Social media dehumanize us. Unpleasant people drag others into their stupidity. Simply ignore it and it may go away. Every time someone says to you “I heard XYZ” gently ask ‘Where’, ‘How do you know it is true’, and ‘What do you think’. Longer term we have to educate people (particularly the young) in how to think and reason.
I have left all social media except LinkedIn and I never had any regrets about it. There may be some good content on Twitter but honestly, I can get better content längere without the poisonous environment.
social (and anti-social) media is just a tool. You take it out of the box, use it, and put it back in.
The problem is in treating a tool like a toy, no matter whether it's cars (which IMO have much larger externalities), or TV, or whatnot. Perhaps that is a facet of the infantilization of society, that people think everything is there for their personal amusement. Or maybe it's an anthropological desire to Potlatch your status neuroses.
Personally, I have profited by following some financial folks on the Xitter, and will hopefully continue to do so, until the time Musky really manages to ruin it.
I have never used social media platforms, so I am not knowledgeable about the content and content quality, but I can still understand why. It gives people an outlet they never really had before. It’s too easy to rip into someone, close the app, and move on with your life, as you are untrackable unless you are a public figure. The same is true for spreading false rumors; there are no consequences for spreading rumors or fake news. Most people have no time or desire to validate everything they see on social media and pass it on to others.
“False news is more novel, and people are more likely to share novel information, and people who share novel information are seen as being in the know.”
“We saw a different emotional profile for false and true news,” Vosoughi says. “People respond to false news more with surprise and disgust,” he notes, whereas true stories produced replies more generally characterized by sadness, anticipation, and trust.
Social media dehumanize us. Unpleasant people drag others into their stupidity. Simply ignore it and it may go away. Every time someone says to you “I heard XYZ” gently ask ‘Where’, ‘How do you know it is true’, and ‘What do you think’. Longer term we have to educate people (particularly the young) in how to think and reason.
I have left all social media except LinkedIn and I never had any regrets about it. There may be some good content on Twitter but honestly, I can get better content längere without the poisonous environment.
social (and anti-social) media is just a tool. You take it out of the box, use it, and put it back in.
The problem is in treating a tool like a toy, no matter whether it's cars (which IMO have much larger externalities), or TV, or whatnot. Perhaps that is a facet of the infantilization of society, that people think everything is there for their personal amusement. Or maybe it's an anthropological desire to Potlatch your status neuroses.
Personally, I have profited by following some financial folks on the Xitter, and will hopefully continue to do so, until the time Musky really manages to ruin it.
I have never used social media platforms, so I am not knowledgeable about the content and content quality, but I can still understand why. It gives people an outlet they never really had before. It’s too easy to rip into someone, close the app, and move on with your life, as you are untrackable unless you are a public figure. The same is true for spreading false rumors; there are no consequences for spreading rumors or fake news. Most people have no time or desire to validate everything they see on social media and pass it on to others.
I remember reading below sometime back (https://news.mit.edu/2018/study-twitter-false-news-travels-faster-true-stories-0308), which seems to have some truth to it:
“False news is more novel, and people are more likely to share novel information, and people who share novel information are seen as being in the know.”
“We saw a different emotional profile for false and true news,” Vosoughi says. “People respond to false news more with surprise and disgust,” he notes, whereas true stories produced replies more generally characterized by sadness, anticipation, and trust.
I will not be psyopped into spreading fake good news!