A new book argues that social media does more harm than good and we might be happier and healthier using it less.
  • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
    3·
    15 hours ago

    What I’ve learned over time is that it brings out the worst in us, because unlike a live meeting, where there is a danger that you may be ostracized or beaten up, online people have a much less controlled environment for speech. Even the effort of showing up or printing/broadcasting an opinion was reduced to 0.

    And since the user isn’t forced to pass a driving exam for how to behave and different communities have different rules, values and objectives, it is easy to feel a contrast without traveling very far, which triggers polarization/victimization rather than an instinct to adapt and grow.

    e.g. normies wouldn’t just stumble into an anarchist meeting in real life and start throwing up a fuss, but online it can happen all the time without censorship moderation.

    And all of this before even considering hostile actors that generate, propagate, amplify and target misinformation and disinformation (now with AI insideTM)

    …it is also easier to be misinterpreted, because every time someone speaks, it is one-to-many and you have no idea who is going to be reading and to misinterpret/coopt/discredit(in a hostile way) your message in ways that you had not antecipated. It is completely different from a live gathering (you don’t each yell at the crowd at a time)

    • ilillilillilillililli@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      14 hours ago

      Not entirely. Just look at people when they get “car brain.” Surround an otherwise decent person with a few thousand pounds of steel, and they can become a complete, egotistical asshole. There’s obviously some anonymity to driving, but most drivers understand they’re identifiable.

    • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      28·
      1 day ago

      nope. boomers still behave the same way on the internet when they’re using their real name. it’s really more the screen/lack of physicality that seems to do it.