"Social Media" is societal cancer
Discussion
I looked into social media a lot as I was researching a chapter for a book I published a couple of months ago.
It does, without doubt, have both huge advantages and dreadful disadvantages.
Examples of good:
It does, without doubt, have both huge advantages and dreadful disadvantages.
Examples of good:
my book said:
Social media, as a concept, generally gets a bad press. It is a soft target for those commentators who wish to blame the world’s ills on whatever is currently fashionable amongst the young (see also punk music, heavy metal, video games, hoodies, meow meow and happy slapping). Disregarding the negative media headlines, it must be said that social media does have many advantages, from the useful to the essential.
The platforms can, for example, help you reconnect with long-lost friends, find a job, discuss shared interests with strangers and share news immediately across the globe. These are all collaborative and positive functions, but one especially, developed by Facebook, is a great tool for good. The “Safety Check”, introduced in October 2014, allowed a user in proximity of a terrorist event or natural disaster to mark on their profile that they were safe. The feature’s first major outing was after the Nepal earthquake of May 2015, and has since been used a couple of dozen times in other tragic incidents such as the Nice terrorist attacks of 2016 and the 2017 wildfire in Christchurch, New Zealand. This kind of functionality has undoubtedly helped humankind in the sharing of useful information and reducing load on other infrastructures such as the mobile phone network that could better be used by the emergency services.
Examples of bad:The platforms can, for example, help you reconnect with long-lost friends, find a job, discuss shared interests with strangers and share news immediately across the globe. These are all collaborative and positive functions, but one especially, developed by Facebook, is a great tool for good. The “Safety Check”, introduced in October 2014, allowed a user in proximity of a terrorist event or natural disaster to mark on their profile that they were safe. The feature’s first major outing was after the Nepal earthquake of May 2015, and has since been used a couple of dozen times in other tragic incidents such as the Nice terrorist attacks of 2016 and the 2017 wildfire in Christchurch, New Zealand. This kind of functionality has undoubtedly helped humankind in the sharing of useful information and reducing load on other infrastructures such as the mobile phone network that could better be used by the emergency services.
my book said:
The heaviest users of social media are teenagers, a difficult period of life at the best of times, but the elements of competitiveness, boastfulness and one-upmanship that are endemic on social platforms all combine to cause damage.
Users of platforms like Facebook and Instagram are more likely to post items that portray them in the light they wish to be portrayed in. Just have a look through your Facebook newsfeed. All your friends are on sun-drenched holidays, having beautiful babies and landing incredible new jobs. It is all too easy to accept this as the reality of how other people are living, a showcase of their “normal” lives, and compare this with your own lot – the relative mundanity of your day to day and your perceived lack of success. What you fail to appreciate is that your friends, with their babies and beaches, may also have cellulite, a receding hairline or an ill family member which they are not going to publicise. amongst all this, there is a disturbing narcissism, a self-confidence boosting motive that screams I’m so much better than you.
One thing we can be sure of is that they are not going to go away:Users of platforms like Facebook and Instagram are more likely to post items that portray them in the light they wish to be portrayed in. Just have a look through your Facebook newsfeed. All your friends are on sun-drenched holidays, having beautiful babies and landing incredible new jobs. It is all too easy to accept this as the reality of how other people are living, a showcase of their “normal” lives, and compare this with your own lot – the relative mundanity of your day to day and your perceived lack of success. What you fail to appreciate is that your friends, with their babies and beaches, may also have cellulite, a receding hairline or an ill family member which they are not going to publicise. amongst all this, there is a disturbing narcissism, a self-confidence boosting motive that screams I’m so much better than you.
my book said:
Although Facebook is the flagship brand when it comes to social media, a glance at statistics from other well-known platforms is equally as ludicrous. In 2017, in a single 60-second period, people watched 4,271,040 videos on YouTube and 500 hours of additional content was added to the site. Netflix users streamed 69,444 hours of video, 48,480 photographs were added to Instagram and 467,580 Tweets were sent on Twitter. If you must insist on including Facebook, 3.3 million new status updates appeared in that same one-minute period. The numbers bandied about when talking about these brands are barely believable; there is a glut of content, far too much on just one of these platforms, let alone all of them, to consume in a lifetime. There is a huge overabundance of information and choice.
