Has social media killed a lot of critical thinking and civic awareness?

[acri1]

Yes. It's just way easier for dumb or harmful ideologies to spread than it was prior.

You have millions of people convinced the Earth is flat because they watched a Youtube video and want to feel smart.

 

[RickyDiBiase]

People were always fukkin stupid. Social media just gave them a voice.

 

[IIVI]

I think you just now see how stupid people are in their own homes.

In the past you behaved at work and went home for the day.

Now when you go home you basically still interact with the outside world.

 

[num123]

Very insightful. Part of this is the idea that now EVERYTHING is refracted through how it would look on social media. People base their actions on what it would look like as seen through the eyes of others on social media. People form a value system around this. People look to social media for words and systems to process their lives. That's why slang and things like that can travel so rapidly and pervasively.

People already did that shyt before social media, it was just localized to what they saw on TV and what they encountered in their social circle. Why is it people think that everyone before social media was some "free thinker" that formed every thought and opinion with no interaction with others?

 

[Formerly Black Trash]

What i am saying is that it is crazy to think we are in some different world in comparison to the past. I am 39 and have dealt with low information voters, "non political" people and just general idiots for at least since 1999 when i started to pay attention to politics and people in general. A lack of social media did not make everyone somehow "smarter".

People have always been dumb, short sighted, ignorant, easily misled and mislead. This is not some new phenomena, it is just easier to see with social media. You have to accept that is how it was, how it is and how it will be.

People already did that shyt before social media, it was just localized to what they saw on TV and what they encountered in their social circle. Why is it people think that everyone before social media was some "free thinker" that formed every thought and opinion with no interaction with others?

I'm not saying there weren't stupid people before

I'm just saying there are more of them

 

[num123]

I'm not saying there weren't stupid people before

I'm just saying there are more of them

But there are not. Just like racism did not increase dramatically but only that it was being filmed more now, people are now able to show their stupidity and ignorance on a global stage with a click of a button.

 

[Amo Husserl]

Critical thinking is a systematic process incompatible with educating masses of people on a rote learning model.
The damage been done before social media. It's been a psy-op.

 

[Formerly Black Trash]

But there are not. Just like racism did not increase dramatically but only that it was being filmed more now, people are now able to show their stupidity and ignorance on a global stage with a click of a button.

I for sure think stupidity spreads and racism spreads

And I think some ppl are more susceptible

You put a child in front of a tablet and feed him nothing but Andrew Tate, Tariq, and Adin Ross videos they're probably going to come out with some fukked up views

They will get influenced

The older you get the more you're set in your ways

 

[re'up]

But there are not. Just like racism did not increase dramatically but only that it was being filmed more now, people are now able to show their stupidity and ignorance on a global stage with a click of a button.

would say is that the argument that things always stay the same is rarely true. but that seems to be an anchor of a lot your points here. my position is not that:

A ) there were no stupid people before

B) there are more stupid people now

what I am saying is that the technology has 100% had an affect on people who used it and the world. That's where I would start the conversation.

 

[re'up]

People already did that shyt before social media, it was just localized to what they saw on TV and what they encountered in their social circle. Why is it people think that everyone before social media was some "free thinker" that formed every thought and opinion with no interaction with others?

This also would not be my position. The looking glass theory of sociology of course, people's opinions of us shape our own behavior. Small social groups greatly influence us.

but with social media, you are not using a pretty narrow degree of your own social circle, but thousands and thousands of people in some cases.

 

[Jean Jacket]

Use it or lose it.

 

[Texas2step]

It's the Think Tanks. For every idiotic statement or argument, there's a Think Tank idealogy they got it from.

 

[ItsPeople]

Y’all got to understand that dorky ass Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in his image.

He was socially awkward and created FB to take the sting out of actually forming
In-person study groups. So what you are seeing is an evolution of that image. When you look at it look who are the primary internet ass people, social misfits and weirdos. Now they have a voice and an audience.

Yes we are glued in in some form or the other but there are still people who don’t care if there phone is in the other room and they don’t be on it ALL THE TIME.

You every wonder why MySpace and black planet didn’t catch on? It’s primary purpose was getting p*ssy. You weren’t in there talking world events and climate change. FB came in filled that void for the voiceless now here we are.

 

[Dr. Acula]

Yes. Too many times I've heard the phrase
"i saw on Facebook" from older folks especially. shyt is like nails on a chalkboard to hear.

Making the internet accessible to everyone was a mistake. It used to be a common thing to mock people back in the day for believing shyt they read on the internet all the time because folks realized how easy and often people will just lie. Once everyone got a phone in their pocket, a huge population of people joined who didnt understand this basic rule.

 

[Mike Nasty]

Before the smart phone I used to have to go home and fact check the idiot conspiracy breh at work, now he can't even get started cause everyone will just pull out their phone and tell him to stfu, kind of like this site.