-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Overall, do you think social media has been good or bad for society?
- Thread starter nightfly
- Start date
Sidney Prescott
Member
Bad. There's a reason I don't touch Twitter for the most part, and only keep Facebook to keep in touch with some family members & friends that live far away.
I think using it to keep in touch with people is good, but all the negative qualities of social media stops me from using it.
I think using it to keep in touch with people is good, but all the negative qualities of social media stops me from using it.
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
It has a good long term use as a societal filter
Raven117
Member
And we are done here.
StormCell
Member
Social media has become a friggin' blight upon the Earth in just about every way conceivable. No one can do anything anymore without this need to capture it in photos to post online for all the people they "know." People who don't post just looking boring af to everyone else, and I can't help feeling that the people who suffer the most due to social media are the women. I take my lady out on a date, and feels strongly that she needs to capture the moment in a photo or video for all her friends to see. And you know that there's some unwritten understanding among girls that you do these things or the assumptions otherwise are there.
And there are just so many other damn ways social media is wrecking the world. Is there some secret best hamburger in Podunk town somewhere between Atlanta and Boston? Well, now it has a line out the door and around the block, and when you finally get your burger it's the 1500th one made that day and it's not nearly as good as they used to be before everyone started going there.
And this happens to everything. Was there a little-known mystical cave with a cool waterfall that barely anyone knew about? Not anymore... everybody and their brother will be in line to get to it. Cool hot springs back in the mountains? There's a line getting to it now. Has the fishing been good at the lake? Now there's 1500 boats fishing it every weekend. Somebody shot a 30-point buck? There will be a hunter within your line of sight everywhere for the next 50 miles. Social media ruins everything!
Can't anybody do anything anymore. The moment it hits social media, thousands of people flock to it. Beach? Overcrowded. Amusement park? Lines galore. Hiking? People everywhere. Hole in the wall breakfast place? Better reserve a seat or arrive early.
Things were a lot better when you couldn't go to the internet and find out everything. It's better to keep some things a secret, if you know what I mean. Nothing is special anymore.
And there are just so many other damn ways social media is wrecking the world. Is there some secret best hamburger in Podunk town somewhere between Atlanta and Boston? Well, now it has a line out the door and around the block, and when you finally get your burger it's the 1500th one made that day and it's not nearly as good as they used to be before everyone started going there.
And this happens to everything. Was there a little-known mystical cave with a cool waterfall that barely anyone knew about? Not anymore... everybody and their brother will be in line to get to it. Cool hot springs back in the mountains? There's a line getting to it now. Has the fishing been good at the lake? Now there's 1500 boats fishing it every weekend. Somebody shot a 30-point buck? There will be a hunter within your line of sight everywhere for the next 50 miles. Social media ruins everything!
Can't anybody do anything anymore. The moment it hits social media, thousands of people flock to it. Beach? Overcrowded. Amusement park? Lines galore. Hiking? People everywhere. Hole in the wall breakfast place? Better reserve a seat or arrive early.
Things were a lot better when you couldn't go to the internet and find out everything. It's better to keep some things a secret, if you know what I mean. Nothing is special anymore.
Ionian
Member
I have to laugh that it's even quoted as being 'Social Media', since humanity has always had that since the first cave-markings to the printing press or local shop/pub people would and did spread rumours in.
It has always existed.
Current form though is fucked up but you can't cry about people who spout nonsense getting quickly caught-out in real time as your opinion (good or bad) is instantly available to anyone with an internet connection and can be harvested (it's the internet) and used against you by mobs with minimal effort.
That is the reality of it. The speed of misinformation spread is the problem and the fact once it's on the internet it won't ever be forgotten by anyone who tries to dig. Should be 101 classes on that for kids, no doubt there are. This is a new age and a danger to people who can't get that into their heads. I had Facebook / MySpace / Numerous forum accounts (forums: 'post your pic') those i'd never post in as you're doxxing yourself. Always a different name, never shared too much info although if someone wanted to I'm sure they'd find me after several dead ends. Then again, I've nothing to be worried about as I never shared personal info that could be a problem if they did.
It ain't going away, education is key. Hell any forum is a 'social media' source, as per the people doxxed, some leading to suicide, murder and also pedophiles being brought to light (to name but a few).
It has always existed.
Current form though is fucked up but you can't cry about people who spout nonsense getting quickly caught-out in real time as your opinion (good or bad) is instantly available to anyone with an internet connection and can be harvested (it's the internet) and used against you by mobs with minimal effort.
That is the reality of it. The speed of misinformation spread is the problem and the fact once it's on the internet it won't ever be forgotten by anyone who tries to dig. Should be 101 classes on that for kids, no doubt there are. This is a new age and a danger to people who can't get that into their heads. I had Facebook / MySpace / Numerous forum accounts (forums: 'post your pic') those i'd never post in as you're doxxing yourself. Always a different name, never shared too much info although if someone wanted to I'm sure they'd find me after several dead ends. Then again, I've nothing to be worried about as I never shared personal info that could be a problem if they did.
It ain't going away, education is key. Hell any forum is a 'social media' source, as per the people doxxed, some leading to suicide, murder and also pedophiles being brought to light (to name but a few).
Last edited:
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
It's great if you handle it. Bad if you cant.
I see nothing wrong for people who just do some basic FB with fam and friends. But for people I know on my FB friends list who constantly gab about pro-vax or anti-vax, or PETA, fuck that. I block their feeds. One person I know treats as a family flea market. Everything which looks like they want to get rid of gets a post looking for $10 or $20 for this or that. Blocked.