An interesting issue with fake news and social media is it's self reinforcing. People tend to be friends with people who share similar views and a lot of people now get their news via social media so tend to see a pretty one sided view of the world. Couple that with social media giving people a platform from which to shout, and those with the more extreme/skewed views tend to shout loudest, does cause issues. Would "Incel" be a thing without some kind of social media allowing individual loners to discover there are other sad loners out there and rant at each other to reinforce their beliefs?
I'd definitely include PH as social media, PH members are a definite subset of society who often don't realise that some people just drive a car to get from A to B, and some people can't even afford cars
People slagging off Facebook because it's full of narcissistic idiots is always amusing though, it's a way of connecting with your friends, it's hardly facebooks fault if your friends are narcissistic idiots
I'd definitely include PH as social media, PH members are a definite subset of society who often don't realise that some people just drive a car to get from A to B, and some people can't even afford cars
People slagging off Facebook because it's full of narcissistic idiots is always amusing though, it's a way of connecting with your friends, it's hardly facebooks fault if your friends are narcissistic idiots
What scares me more is that quite often a daft view is supported by others through likes. You can discount one person as a nutter but all of a sudden there are multiple people that agree.
My favorite recently was someone moaning about a bus lane scheme, the lady claimed that it must be a squeezed in at the end of the financial year and must be a backhander. I pointed out the public consultation was six months ago and that if she had evidence she should report it as corruption was a serious crime. Her reply, "no I don't have any evidence but I stand by my previous statement". How do you argue with crazy like that.
My favorite recently was someone moaning about a bus lane scheme, the lady claimed that it must be a squeezed in at the end of the financial year and must be a backhander. I pointed out the public consultation was six months ago and that if she had evidence she should report it as corruption was a serious crime. Her reply, "no I don't have any evidence but I stand by my previous statement". How do you argue with crazy like that.
Edited by Type R Tom on Thursday 26th April 14:40
TheFlyingBanana said:
Jasandjules said:
And what do you think Pistonheads is, when you really break it down?
It isn't the same by any stretch of the imagination.
tter etc, are on a totally different level, or, they seem that way to me. To be honest, I find them rather sad, inhabited by hoardes of delusional, self obsessed fantasists. If their lives are so good, why are they not living it, instead of gurning online to anyone that will listen? It would be easy to say its a problem of callow youth, and a lot fill that category, but many of those of older generations are just as obsessed with FB et al. How many times have you sat in a pub/cafe etc, and spotted a small group of people at a table having coffee together, whatever?. Yet there they sit , zero conversation , all of them, faces stuck in their phones on whatever platform , people of all ages as well . Its sad. I can perhaps understand people using FB etc to keep in touch with friends/family that live over distance, yet I have that scenario, and email does just the job fine.
The Op relates to the phenomena as a menace to society , and to a certain extent I agree. My Daughter is a middle manger for a banking company, and as part of her remit she is actively involved in the recruiting process for certain functions. She has considerable problems finnding suitable recruits, basically because so many who apply, have seemingly suitable paper credentials, but just cannot interact properly with other people, face to face , as an image projected from a screen no problem , but good old human interaction, sadly very lacking. Its very worrying.
Edited by Hosenbugler on Thursday 26th April 14:44
We're only beginning to scratch the surface on how corrosive it is; people spend so much time immersed in echo chambers that the very idea that there are other people out there with different ideas to them becomes shocking and offensive and something they can't deal with. Its very weird.
