Social media is destroying our humanity

[colbysullivan]

A couple years ago, the 19-14-12 year olds in the house got their smart phones taken away due to talking back, etc. We told them we'd give them back in a week.

Within hours, it was like watching a heroin addict going thru withdrawals.

I'm forcing my 10-year old son to read physical, tangible books (not even Kindle). He is struggling beyond belief. He sees the size of the book and freaks out. He can't sit still when reading either, and he's NEVER like that otherwise. Screen withdrawals, man.

 

[Tideflyer]

In all honesty, I cannot recall the last time I had a negative interaction with someone in the real world. As much as foreign nationals (along with cosplayers here at home) may want civil war, I just don't think the actual hatred exists. I doubt any of the people who post themselves laughing at someone's death or rabidly insult another person online does the same in real life.

I think a LOT of the hatred we see is the internet allowing people to act out their deep angers and frustrations with little recourse. Weak people who vent via keyboard, saying things they would NEVER say in real life.

I’m not so sure those deep seated hatred’s and dislikes don’t exist, I’m sorry to say, boss. Of course people won’t be so brazen face to face. That would lead to some EXTREMELY expensive dental bills. Doesn’t mean they don’t harbor some really malevolent feelings and intentions. And that’s just the social media we can see! I do believe there a dark web that has some REALLY nasty stuff on it.

 

[arthurdawg]

This has been my experience as well. There are a lot of helpful people there that really can help you with practically anything. I just keep my inquiries limited and to the point. I don't browse at all because I've seen the dark side of it and once was enough.

I had forgotten about Reddit. I have posted there maybe 20 times over the years but you can find great threads with good info.

One of our Vizio TVs suffered a broken stand and I found a Reddit post with options to order parts and had it taken care of in 10 minutes, and the replacements worked perfectly.

I've also tracked a good number of mountain biking threads and hobbyist stuff through the years.

But yes... Avoid the scummy pits of hell that you can find there. Ugh.

 

[arthurdawg]

I'm forcing my 10-year old son to read physical, tangible books (not even Kindle). He is struggling beyond belief. He sees the size of the book and freaks out. He can't sit still when reading either, and he's NEVER like that otherwise. Screen withdrawals, man.

You are wise in doing this, reading on paper is the best thing kids can do. Doesn't really even matter so much what they are reading. Just read.

I hate that our schools are all computerized. Educational studies indicated paper and pencil has many advantages.

 

[Bodhisattva]

I'm forcing my 10-year old son to read physical, tangible books (not even Kindle). He is struggling beyond belief. He sees the size of the book and freaks out. He can't sit still when reading either, and he's NEVER like that otherwise. Screen withdrawals, man.

Good for you! You're son will appreciate it one day.

I love the look and feel of actual books. I have a library full of them! I can't do kindle. I have to have a (preferably hardcover) book in my hands. My routine in the evening, after dealing with the nonsense that is government bureaucracy, is to get a book and settle in my favorite chair on the lanai and listen to the waterfall in the garden. Eases the tension from the day in no time.

 

[Its On A Slab]

I'm forcing my 10-year old son to read physical, tangible books (not even Kindle). He is struggling beyond belief. He sees the size of the book and freaks out. He can't sit still when reading either, and he's NEVER like that otherwise. Screen withdrawals, man.

Only recently did our now 17 year old (before heading off to 1st year of college) tell us that we did the right thing. What she did was to start reading again.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Did we have social media in 1992?

1992 Los Angeles riots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Well, but those riots were ONLY in Los Angeles, too (or - to be more accurate - the near LA area). There were riots all over the US, but I'm not totally sold social media caused it. I think part of what contributed to both that and January 6 is the fact EVERYBODY WAS AT HOME WITH LITTLE TO DO.

That's just my thoughts on it, but I don't know if we can say, "well, it's 60% social media and 18% boredom," because the weathermen aren't real good with percentages anyway. I think it's fair to say social media MIGHT increase the size of a riot or the number, but as you correctly note, we had riots before social media. There were inner-city riots all over the USA when Martin Luther King was killed, so I guess we can blame television for that.

I was not aware of Charlie Kirk till yesterday, so I don’t know who to compare him to in the past.
Please feel free to find the equivalent from the past, since we've had many assassinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians

Ironically, the closest one that comes to my mind is probably not even known by most folks, a Jewish liberal atheist radio talk show host named Alan Berg, who was murdered by white supremacists in Denver in 1984. He was basically a left-wing Rush Limbaugh or maybe an old days Howard Stern (isn't Stern Jewish and sometimes an atheist and sort of liberal?). His radio show was aired in 30 states - which in 1984 was quite a lot.

I am not sure that I see an increase in real-world violence due to social media. There is no data to indicate a rise in crime.
But there is definitely more hate due to social media.

I think we SEE more of it because everyone wants to be the next Spielberg filming a murder, but I'd guess crime rates are probably down everywhere (that's what them libruls tell me), so I doubt there's an immediate correlation.

 

[colbysullivan]

Good for you! You're son will appreciate it one day.

I love the look and feel of actual books. I have a library full of them! I can't do kindle. I have to have a (preferably hardcover) book in my hands. My routine in the evening, after dealing with the nonsense that is government bureaucracy, is to get a book and settle in my favorite chair on the lanai and listen to the waterfall in the garden. Eases the tension from the day in no time.

