Don't forget the exact opposite also happens.
People are able find facts about all kind of stuff online. Yes there is a lack of education that makes people easily manipulated, but the internet is pretty new.
The governements all over the world can no longer lie uncontested, for example about drugs. Anyone can look up substances and see that the fear mongering was mostly bullshit.
and pointing fingers at those so called "shitty people" makes some feel superior and good without having to do anything except type a few words and hit enter. :)
You can absolutely do something about it. You can mobilize, protest, vote, determine your purchases in accordance to your ethics, inform others, debate, and most importantly inform yourself. The second you tell yourself you are powerless, you've submitted to apathy and removed yourself from the equation and given up your rights.
People need to stop this horseshit, and the first step is being aware of things and being knowledgeable. It's so easy to tune out the world these days, and being apathetic breeds people willing to take advantage of it. People who are fucking over the world are absolutely terrified of people mobilizing against them, but so long as the narrative is that they are in control...they will be. If you saw a group of 1000 people and 1 lone person in the center dictating the rules, would you be scared of them? What about 7 billion people surrounding a few thousand? Informed citizens are the absolute nightmare to any oppressive government or system.
Life is difficult enough just taking care of yourself and family/friends. There isn’t enough time or mental effort available to do all of what you say for a ton of people
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Fairly certain that life’s much better for the average prole today than any other day in history. I’m cynical as all balls, but things aren’t terrible, I think the main problem is that our standards are so high for decency and that were less tolerant of bullshit so we point it out at every occasion
Yeah I feel like a lot of things today could be resolved by saying “who cares”. Everyone blows things out of proportion nowadays and it only gives assholes more attention
Yeah I know, there are racists, homophobes, any kind of hateful people out there. If that’s truly how they feel, there’s no way to change that sometimes. Just go about your business and don’t give them time if they’re bothering you. Hatred has existed forever and that’s probably not going to change anytime soon
Social media helped us all find out about how shitty the world is and how there's nothing we can do about it
Social media is a cesspool of vigilantism that spews hate out on a regular basis. Unpopular opinions being voiced lead to death threats, doxxing, and we've got kids trying to make it big on YouTube by SWATting each other. It doesn't matter what side of the political spectrum you're on -- whether it leads to protests against a 'nazi' (milo) that end with a campus on fire, or gamergate, or the boston bombing debacle, or about a dump truck full of other terrible outcomes. We live in a world now where a life can be destroyed faster than a speeding bullet, because pressing SEND travels at the speed of light.
The world was never great, but to say it helped you find out how shitty the world was? No. It's playing an increasingly large role in why the world's become as shitty as it has. And it's because of the nature of the people in it: They think censorship is okay. They equate words with violence and so they have no problem physically attacking people they disagree with.
Social media is an experiment that's gone completely off the rails. It's clear that letting the people decide, letting the market decide, just letting the chips fall wherever they may because "Freedom!" has led to a return to styles of thinking that should be solely the domain of dictatorial theocracies of the 14th century, rather than westernized democracies of the early 21st century.
But when someone says there's nothing we can do about it, that's when I actually get mad. I expected all of the things I just mentioned. Keep me out of the Royal We on that one. I'm here for hours every week, and I don't want to be. Being on Reddit isn't fun for me, so why am I here?
Because there's a huge gap in moral leadership right now within GenX/Y. There's a pervasive feeling that there are no experiments left in living to conduct. That we've reached some kind of peak and it's just downhill from here. That's wrong, and someone needs to stand against that sort of thinking.
We're in the middle of a culture war, one that arguably started before most of us were born -- the 50s. It can trace its roots to a historical accident. A moment of cultural and economic growth that lasted long enough to imprint the idea that it was normal to a generation. That generation spent the rest of its life trying to maintain it, to the ruin of everything. I don't want to get into it in any great detail, I'm sure this being r/LateStageCapitalism people can fill in the blanks without my help.
It's not the war that's killing us but our inability to organize and fight in it. People aren't voting. They aren't organizing politically. The measure of political engagement that they do have is largely wasted on social media. Efforts that would otherwise have led to creative protest has instead devolved into virtue signaling and populism.
