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

[re'up]

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.

this is also important to understand, who shaped this technology and for what purpose. what kind of person was Mark Zuckerberg,

if I was angry at a woman, would either say it to her directly, or let it go. Would never think to slander someone in such a p*ssy underhanded petty way.

but Zuck being socially awkward, but brilliant, now we all are somewhat forced to communicate in a style that matched his needs and wants.

and then it gets chikcen and egg, because you have generations born into this now.

 

[Vandelay]

Yes. While the knowledge is easier to access now, social media and its influencers package it for people. You used to have to seek it, absorb it and form your own opinions. Now content creators tell you what to think about the issues, and the lay person simply chooses the creator who confirms their worldview because they like their overall aesthetic.

Knowledge was harder to get 20+ years ago, but you generally were more informed because honestly most of us have the same underlying motivations we just disagree with the ways to get there. Talking heads take our laziness and monetize that and split us into groups that really aren't as polarized as we think we are.

It's all a byproduct of the current economic zeitgeist. fukked up shyt.

 

[ItsPeople]

this is also important to understand, who shaped this technology and for what purpose. what kind of person was Mark Zuckerberg,

if I was angry at a woman, would either say it to her directly, or let it go. Would never think to slander someone in such a p*ssy underhanded petty way.

but Zuck being socially awkward, but brilliant, now we all are somewhat forced to communicate in a style that matched his needs and wants.

and then it gets chikcen and egg, because you have generations born into this now.

Can’t really do anything about those born into it now. This is all they know. In hindsight FB should have just been a fad but somehow it stuck and changed the way we communicate, how we think, and how we process information permanently.

 

[UpNext]

Not social media, smart phones. I think people posted way more fleshed out and informed thoughts when the only way you could access discussion forums was through a desktop or a laptop.


On a laptop it's like sitdown read-think-react, on a phone it's like read-react. You might even be in the middle of doing something else while you're posting on a smartphone. On a desktop/laptop your focus is 100% on the screen in front of you and the text that you're reading/responding to.

 

[stave]

Yes. Directly and indirectly

 

[Phitz]

you see the evidence on this forum

 

[null]

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.

discussions based on concepts are difficult to disentangle for people who do not understand common concepts.

percentages.
distributions.
probability.
scientific principle.
scientific theory.
logical fallacies.

magnified by the fact that people do not understand the internet.

ip.
vpn.
dns.
trusted sites.
ssl.
javascript.
browsers.
servers.
databases.
scrapers.
attack vectors.

a world where (as far as they are concerned) all internet sites have the same credibility and arguments seem equally sound is confusing.

TL;DR to granny 'some nutters website' and 'wikipedia' are as respectable as each other. she can't tell the wood from the trees.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

So many ppl to listen to, so easy to pass disinformation

All goes back to school and lack of a proper foundation. People who didn't learn how to check info

 

[re'up]

Also, a lot of people aren't even USING the internet as we/I know it or knew it

it's all apps

instagram, Tik Tok, snap, whatsapp, Signal, youtube

which further blurs reality

some dude the other day, was showing him how to look up a court record on his phone, so took his phone, and was trying to find Safari, and couldn't. It was on the last screen of apps or whatever. Had to ask him. and I was like oh right he probably just uses apps.

 

[Turbulent]

I think short form content is partly to blame because it's harder to bring nuance and people have less space to make an impact so they try too hard

 

[Kasgoinjail]

This is good food for thought

 

[duckbutta]

Internet in general killed it.

Used to be at some point you had to come face to face with facts and the truth. Now, no matter what bat shyt insane completely wrong thing you think, you a reddit search away from a forum full of people who think the same insane completely wrong shyt. The only thing you need to create whatever echo chamber you want to live is the internet and a search box.