The Blog of Andrew Syrios
  • Home
  • About
  • Writings and Interviews
  • Contact

The Blog of ANDREW sYRIOs

Social Media Probably Shouldn't Have Been Invented

6/6/2018

Comments

 
You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, but in hindsight, social media probably shouldn't have been invented. Hell, even Chamath Palihapitiya, the former head of growth at Facebook, admitted "we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works." The founder of Napster and onetime president of Facebook, Sean Parker, has also expressed similar fears.

This is not to say that social media has no advantages. For one, people used Twitter and Facebook during the hurricanes in Houston and Florida to alert rescue workers of their location. Hell, social media makes it a lot harder for the establishment to maintain gatekeepers. At the same time, people are also finding their way into extremist movements more and more often. 

Social media is likely raising our stress, causing a fear of missing out and leading to new and exotic forms of online harassment. There's also the problem that these tech companies, who wield enormous power, are becoming more and more politicized. But perhaps even more worryingly, social media is driving people further and further into the extremes. It's not as fun to hear the other side's argument. Instead, the comfortable place is to sit in your echo chamber. And the only place to go in an echo chamber is more extreme.

Indeed, CGP Grey made a great video about this where he talks about how the Internet, and social media in particular, is making us angry. But it's not so much angry at the other side. It's discussions with our own side about how angry the other side makes us. We are hearing what the other side thinks through little more than critique:
And the research on this matter seems to confirm the theory. As one study notes "Social Networks Spread Anger much More Effectively Than They Spread Joy or Sadness." 

I have no society-wide answer for this. But personally, I would highly recommend to take a break from social media. Use it sparingly, if at all. And get out in the real world and spend time with real people, not whatever Avatar they use in cyberspace.
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    Andrew Syrios

    "Every day is a new life to the wise man."

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Picture
    Business Websites

    Stewardship Properties
    333 Rent
    Blog Roll

    Bigger Pockets
    REI Club
    Tim Ferris
    Joe Rogan
    Adam Carolla
    MAREI
    Worcester Investments
    Entrepreneur
    The Righteous Mind
    Star Slate Codex
    Mises Institute
    Tom Woods
    Consulting by RPM
    Swift Economics

    Categories

    All

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About
  • Writings and Interviews
  • Contact