I see nothing wrong for people who just do some basic FB with fam and friends. But for people I know on my FB friends list who constantly gab about pro-vax or anti-vax, or PETA, fuck that. I block their feeds. One person I know treats as a family flea market. Everything which looks like they want to get rid of gets a post looking for $10 or $20 for this or that. Blocked.
Last edited:
Both.
Good...
- It can help in connecting to other like-minded individuals with similar or same hobbies, interests, beliefs, morals and so on.
- Can be used for self promotion, concerning self-employment/small businesses, talents...stuff like that.
- Can be useful for long distance relationships, such as keeping in touch with family, friends, significant other.
Bad...
-Can encourage those who lack empathy, sympathy, respect, etc to the forefront. Bullying and harassment are issues offline too but how many recognize it or even care to stand up for someone being mistreated whether offline or online?
- Propaganda
- It can help in connecting to other like-minded individuals with similar or same hobbies, interests, beliefs, morals and so on. (Illegal/immoral/etc)
I am sure there are many other reasons others can add to this list of good and bad, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
In essence, it is the person behind the screen that chooses whether they will use social media for the good of society or for the bad of society. Each and every one of us will reap what we sow. If we sow good, in the end we will reap good results and if we sow bad, in the end we will reap bad results.
Good...
- It can help in connecting to other like-minded individuals with similar or same hobbies, interests, beliefs, morals and so on.
- Can be used for self promotion, concerning self-employment/small businesses, talents...stuff like that.
- Can be useful for long distance relationships, such as keeping in touch with family, friends, significant other.
Bad...
-Can encourage those who lack empathy, sympathy, respect, etc to the forefront. Bullying and harassment are issues offline too but how many recognize it or even care to stand up for someone being mistreated whether offline or online?
- Propaganda
- It can help in connecting to other like-minded individuals with similar or same hobbies, interests, beliefs, morals and so on. (Illegal/immoral/etc)
I am sure there are many other reasons others can add to this list of good and bad, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
In essence, it is the person behind the screen that chooses whether they will use social media for the good of society or for the bad of society. Each and every one of us will reap what we sow. If we sow good, in the end we will reap good results and if we sow bad, in the end we will reap bad results.
Last edited:
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
The direct 1-2-1 messaging part of it has overall a good thing imo (messenger, whatsapp etc..). To be able to stay in touch more with those you actually care about. Free voice and video calls, especially internationally is a great thing.
The sharing side of it is a terrible thing for people and will damage us and our societies in a way that is dividing us and fuck up our chimp brains (Insta, facebook, tiktok, twitter etc...) This is becoming quite clear already.
I do fear for our kids. Many of them are going to be riddled with mental health problems and won't have a clue what life was like before this shit took over.
The sharing side of it is a terrible thing for people and will damage us and our societies in a way that is dividing us and fuck up our chimp brains (Insta, facebook, tiktok, twitter etc...) This is becoming quite clear already.
I do fear for our kids. Many of them are going to be riddled with mental health problems and won't have a clue what life was like before this shit took over.
Last edited:
Diatribe1974
Member
Started put great, but has devolved into a shitshow
nush
Member
For sure, we were here in the internet at the start when we were told not to overshare becuse there are a lot of mental people out there and scammers. One guy here who was always trying to bait me by tagging me in on posts just to get a reaction tagged me in on the post your pic topic. Sure that's not completely obvious what you are doing. So I posted a troll picture of "me". Sure enough someone reversed image searched it suspecting it wasn't me asking if I had more pictures of myself that image search linked to the original source where I got the picture from.
Even though I called out what he was predictably doing and included the thatsbait.gif there's still a bunch of losers out there trolling themselves thinking that picture is actually me.
Fuckwits that grew up on social media.
Ionian
Member
Ahaha, that's brilliant. WP.
Yet people still openly do it and it's astounding. Sooner or later your pic will be used against you. Also why I think people who openly share pics of their kids is wrong and even worse letting kids have mobiles were they can do it themselves whilst ignoring any warnings, as they are kids. Kids aren't stupid, they'll just need one other kid in the class to show them how.
Gone are the old days of linking text based handles across BBS or IRC channels for handles/email addresses and joining the dots. It's just a right click now and you have a starting point for someone to get your info and harass you or use it for other reasons.
"Fuckwits that grew up on social media." is right. Then again you have all ages unwittingly sharing pictures of others not realizing the consequences, all over the place.
(Crazy thought but the missus used to be into those cheap 99p gossip magazines. I wonder how many sick fucks spend hours snapping the pic others sent in to get their £50 and tracking them down, gotta be many cases of that and the person ending up getting odd phonecalls and being fleeced by a someone trying to blackmail them. No doubt there's a BotNet for that already).
Last edited:
nush
Member
True story, when I was 16 I found one of the young women I worked with in the readers wives section of a grot mag. She used a different name but the town listed was still the same. I didn't say shit about it to anyone because it was more embarrassing to admit you were wanking off over mags than to actually be IN one. Imagine the chaos I could have caused by cutting a page out and anonymously pinning it to the staff notice board.
Ionian
Member
True story, when I was 16 I found one of the young women I worked with in the readers wives section of a grot mag. She used a different name but the town listed was still the same. I didn't say shit about it to anyone because it was more embarrassing to admit you were wanking off over mags than to actually be IN one. Imagine the chaos I could have caused by cutting a page out and anonymously pinning it to the staff notice board.
Hope she didn't work in the deli!
