I'm hoping you're wrong about the following: that social media has "the power to determine the outcome of entire cultures, as well as conflicts that can lead even to war." I don't think I'm alone in having abandoned it after finding general behaviour disgusting. Social media truly brings out the worst in people. A lot of folks use at least one alternative identity to "slam," "slaughter," "crush," anyone who dares contradict or engage with them in a meaningful way. I found many who wouldn't engage with me because I didn't have enough followers to be of value. I saw otherwise intelligent and thoughtful folk behave like savages. On the rare occasion I go on Facebook for Marketplace, I'll still see friends displaying such grotesquely phrased and vulgar sentiments, I lose respect for them. I think it has also eroded friendly curiosity in conversation: I've witnessed folks who went from curious interlocutors to political mic-droppers. So it has sadly affected the real world where folks used to have conversations. I call it "social media damage." It will have to be reckoned with at some point, and our culture will have to adapt to the realization that social media is actively destructive. It should be shunned by politicians: I think it's inappropriate and undignified for any serious individual to engage on these platforms. I know I'm not alone in this assessment, and I'm hoping that in time folks will come round.
Unfortunately, social media has become the medium for so much communication. There is no alternative when you want to know what is happening within certain topics. It is an awful situation.
And yes, all of the incentives are wrong, which does bring out the worst in many people. At this point I'm mostly curious as to whether social media is simply an experiment in which we just completely lost control, or if the terrible outcomes are, at least in part, by design.
I'm hoping you're wrong about the following: that social media has "the power to determine the outcome of entire cultures, as well as conflicts that can lead even to war." I don't think I'm alone in having abandoned it after finding general behaviour disgusting. Social media truly brings out the worst in people. A lot of folks use at least one alternative identity to "slam," "slaughter," "crush," anyone who dares contradict or engage with them in a meaningful way. I found many who wouldn't engage with me because I didn't have enough followers to be of value. I saw otherwise intelligent and thoughtful folk behave like savages. On the rare occasion I go on Facebook for Marketplace, I'll still see friends displaying such grotesquely phrased and vulgar sentiments, I lose respect for them. I think it has also eroded friendly curiosity in conversation: I've witnessed folks who went from curious interlocutors to political mic-droppers. So it has sadly affected the real world where folks used to have conversations. I call it "social media damage." It will have to be reckoned with at some point, and our culture will have to adapt to the realization that social media is actively destructive. It should be shunned by politicians: I think it's inappropriate and undignified for any serious individual to engage on these platforms. I know I'm not alone in this assessment, and I'm hoping that in time folks will come round.
Unfortunately, social media has become the medium for so much communication. There is no alternative when you want to know what is happening within certain topics. It is an awful situation.
And yes, all of the incentives are wrong, which does bring out the worst in many people. At this point I'm mostly curious as to whether social media is simply an experiment in which we just completely lost control, or if the terrible outcomes are, at least in part, by design.