On balance, has social media been a net positive to the human race.

[El Presidente]

This was a raucous Friday afternoon topic of discussion on the deck 

Global friendships, staying in touch with family, engagement  V  the dumbing down of society, generational isolationism, communication control  behemoths. 

Staying within the bounds of FOH discussion policy

On balance, has social media been a net positive to the human race?

If the opportunity arose, what would you do differently if you could start again.  

Let's define it as 

applications that facilitate the participation  in social networking.

[Lotusguy]

I suppose this is a poll (which isn’t visible on Tapatalk).

Net negative, unless you call newsgroups social media as well. What would I do differently? Strictly enforced data privacy.

[Colt45]

I'm not sure I consider FOH and it's like social media, but I suppose in reality it / they might just be. As for the rest.....

If you go to a concert and spend the whole time taking video with your phone so you can post it - did you see the concert?

A few weeks back, for the first time in my life, some "kids" at a gym I go to were taking videos of themselves.

Politicians and sports figures on social media.... Sigh

A person feels the need to post some of their life experiences. Others feel the need to post their opinions on said experiences.

And so on, and so on.

It's an effing joke.......

(my opinion only)

[Guest Nekhyludov]

I have a difficult time seeing how anyone who has spent more than five minutes on Twitter could possibly view any meager good that happens there as anything more than an icecube in an ocean.

[inter4alia]

At the beginning of social media some years ago I would have answered yes. But currently, the answer is absolutely, no. Not even close.  

[TTP21]

The application of this would be incredibly challenging, but holding social media companies accountable for ensuring a 1 for 1 proposition with respect to people and accounts while simultaneously enforcing very basic rules around decency would go a long way towards cleaning things up. 

The fact is the anonymity that the internet provides gives folks a license to say and do whatever they want.  If anonymity was removed from the equation in some way, you'd likely find people less likely to act like uncivilized fools.  At least I hope you would....

[Colt45]

7 minutes ago, TTP21 said:

The application of this would be incredibly challenging, but holding social media companies accountable for ensuring a 1 for 1 proposition with respect to people and accounts while simultaneously enforcing very basic rules around decency would go a long way towards cleaning things up. 

The fact is the anonymity that the internet provides gives folks a license to say and do whatever they want.  If anonymity was removed from the equation in some way, you'd likely find people less likely to act like uncivilized fools.  At least I hope you would....

Or, how about we just hold ourselves accountable?

If we're that indoctrinated to social media, we deserve what we get. There's another recent discussion regarding alcohol and tobacco on social media sites.

If it bothers us that much, cut ties....

 

[mbflash80]

I would say net NO...all I have to do is watch my two teenage daughters completely ignore my wife and I in conversation as they sit glued to the interface of their phones and instagram, or snapchat or whatever...I deleted my facebook a few months back and it has truly been liberating...I still have Twitter but that is solely for sports news and music news...as I get older I enjoy my time the old fashioned way...face to face social interaction 

[El Presidente]

Let's define it as 

applications that facilitate the participation  in social networking.

[LLC]

No. 

[MD Puffer]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

On balance, has social media been a net positive to the human race?

If the opportunity arose, what would you do differently if you could start again.  

1.  Hell no. Not by a long shot.

2.  I would scrap it and never implement it.  There's something about the anonymity of social media that brings out the worst in people.  I personally think it has stunted the social skills of a whole generation- and going on a second one.  I'm not referring to moderated forums and the like but all the rest.  And there's the compulsive nature of it which causes people to put it before more important things in life.  And the anonymity of it seems to bring out the worst in people - and it's self-conscious children and adolescents who have to deal with that garbage more often than not.  Call me a fat baldy to my face and I'll laugh and say, "yes, and your point is???"  Call me a fat baldy on the internet from an anonymous posting?  That would bug the hell out of me.  Call some kid something like that (and they'll call them far worse than "fat baldy's") then that crushes a kid.  Note- no one has anonymously called me a fat baldy online (as of yet).  I had a patient call me something to that effect once but he was just a kid- and probably too wrapped up in social media and I couldn't care less.  My kiddo will get a very limited amount of time on any social media platform and I can guarantee it'll be supervised as well.  I know many will say that they use it in moderation and have suffered no ill effects- but my guess would be that they had an upbringing that involved having to interact with people in a "normal" fashion.  

