Man… is social media going to be the death of our society?

[aimo]

I also got rid of social media, minus twitter, because I just started to hate so many people. The hate would build and build until I was in just a terrible mood. My life is way better without social media!

I really only feel that way about Facebook after a Duke-holes game that we don't win.

And COVID, yeah, that was obnoxious, but also kind of fun pointing out people's stupidities when they post ignorance on my Facebook page.

I do not have a lot of Fbook friends, I have kept it mostly to cousins and friends from grade school. I do not accept anyone as a friend that I do not know. I have also rejected quite a few requests from people I have no desire to reconnect with.

[rsvman]

I have seen, not that outsiders believe such an outlandish tale, anonymous posters apologize to each other on DBR, not just for mistakes, which some 'fess up to, but for simple misunderstandings.

This is an outrage! 😁

[fidel]

I also got rid of social media, minus twitter, because I just started to hate so many people. The hate would build and build until I was in just a terrible mood. My life is way better without social media!

This.

[elvis14]

Yeah. Social media encompasses a lot of channels and platforms that enable user generated content, profiles, etc. But, yeah, “social media” in the derogatory use typically just refers to Twitter, FB, etc.


I dunno, like most things, it’s not all good or bad. It depends on how it gets used and unfortunately people aren’t all good or bad either.

I'm active on DBR and Facebook. Have Twitter account that I don't use much anymore and Instagram account that I pretty much use to keep up with my wife's posts about our family and charity. I'm on Snapchat because I have daughters. I have a TikTok account that I rarely use because it's such a time sync and when it's all said and done most of what you just watched, although entertaining, is crap.

There is so much good and bad. The good is simple: I get to keep with friends and acquaintances and see some of what is going on in their lives. The bad is simple: too much very biased politics and too many people become the worst version of themselves on social media. I agree with that others have said about moderation: more is always better (which is why I like DBR so much).

Of course what really sucks is when the people who become the worst version of themselves post about politics. I used to love some of the politics on social media because it allowed me to learn from sources I didn't know existed and helped me identify some sources as illegitimate and even see multiple sides of issues. But that was long ago. Now social media isn't really used to discuss politics and share ideas it's really used to gaslight and so many people think what they are reading is real and honest (bots and people hired to shape public opinion get better and better at faking). I've seen it really mess some people up (my brother, for instance...although in his case it's a combination of the internet and Fox "News").

Anyway, I'm still using it but there are things to do that help. Unfriend people that you really don't care about or that you like too much to be social media friends with (some people are much better in person than online). Join moderated groups (even on Facebook groups can be private and moderated...I'm an admin/moderation on a Washington Commanders group/page for example. Block the source of posts that you don't want to see. The hope there is that over time you'll clean up your feed. The last thing is to not take it too seriously. To me, it's supposed to be fun, done with friends, informational not confrontational.

I have to admit, I'm disappointed often, however. I rarely use Twitter because I find that forum to the king of people becoming eh worst version of themselves. I've had to unfriend people that I care about in real life in order to stay friends. I have lost friends because the internet turned them into partisan nuts. If there's something I really want to group think on and discuss, I'd do it here on DBR.

[JNort]

I like social media but the wide openness of it really brings out the worst in everybody. I’m not usually for more censorship but this board here really shows how a stricter posting policy can do wonders for communication. Social media is important imo for finding things out quickly and anywhere. It should help give perspective on the struggles of people many of us never interact with.

[PackMan97]

... the echo chamber aspect. If you want to find people who agree with you in regards to K, UNC, recruiting, etc - here's the place!

Of course, the difference is that here, everyone is CORRECT in their opinions...

That's why I'm here. Too kill the echoes.

[camion]

That's why I'm here. Too kill the echoes.

Nooo!!

Nooo!!

Noon!!

Nooo!!

Nooo!!

[CameronBlue]

I like social media but the wide openness of it really brings out the worst in everybody. I’m not usually for more censorship but this board here really shows how a stricter posting policy can do wonders for communication. Social media is important imo for finding things out quickly and anywhere. It should help give perspective on the struggles of people many of us never interact with.

I fully agree though – assuming how you define social media – sites like 4chan Promote violent extremism in a way not to be found on your typical social media sites. On most social media sites the worst inclinations within us tend to naturally rise to the surface when we get a little angry sometimes. Sites like 4Chan are incubators where those inclinations are encouraged and fully birthed.

[Matches]

I like social media but the wide openness of it really brings out the worst in everybody. I’m not usually for more censorship but this board here really shows how a stricter posting policy can do wonders for communication. Social media is important imo for finding things out quickly and anywhere. It should help give perspective on the struggles of people many of us never interact with.

Unmoderated Internet forums do not work, period. Three decades of everything from the Compuserve forums to modern-day examples show us this. Without moderation, any forum/site/service gets a) deluged with spam, and b) becomes toxic and vulgar.

That’s why some of the current discussion about “free speech” and social media misses the mark so badly - it asks a question that has already been answered. Moderation is a must - the issue is not whether it should exist, but at what level. Different from people will have different preferences of course, but speaking only for myself I prefer stricter moderation to the alternative.

[Phredd3]

That’s why some of the current discussion about “free speech” and social media misses the mark so badly - it asks a question that has already been answered. Moderation is a must - the issue is not whether it should exist, but at what level. Different from people will have different preferences of course, but speaking only for myself I prefer stricter moderation to the alternative.

That's going to be difficult to enforce without a change in the law. Way back when, Facebook went to court to preserve the notion that they should not be held accountable for what appears on their service. Change that one thing, and the internet will clean up very quickly - at least the parts subject to U.S. jurisdiction will. But the money currently flows freely from such companies, and change is hard.

[Matches]

That's going to be difficult to enforce without a change in the law. Way back when, Facebook went to court to preserve the notion that they should not be held accountable for what appears on their service. Change that one thing, and the internet will clean up very quickly - at least the parts subject to U.S. jurisdiction will. But the money currently flows freely from such companies, and change is hard.

Problem is, if these platforms become responsible for everything posted, they’d have no choice but to moderate themselves into oblivion. Anything even remotely controversial would have to go, and these days virtually everything is controversial. Cat pictures are great but if that’s all that was on FB, FB would be MySpace inside of a year.

[elvis14]

I fully agree though – assuming how you define social media – sites like 4chan Promote violent extremism in a way not to be found on your typical social media sites. On most social media sites the worst inclinations within us tend to naturally rise to the surface when we get a little angry sometimes. Sites like 4Chan are incubators where those inclinations are encouraged and fully birthed.

What I've noticed is that over the years groups use social media to normalize extremism. Sadly it's worked to perfection. What used to be considered out in left field is often spoken and posted by 'normal' people like it's a commonly accepted fact or theory. Many people think they are just sharing the ideas of like minded people but they don't realize they have been carefully, intentionally manipulated, gaslit.

I agree with what others have said...unmoderated forums are not a good thing and do more harm than good.

[cspan37421]

I think Lord Ash just proved an exception to Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

[jimmymax]

Responding to OP: Yes.

[75Crazie]

I think Lord Ash just proved an exception to Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

I can honestly say now that I learned something today -- I had to look this up.