NFT: the weaponization of social media

is dangerous. It is fucking toxic.

i can give on a personal level esp to parents of tweens and teens is to spend time on the sites that your kids are already on: 4Chan, Reddit (and Subreddit), Tumblr etc. Forget FB - no one under 30 is on there. Kids have Instas and Finstas (fake accounts) where they can post things for their friends they dont want you to see. Ask your teen if they have a Finsta and they will be shocked lol.
Do a DEEP dive into these sites and you will find things that shock you - links to secondary sites like ProAna (tips on how be anorexic without your parents catching you) or sites that encourage suicide or glorify Incels. Its much darker out there than many think. Knowledge is power.

I mean to say Rinstas (Regular) and Finstas (Fake). And of course Snapchat as well. And even on YouTube there is all kinds of stuff that would surpise you (like the scene in the terrific movie Eighth Grade where she watches YT tutorials on how to give BJs.) Kids dont watch TV anymore but they live on YT.

Our president....

It’s like a distillation of the internet - itself a profoundly transformative medium. Now anyone on earth has multiple platforms they can use to instantly publish their thoughts and experiences and broadcast them to the world. That’s always existed in some form with the internet but Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are basically massive digital town squares that connect people in a way a message board or blog never will.

I think all of this stuff is massively destabilizing for society and it will take time to properly adjust to it, which I hope we will. Spend too much time on Twitter and you would think the next US Civil War is right around the corner, but it doesn’t really reflect the interactions people have in every day life in person.

And risks. It is for sure being used by bad actors to fuel criminal activity terror and destabilize democracies. Social media platforms are not the only places where those risks are present there are non social media sites and smartphone applications as well as the dark web where those risks appear

In comment 14117713 JerrysKids said:

Quote:

Our president....

Grow up

In comment 14117679 Jints in Carolina said:

Quote:

is dangerous. It is fucking toxic.

I would throw in the 24 hour news cycle as well..

In comment 14117748 Jerry from Maine said:

Quote:

In comment 14117679 Jints in Carolina said: Quote: is dangerous. It is fucking toxic. I would throw in the 24 hour news cycle as well..

Clickbait sh*t stirrer sports journalist are little different than their corporate media journalist counterparts.

And you compound that fact that it erodes communication skills and is engineered to manipulate our biology to create an addiction.

These platforms give users the ability to lash out directly and personally with no real repercussion, users have less and less real connections in their life so they feel isolated and alone, and they can't break the dopamine addiction so its a vicious cycle.

Got tired of debunking rubbish. Ditched my reddit account. I'm a lurker now. I stay informed, but I'd lose my job, get an ulcer or both if I kept interacting with the shit-flinging monkeys that are out there.

The problem, to me, isn't Social Media or News organizations.

It's a dumbed-down populace, with an alarming lack of critical thinking skills.

An actual educated nation wouldn't stand for half the shit presented to us every single day, be it from a Russian troll farm or from Major Nightly News reporting.

People I have known all my life,very well educated and outwardly intelligent people, have turned into group affirmation junkies, ad hominem and received wisdom spouting, non thinking parrots.

Amirite Gang?



(Lil ironic joke, but really)

arguing that "2/3 of Americans who don't belong to either extreme constitute an 'exhausted majority'" who "share a sense of fatigue with our polarized national conversation"--similar idea. I won't link in case that is too political, but you know how to Google if you're interested.

is how it produces conformity. You would think millions of people from different backgrounds would lead to diversity of thought but exactly the opposite is actually the case.

It's 2018, you don't need a social media platform to keep in touch with loved ones. There's a preponderance of semi-private and private group chat apps that accomplish that.

But society at large remains on social media platforms to feed their narcissism, get likes, get followers, etc. It's only a "weapon" when you tune in and subscribe. Blaming Facebook or political parties is a waste of time. Just leave.