[MD Puffer]

37 minutes ago, juri said:

if you mean social media as in casual stuff like twitter facebook ect then yes, but ive been on the net my whole life back when there was just irc usenet ect and id never have cuban cigars if it wasn't for the internet ?

Of course.  This is precisely why we'd have to carve out an exception for forums like FOH...

[Colt45]

17 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Let's define it as 

applications that facilitate the participation  in social networking.

You mean like Grindr?

[JamesKPolkEsq]

Can there be an internet without social media? If so, would it be exclusively for companies?

I'm not sure it would exist. FOH is social media, no?

[El Presidente]

10 minutes ago, JamesKPolkEsq said:

Can there be an internet without social media? If so, would it be exclusively for companies?

I'm not sure it would exist. FOH is social media, no?

FOH is certainly a form of social medial. I would like to think one that has been moderated from the start (too much for some and too little for others!)

The problem with SM is trying to get the genie back in the bottle when the genie has no intention of being shackled 

Govt has come to the party late but now with a big stick. I doubt tobacco/liquor will last on any platform. 

See you on the dark web. Fuzz will provide the directions 

[CampDelta369]

A negative for this reason. They are starting to study if social media use is actually causal in the increase of teen suicide. It’s disturbing. 

https://nypost.com/2017/11/14/rise-in-teen-suicide-connected-to-social-media-popularity-study/

 

[Hadroxity]

I've completely removed myself from all social media, except for reddit if you can count it as that. 

[Islandboy]

Net negative IMO. It would be an absolute negative save for places like FoH, where the quality and character of the usership is the main difference. But I suspect this is partly due to the strict guidelines we agree to adhere to. Without them, FoH would likely be a cluster**k of raging opinions just like every other forum.

It’s really too bad, because the potential for good is definitely there...sort of like the potential for good in explosives also exists.

To a gullible world population that is far too easily influenced, I would say (in my best Jack Nicholson voice), “Social media? YOU CAN’T HANDLE Social Media!!"

[ayepatz]

Social media has given rise to the notion that everybody’s opinion counts and must be recognised, regardless if it happens to be nonsensical, ill-informed, or illiterate.

 

 

[Deeg]

5 minutes ago, ayepatz said:

Social media has given rise to the notion that everybody’s opinion counts and must be recognised, regardless if it happens to be nonsensical, ill-informed, or illiterate.

 

 

And that such people should be presidents and prime ministers.

[Rupe]

On the positive side, cigar forums have allowed me to develop some wonderful friendships and meet people with a common interest. This has led to spending time with some truly wonderful people in the real world and has created deep friendships that never would have developed otherwise. Facebook has also allowed me to keep in touch as well as reconnect with old friends that have moved on with their lives or moved away. It has also allowed me to keep in touch with Family members (cousins, etc) that I may only get to see now at weddings or funerals.

On the downside it has led to a society that now seems to be very self obsessed and narcissistic. It has also caused a very tribalistic us vs them mentality that I feel is increasingly ruining humanity in general.

Ironically it has made my life better while at the same time ruining the human race.

[dobbs]

19 minutes ago, Islandboy said:

Net negative IMO. It would be an absolute negative save for places like FoH, where the quality and character of the usership is the main difference.

i agree with Islandboy. there are a bunch of reasons why some forms are positive and worthwhile, but like most things, i imagine it is cyclical.

what would i do differently? probably not much, behavior of the general public has been appalling since i was old enough to conceptualize, why should "social media" be any different? okay, just changed my mind, i would try to lessen the magnification effect. not sure how though...

-dobbs

[alloy]

With Zuckerberg being fined $5 BILLION for the data breach against 2.3 million (or is it billion subscribers?), I believe it definitely needs cleaning up.  

[bayala]

As a 25 year old I couldn't resist posting these although I do agree that social media is a net negative

 

[Fuzz AI]

51 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

FOH is certainly a form of social medial. I would like to think one that has been moderated from the start (too much for some and too little for others!)

The problem with SM is trying to get the genie back in the bottle when the genie has no intention of being shackled 

Govt has come to the party late but now with a big stick. I doubt tobacco/liquor will last on any platform. 

See you on the dark web. Fuzz will provide the directions 

So email the links to your other email account?