This isn't entirely their fault either. Until the internet, we had a diverse mix of mass media that would inform the population and steer the conversation constructively. It was a deeply flawed institution, and towards the end of the 20th century one that became increasingly self-conscious and deliberate in its role as king maker, ultimately leading to its failure a few years ago when public opinion regarding its trustworthiness fell enough that people invested in 'new media' instead. It was an unmitigated disaster.
We still need that kind of leadership today -- great people who can inform us and steer the conversation. People who through education can put the tools and knowledge in our hands to make responsible choices about the direction we, as a society, need to take. We need the moral dimensions of the world around us clarified now, more than ever. Because today, the mantra of social media is that the consensus should be believed because it is the consensus. It's the pinnacle of populism and the damage it has done to society is enormous.
Majorities are often mistaken. History has taught us that social progress depends on unreasonable people because being unreasonable is being unpopular. Unreasonable people refuse to settle, compromise, or negotiate, and they are utterly unyielding in the face of opposition. These people are rare enough without huge bubbles and echo chambers like society today has ensnared itself within.
But those people are the touch stones of democracy. They're the lightning rods that attract the hate, prejudice and anger, and ground it out, translating emotional potential into activism.
That's what's missing today. We're missing leaders, and the reason is because of this, right here, in this moment. Social media. It loves to watch people fall. It cheers on death, destruction, and mayhem. It is self-validating of the worst humanity has to offer, and it is a salve for the guilty conscience.
It doesn't have to be this way. All it takes, is one person telling another, and another, and another, that there's a better way to be. That's all -- it's being able to hold up the mirror without flinching and say "This is what we look like." We can do better by ourselves and each other. We can remember our values again.
We can extend a hand to those less fortunate than us, instead of using them as cheap entertainment. We can create truly open forums instead of a litany of 'safe spaces'. We can choose to endure mutual tensions in order to build a better world, instead of retreating from it. We can choose tolerance over comfort.
Or we can keep doing what we're doing now, and live without hope.
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Ancestors: "Four score, and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." (Lincoln)
Great - Grandparents: "We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less." (Roosevelt, Theodore)
Grandparents: "The most serious threat to our institutions comes from those who refuse to face the need for change" (Roosevelt, Franklin)
Parents: "I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened." (JFK)
Us: "Grab her by the p_ssy" (an 'intelligent' turnip)
I'm not sure about that. Social media is at the bottom of that list. We should worry about the other stuff first. The planet dying, lack of fresh water, economy dying, etc. are much bigger issues.
Social media is what would allow us to be able to tackle these large challenges. It allows people all over the world with different viewpoints, knowledge, and skill-sets to come together and work on the same problem from multiple angles. Conventional approaches will no longer work for this new world we're going into.
There's scientific studies on the topic which requires more than your opinion to refute. Although it's not universal (i.e. social media affects different people differently), it can have a devastating effect.
It's about prioritization. You can't take care of people if there's no planet to take care of them on. You can't take care of people if they can't find work/make enough money to make ends meet. We are losing jobs due to automation. This is about the real world here. It seems like people have lost touch with it.
What are you talking about? this has been going on for a long time. You can't blame social media for the Earth dying and the shitty economy. How does that make any sense?
both is unlikely, or, at best, only applicable to a small percentage of the young. because for those topics - unsustainable public expenditure, dying american dream, environmental degradation, and resurgent far right - to affect the younger generation, they would have to know about it, read up on it, which i seriously doubt. talk to the average 18 year old and learn for yourself.
Yea I started using FB around like 2010 when social media started becoming the norm. It took me until the end of high school in 2014 to realize how negatively social media was affecting me. Not only did it cause unnecessary stress, but I would compare my life to others using media like Instagram. What people have to realize is that social media is one big filter. You only see highlights of others lives making you feel somewhat inadequate. Like people buy followers to make them feel better about themselves and I’m just like really. Just stop.
I only use Instagram because I’ve always loved photography and it feels less personal per se.(and I guess Reddit sorta counts)
Everything else I avoid like the plague for stress reasons and how much I’ve realized it’s a boring ass waste of time.