I only joined FB 9 or so years ago to see what the mrs was up to. Now I look in to see pics of family nephews etc and friends holidays. I don't really "do" anything with it. The mrs on the other hand is all over sm and can spend forever on her phone, we have a no phones rule when we're in t'pub or having a meal etc, nothing more depressing than observing couples spending the whole evening buried in their phones when out together. She still does it too much IMO, is always getting angry about what some pond life is tweeting about following f1 incidents etc. That thing really seems the pits.
I only joined FB 9 or so years ago to see what the mrs was up to. Now I look in to see pics of family nephews etc and friends holidays. I don't really "do" anything with it. The mrs on the other hand is all over sm and can spend forever on her phone, we have a no phones rule when we're in t'pub or having a meal etc, nothing more depressing than observing couples spending the whole evening buried in their phones when out together. She still does it too much IMO, is always getting angry about what some pond life is tweeting about following f1 incidents etc. That thing really seems the pits.
hairyben said:
We're only beginning to scratch the surface on how corrosive it is; people spend so much time immersed in echo chambers that the very idea that there are other people out there with different ideas to them becomes shocking and offensive and something they can't deal with. Its very weird.
Now go and look in the NP&E forum Mojooo said:
I think Twitter is worse than FB.
The 'problem' with Twitter is that it allows sharing of opinions and messages so quickly. If people don't think Twitter has a real affect on real world issues then they are naive.
The 'problem' with Twitter is that it allows sharing of opinions and messages so quickly. If people don't think Twitter has a real affect on real world issues then they are naive.
Twitter is awful. I don't use it, never have, and yet according to the news media I should care that a load of sanctimonious pricks spend all day long getting professionally offended over almost everything. On another thread, a poster was complaining about kids in his cul-de-sac playing football and making too much noise outside his window, and the risk of said football his car.
He did not know how to approach this matter, and so decided to complain about it on PistonHeads, rather than by talking to the children and/or their parents in a friendly way explaining his concerns, which is surely what all of us on this thread would expect to be the "correct" way of doing things.
No doubt the influence of Social Media, (or other threads on PH, sensationalist news articles), have given that poster the fear that you can't talk to your neighbours without being hunted off your street by a gang of hooded men with pitchforks in the night...
He did not know how to approach this matter, and so decided to complain about it on PistonHeads, rather than by talking to the children and/or their parents in a friendly way explaining his concerns, which is surely what all of us on this thread would expect to be the "correct" way of doing things.
No doubt the influence of Social Media, (or other threads on PH, sensationalist news articles), have given that poster the fear that you can't talk to your neighbours without being hunted off your street by a gang of hooded men with pitchforks in the night...
I was washing the car last weekend and two kids were playing football on the grass opposite my house. They lined up the goal so any miss would probably make it to the car.........
the car was hit..........
ball stuck under car..........
young lad - about 12 wanders over and apologises.
My response was "it's not made of glass mate, just try not to aim at it"
I didn't post anything angry anywhere about it.
I want to encourage the youngster to love cars, not think they shouldn't owned or touched.
the car was hit..........
ball stuck under car..........
young lad - about 12 wanders over and apologises.
My response was "it's not made of glass mate, just try not to aim at it"
I didn't post anything angry anywhere about it.
I want to encourage the youngster to love cars, not think they shouldn't owned or touched.
Timmy40 said:
Jasandjules said:
And what do you think Pistonheads is, when you really break it down?
Alot of fat/skinny bald blokes pretending to be powerfully built, 6ft 2in Company Directors who know Martial arts?I'll have you know, I've got a full set of hair and not just on my beer belly.
captain_cynic said:
Timmy40 said:
Jasandjules said:
And what do you think Pistonheads is, when you really break it down?
Alot of fat/skinny bald blokes pretending to be powerfully built, 6ft 2in Company Directors who know Martial arts?I'll have you know, I've got a full set of hair and not just on my beer belly.