I've gotten into autographed leatherbounds for a lot of my fantasy books lately. I used to read my Kindle every day, but then I got tired of reading all these books and having nothing to physically show for it.

 

[Its On A Slab]

I've gotten into autographed leatherbounds for a lot of my fantasy books lately. I used to read my Kindle every day, but then I got tired of reading all these books and having nothing to physically show for it.

I'm retiring in 2 months and some change. Reading is something I look forward to doing. Among other things that the 45 hours a week at work prevent.

 

[colbysullivan]

I'm retiring in 2 months and some change. Reading is something I look forward to doing. Among other things that the 45 hours a week at work prevent.

"Getting back to" or starting?

I used to read a ton and stopped making the time, but I got back into it a couple years ago and have a nice collection going now. People always ask me about it when they come over.

 

[rolltide_21]

I’ve worked in youth culture a long time (20+ years). The psychological toll it takes is significant among that demographic. Maybe I can expound later when I have the time. IMO, all of it is a cesspool. With Tidefans being the worst watching all you old codgers insult each other on the NS boards 😜

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Tidefans is my only form of social media. I left Facebook in 2020. I discovered just how many terrible people I have known in my life and some are blood relatives. 2020 broke me of it. I never joined Twitter/X or Instagram and most definitely not TikTok. I don't have the time or patience for hate or ignorance. There are times when this board can cross the line and I would say that you know who you are, but you definitely don't.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I’m not so sure those deep seated hatred’s and dislikes don’t exist, I’m sorry to say, boss. Of course people won’t be so brazen face to face. That would lead to some EXTREMELY expensive dental bills. Doesn’t mean they don’t harbor some really malevolent feelings and intentions. And that’s just the social media we can see! I do believe there a dark web that has some REALLY nasty stuff on it.

That's what I was trying to get across - these deep seated hatreds exist, but not to the degree people are ready to act on them. They just bury them then act out in the safety of their home via keyboard.

 

[Its On A Slab]

"Getting back to" or starting?

I used to read a ton and stopped making the time, but I got back into it a couple years ago and have a nice collection going now. People always ask me about it when they come over.

Back to it. I am on my 2nd family(i have grown kids). Between work, coming home and being the famly cook (don't ask! ), and training for a marathon, I don't have a lot of extra time. Somewhere along the way I lost the time to read, play my guitar, etc. I had a 4 mo. sabbatical 10 years ago, and thought, "Damn, is this what retirement will be like?" I had time to do all those things.

 

[bamamc1]

At least Manning used the net for important research:

PEYTON MANNING GETS EXPOSED BY JON GRUDEN 😂😂

PEYTON MANNING GETS EXPOSED BY JON GRUDEN 😂😂 #shorts #nfl #peytonmanning #indianapoliscolts #tombrady #patrickmahomes #superbowl #jongruden #denverbroncos ...

www.youtube.com

 

[colbysullivan]

Back to it. I am on my 2nd family(i have grown kids). Between work, coming home and being the famly cook (don't ask! ), and training for a marathon, I don't have a lot of extra time. Somewhere along the way I lost the time to read, play my guitar, etc. I had a 4 mo. sabbatical 10 years ago, and thought, "Damn, is this what retirement will be like?" I had time to do all those things.

I’m the family cook too

 

[crimsonaudio]

The Online Radicalization of Youth Remains a Growing Problem Worldwide

 

[BamaInBham]

100% and people just tend to solo themselves off then you have Russian, NK, China, et al hitting both sides with disinformation that gets spread about in those groups to sow discontent.

The real thing that should be worrying people are the tech oligarchs cozying up to current administration with their bribes, I mean donations. I’m not sure what the answer is, but them doing that isn’t part of the answer.

What’s the old adage? If you aren’t paying for the product you are the product. The unbridled free market is going to manipulate you as much as possible (via anger) with algorithms to keep you engaged and extract as much “shareholder value” as possible with complete disregard for societal impacts.

Between this and AI y’all are watching late stage capitalism in action.

The more concerning reality is that they were already in bed with the left. But yeah, they’re always going to seek advantage and have the money to get it, as they have had it with the left, one proof being their censure of conservative thought under the guise of hate speech.

This has always been an issue for all 250 years. What’s worse is the influence of foreign entities. How much of the Congress and executive branches have been bought in the last few decades by the Chinese?

 

[BamaInBham]

I ask myself if the George Floyd riots would have happened without social media. Would the J6 riot have happened without social media? Would Charlie Kirk still be alive? The biggest question of all: can it get worse? I think yes. Look at the progression of my 3 examples. The first was ordinary riots/looting, but eventually we had this break out inside the Capital. I think we can agree, this was by far worse optics. And now we've got a political assassination on our hands. Where does this all go from here?

We have just had 2 assassination attempts on the president’s life but that is almost ignored because of the hatred of the media for the target. Things can get much worse but the left prefers that to being governed from the right. They are making it clear that they will NOT be governed unless it is by their side. The leaders on the left and some of their rank and file are proving to be nothing but lawless savages.

And they are being greatly influenced and financed by foreign entities.

 

[some_al_fan]

We have just had 2 assassination attempts on the president’s life ...

Did we? I am not aware of any recent attempts on the active president’s life.
Are you conveniently omitting the killing of Minnesota democratic lawmakers?