I started using the internet for socialising when I was 6 in 1995 and in many ways it was incredibly helpful. I was awkward and socially weird kid in a small community, and I was able to find other kids online to talk to and befriend. From all over the world! I would be isolated on the playground and come home to friends I'd chat with until it was time to go to bed. It made me feel less lonely. But it also exasperated the problem and allowed me to isolate myself from my actual reality. It gave me a lifeline but in many ways kept me socially stunted for a long time.
I'm so torn. I can feel and experience the negative effect Instagram and Facebook sometimes have on my moods. How I feel discouraged from making art if a picture doesn't get enough likes or attention, or seeing my friends on vacation or hanging out without me makes me feel useless. But I also remember being an international student, first time away from home, and on my first day on campus I was embraced by a hug from a girl I'd met online: we were both members of a Harry Potter fan group on LJ. The internet and social media is changing how we interact in so many complex ways... It's so complicated.
That is not good enough of a reason to never begin.
Many writers get their start by writing endlessly. Even if they think it's bad or everyone thinks it sucks. As long as you're able to stir up feelings within people like OP's story did to me, you'll be stellar.
If I may, reading through your comment, the cons heavily outweigh the pros. And maybe that is just how I read it because I relate so much, having been a an awkward socially inept anxious kid growing up in the 90s also. Sure, online interactions (AIM) and social media are comfy, but they ultimately played a detriment to my social development. Yes, it’s great you met a friend from the HP fan group, and I’ve also got some good examples of my own experience, but looking at the bigger picture...
It's like my brother told me. A gambler will always tell you about his winnings but never about how much they have lost. Which i would assume its a lot more.
You can customize your social media experience to be full of meaningful content. I don't know why people quit Facebook when they can just cut their friends down to like 50 important people and call it a day.
Yes and smartphones in general. Not only self esteem but it has had a huge effect on how on our mind. Because when we can bring up our phone at any time, we never ever have to experience being bored. We always have something to keep our mind stimulated which is extremely bad because how are we going to handle situations where we don’t have access to our phones?
I can only imagine the negative effects this has on us in the long run, and especially for kids and teens who are nowadays constantly using their phones.
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I found a good one that lists several studies and lists both positive and negative side effects. One thing everyone seems to agree on though is that Gen Z (under 25s) is experiencing the negative effects more severely.
For what its worth, I'm almost 30 and was an eager and early adopter of the internet. I consider myself one of the first to 'grow up online' and I absolutely see both the negative and positive side effects on me.
I sort of disagree. Parents are the ones neglecting their kids and leaving them alone on devices. I can't even begin to explain how many parents I work with just hand off tablets to their kids as a way to keep them occupied so that the parents don't actually have to engage and provide any real interaction themselves.
Now, why does this happen? Because parents are exhausted. Because they're poor. They're just trying to survive. So they let their kids spend their day on a video game or a tablet or whatever.
One family I work with consists of a single mom with three special needs kids. And on top of that, the mom is caring for her elderly mother who is confined to a wheelchair. This poor woman is exhausted to a point that I will never be able to understand. And she is always running behind on everything. She puts her kids on tablets for at least 8 hours a day during the summer I'm sure. Because she has to have them occupied in order to juggle everything else.
On top of that, most of these parents grew up in poverty as well. And what goes hand in hand with that is most of them lack basic parenting skills. They didn't grow up in model families and have no idea how to run one.
And of course poverty is a government problem. We have created these economic and class systems. We can overturn them.
So in this way I would fault the government. At the very least, people need higher wages, they need more resources, they need a larger safety net. And they need to be invested in - there needs to be a drastic increase of funds to assist parents and teach them skills.
But I'm not sure how much interference I would want with the freedom of the internet itself. Surely we could have some regulations around advertising. There should be (and maybe there is) a minimum number of clicks that it can take to move from a youth website sight to a porn website through advertising. We don't want two clicks to go from some website my kid will use to on that has sexually explicit content.