RizzoTheRat said:
hairyben said:
We're only beginning to scratch the surface on how corrosive it is; people spend so much time immersed in echo chambers that the very idea that there are other people out there with different ideas to them becomes shocking and offensive and something they can't deal with. Its very weird.
Now go and look in the NP&E forum The empty can rattles the most.
The content of Facebook is determined by you and your friends. If you like crap, follow crap or have crap friends you'll get served a diet of crap. With a tiny bit of maintenance you'll not see any politics or news just things that interest you. Ironically I do Facebook mostly for car and racing content and PH for arguing with idiots. 
fblm said:
The content of Facebook is determined by you and your friends. If you like crap, follow crap or have crap friends you'll get served a diet of crap. With a tiny bit of maintenance you'll not see any politics or news just things that interest you. Ironically I do Facebook mostly for car and racing content and PH for arguing with idiots.
Hi! 
FB dishes up all sorts of stuff because I have all sorts of friends and relatives. They don't seem to mind me picking holes in their nonsense or the nonsense that I post up too much, otherwise they'd drop off the radar. Granted, some stuff is best ignored, but that's pretty much life in general, unless you live in a bubble.
Digga said:
Hi!
FB dishes up all sorts of stuff because I have all sorts of friends and relatives. They don't seem to mind me picking holes in their nonsense or the nonsense that I post up too much, otherwise they'd drop off the radar. Granted, some stuff is best ignored, but that's pretty much life in general, unless you live in a bubble.
Most people seem unaware that you can unfollow but remain friends. I don't want to talk to real friends online. That's what pubs are for.FB dishes up all sorts of stuff because I have all sorts of friends and relatives. They don't seem to mind me picking holes in their nonsense or the nonsense that I post up too much, otherwise they'd drop off the radar. Granted, some stuff is best ignored, but that's pretty much life in general, unless you live in a bubble.
Timmy40 said:
Mojooo said:
I think Twitter is worse than FB.
The 'problem' with Twitter is that it allows sharing of opinions and messages so quickly. If people don't think Twitter has a real affect on real world issues then they are naive.
The 'problem' with Twitter is that it allows sharing of opinions and messages so quickly. If people don't think Twitter has a real affect on real world issues then they are naive.
Twitter is awful. I don't use it, never have, and yet according to the news media I should care that a load of sanctimonious pricks spend all day long getting professionally offended over almost everything. You can turn on TV and watch Celebrity Toaster Swap, and conclude TV is rubbish. Or watch the latest Attenborough documentary, and be blown away. Twitter is no different.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Timmy40 said:
Mojooo said:
I think Twitter is worse than FB.
The 'problem' with Twitter is that it allows sharing of opinions and messages so quickly. If people don't think Twitter has a real affect on real world issues then they are naive.
The 'problem' with Twitter is that it allows sharing of opinions and messages so quickly. If people don't think Twitter has a real affect on real world issues then they are naive.
Twitter is awful. I don't use it, never have, and yet according to the news media I should care that a load of sanctimonious pricks spend all day long getting professionally offended over almost everything. You can turn on TV and watch Celebrity Toaster Swap, and conclude TV is rubbish. Or watch the latest Attenborough documentary, and be blown away. Twitter is no different.
fblm said:
Digga said:
Hi!
FB dishes up all sorts of stuff because I have all sorts of friends and relatives. They don't seem to mind me picking holes in their nonsense or the nonsense that I post up too much, otherwise they'd drop off the radar. Granted, some stuff is best ignored, but that's pretty much life in general, unless you live in a bubble.
Most people seem unaware that you can unfollow but remain friends. I don't want to talk to real friends online. That's what pubs are for.FB dishes up all sorts of stuff because I have all sorts of friends and relatives. They don't seem to mind me picking holes in their nonsense or the nonsense that I post up too much, otherwise they'd drop off the radar. Granted, some stuff is best ignored, but that's pretty much life in general, unless you live in a bubble.
Also, bizzarrely, some of the most amusing people on my FB are people I've never met, friends of friends who added me.
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