 2 but I would say it is even higher...lol. You, I know, are a gentleman and were kind with your comment. It cannot be 2 out of every 2, but it is damn close. And, I am not real smart myself! And recall as we know, or used to know in our Great State of Texas, an armed society is a polite society. Folks, stay with me here for a moment with this comparison... In social media settings, as Jamie stated, the keyboard empowers people and distance separates them from the consequences of having to comment when looking someone in the eye. So, everyone is somewhat disarmed and so folks are more brash and a bit more uncivilized with their comments and attacks. There is also a lack of compassion in some circumstances. I, for one, will never write something that I would not, and in many cases have not, said in someone’s presence. That’s just me and my growing up on the East Coast (fyi.., Baltimore). There is a fine line between speaking your mind and defending one’s beliefs and opinions, and also being able have a discussion with open ears for agreements and disagreements. Well, I am going down a rabbit hole and shall stop for now!
Social Media is the new reality. Newer generations feel that if they are not one ever social media they are missing out and feel that they need to post everything. One time us and few friend were at a table playing card and having a good time. One of our friends teenage daughter was there playing. Every time it was her turn we had to tell her to put her phone down and play. Well finally I got tired of it ad took her phone from her and hid it. I told her that there is nothing more important that what is happening right now and just be in this moment and enjoy it. If you could have seen the looks she was giving me it was if I slapped her in the face or kicked her puppy. After about 30 minuets I gave her phone back. Little did she know it was right behind her the whole time. Funny this is her dad was right there the entire time. He was laughing at her. Between my wife and I we have 4 kids and yes they love their social media but when we are doing something together they all forget about the phone and just have fun in actual reality.
I don’t think you cant say yes to any one of those questions directly but I think there is a lot of interesting layers to peel back. I think social media puts some people in a echo chamber. Check your YouTube page and compare it with mine or the news feed. We are all just nodes in someones world of graph-theory (data structures and algorithms) that is trying to curate a better experience online. You’re being feed these opinions, facts and points of view that have all converged. Before you know it, your social presence becomes coalesced into a virtual monistic society. In the best case, you lose your ability to be conduct yourself in a proper discourse or you’ve become so confident in your point of view from the reinforcement of your echo chamber, your perceived objectivity (Thinking independently and without reference to your point of view) is impossible, because “Let me tell you about the research I did by typing my opinions into YouTube and google and then making a decision on the topic.” For me it’s easy to see how this could lead to extreme behavior or feeling of isolation to the plurality we live in outside of computers and social media. I’m glad this place has a good mix of backgrounds, political views etc. reading your responses and seeing how other people think and understanding is what I think connecting people online was really intended to do.
Huh! I just learned something... and people say nothing good comes out of a discussion board. In the above, I thought the spelling monistic was a typo, and the intended word was monastic, and I was going to ask how that worked. Monistic: Definition of monist | Dictionary.com Monastic: Monastic | Definition of Monastic by Lexico ... and now I understand the post by @ging ... I mean, I still feel dumb, since I'm probably in Pauls 2 out of 2 ratio, but hey. Crawling up the side of my mud puddle!