History and geography are basically not taught.
when you hear interviews on the street it's hard to believe.
Dwight D, Eisenhower was a general in the Civil War
The state west of California is Catalina Island (the right answer is actually all of them)
why was the Revolutionary war fought
Answer- no clue

with that mentality you can influence anyone with the bombastic sensationalized media or the alternative apathetic take care of me mentality

NFT: Social Media Mob Mentality

and...

NFT: Follow up to my social media mob mentality post.... - ( New Window )

In comment 14117878 Vanzetti said:

Quote:

is how it produces conformity. You would think millions of people from different backgrounds would lead to diversity of thought but exactly the opposite is actually the case.

People have always wanted to be part of a group, that will never change as its human nature (IMO). The problem is on most if not all topics, there's only 2 groups to choose from (2 very contrasting sides). I often tote the middle line on most BBI topics but it generally falls on deaf ears.

It's like:

"Look at me"!

" Look at my outrage"!

"Did I score my daily approvals"?

(Goes back to whatever con he's working)

In comment 14117747 Jerry from Maine said:

Quote:

In comment 14117713 JerrysKids said: Quote: Our president.... Grow up

You know social media is a problem when even Jerry's are going at one another.

They don't know when they are being conned. They are lemmings all following one another without thinking for themselves. Turning into robots who do not know how to interact with humans face to face. They all want to belong to a tribe And will go along with whatever their tribal leaders say.

Parents today are huge failures and most of them don't even know it and are actually pretty proud of themselves for raising kids who could not survive if left without power for more than 24 hrs

West of California I would only say Hawaii and Alaska. Do you mean all of them in the sense that the earth is round and if you just keep heading west eventually you will hit the the rest of the United States? If so I’d say that’s a weird way of defining it, it means everything is east and west of everything else which is literally true but also pointless.

to stay in touch with friends who are no longer local to me as well as keep up with birthdays and look at the occasional funny vid.

I use IG ONLY to look at hot babes

I twat only during the draft.

If I ever become part of a marketing department or own my own bidness, I will use them differently.

Period.

I joined in 2005 too.

I was a lurking Giants.com member before that.

Same shit back then.

In comment 14118075 Oscar said:

Quote:

West of California I would only say Hawaii and Alaska. Do you mean all of them in the sense that the earth is round and if you just keep heading west eventually you will hit the the rest of the United States? If so I’d say that’s a weird way of defining it, it means everything is east and west of everything else which is literally true but also pointless.

not pointless at all the earth is round and that's exactly the right answer.. the obvious answer is Hawaii but to take it to the next level with today's youth would be a miracle. most kids cannot make change of a dollar in their heads. very sad

In comment 14117964 gtt350 said:

Quote:

History and geography are basically not taught. when you hear interviews on the street it's hard to believe. Dwight D, Eisenhower was a general in the Civil War The state west of California is Catalina Island (the right answer is actually all of them) why was the Revolutionary war fought Answer- no clue with that mentality you can influence anyone with the bombastic sensationalized media or the alternative apathetic take care of me mentality

Universal enfranchisement sucks ass. A better system is limited enfranchisement based on military service as proposed by Heinlein or a Philosopher King as proposed by Plwto.

Politically what is happening inside of the Alphabet company, Facebook, Twitter, and so on is pretty scary to me. Take a look at what happened with mobs in Rome at the end of the Republic. Now we're to have mobs here as a sort of approved form of political expression -- if you're on the mob's side? How long will it take the side that doesn't yet do mobs to take them up? Then what? Guns?

Is essentially based around this issue. Personally I got rid of all social media sans BBI and email in 2013. I also have stopped watching and reading the news unless someone brings a topic to my attention and then I’ll review it for a second and avoid others opinions on the matter.

No joke, my stress level is literally 50% less than it used to be. All the polarization caused by socials and 24 hour news cycles really don’t exist when you’re out there in the real world, holding doors, saying hello and generally interacting with fellow humans. Don’t have time to deal with bullshit that’s out of my control. I highly recommend this way of life to anyone looking to remove stress from their lives.