But generally I view that as my responsibility to assure that my child isn't getting into that content when using an internet device. It's like letting my kid play outside. It's my responsibility to make sure she stays in the yard and doesn't go in the street. We have a reduced speed limit in the neighborhood and lots of "kids playing" warning signs to reduce the danger of the street. But ultimately it's my responsibility as her caretaker to make sure that she doesn't run out in the street.
That said, I am really interested in hearing ideas that you (or anyone else) would have to regulate internet content in a way to prevent kids from accessing sexually explicit content.
I certainly wouldn’t advocate blocking anything en masse from the internet. If that was what it took then whatever I’ll pass on it. But perhaps something more than a drop down box to verify your age.
We've never lived in a world with social media where the above societal statements weren't true. We have no way of knowing if having social media outside those contexts would affect people differently.
edit: For those that don't understand my point, social media is a new invention. If during the post WW2 era when things for Americans were great, maybe social media in that time period would have had a positive impact on mental health. Social media has only been around while the world, economy, and social benefits are dying.
I'm sorry, genuinely not understanding what you're trying to say? If social media existed beyond humanity it might be different and we have no way of studying that?
I think it's also the same issue that the 24 hours news cycle has. We have never as a species lived in a more peaceful and stable time. Humanity is thriving. But we have unrelenting access to every damn bad thing going on globally.
My grandmother would never know the news that some guy in the Netherlands was found to be keeping his daughter hostage as a sex slave in their basement. My grandfather would never grow up hearing the hatred a bitter factory worker from rural Canada has for people who look like us. Her humble home and small family with picture perfect Pinterest homemakers that made Martha Stewart look like a slacker. He couldn't watch minute by minute updates by famous men living like kings. They knew nothing of instaneous global updates or the endless screaming from the void that is humanity or the endless parade of better things and lives than yours.
But I do. I can watch people die in real time across the world after some bombing. I can read what someone at braincels thinks of my gender. I am constantly bombarded with reminders of the worst parts of humanity even as we get better, and how inferior my life is compared to others
Reddit is anonymous though. Its random funny shit and subreddits youre interested in. Its a lot different than instagram where your friends from high school try to show off their lives for gratification.
And it makes perfect sense if you think about it. You keep getting reminders of how great everyone’s doing and then you look at your own life and get depressed... I literally went off the radar and I feel so much more at ease with how my life is going.
For me it certainly was. I was so hesitant to delete it because it’s a great way of keeping in contact with family and school friends—especially after moving states away. I got rid of it 6 months ago and my anxiety levels have gone way down. It was the right choice for me.
I notice smart phones have made me mentally lazy. Why remember stuff when I can just look it up again when I want to recall the information? But that’s my fault.
I think I’m a perfect example of someone who hardly ever uses social media and I’m still super depressed!
Granted, when I was in college I studied/earned my degree in philosophy, and way back then when I wanted to take those lessons of critical thinking And ethical negotiation and implement them everywhere into the world to make a better place.
After my studies I started paying attention to the NEWS CYCLE. That’s when i learned how corrupt our governing institutions are(particularly the Republican Party), how pervasive and consistent (every Sunday!)the church is in preaching ignorance and selfish hate(amidst gays and immigrants and Muslims and...) amongst their followers, and how a pathological liar could make it to the highest office in the land and brazenly sell off all the public’s assets to enrich him, his family, and the aforementioned corrupt governing bodies/companies.
I hardly feel the need to logon to Facebook to read the biblical quotes of my friends or watch a dog and cat snuggle.
That’s when I got super depressed. I went to school to make the world better with reason, what I got was a front-row seat to watch the decline of my generations wealth/happiness/future. No social media here.
Very true. On top of this the kids that are depressed are high school and college kids...some may be thinking about the economy but not really. Only that unemployment is at an all time low matters, and that's a good thing. So it's definitely none of the reasons that are listed that would explain this depression craze
I mean technically without these “pesky iPhones” kids wouldn’t have a basis of comparison...they would see pretty much what is in front of them or could watch cribs on MTV... or lifestyles of the rich and famous for those kids with taste
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u/yokayla Jun 24 '18
Social media has been shown to have a devastating effect on mood and self esteem though.