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Has social Media destroyed the fabric of human civilisation?

Billy87
2 months ago

Discussion topic for today - Social Media. I would be interested to hear people's thoughts on this. I believe social media has destroyed the fabric of civilisation. We have lost the ability to "agree to disagree" and to tolerate opinions and beliefs contrary to our own, screeching names and insults at anyone who disagrees with us and calling for them to be cancelled. 

We have become extraordinarily self obsessed and narcissistic, endlessly taking photos of ourselves and posting our every thought to the world. Most of all though I believe we have become incredibly unhappy and unable to experience real life. Most people I see are far more interested in filming and posting their lives to curate a perfect online profile of themselves than in actually living those wonderful moments that make life worth while. For instance, if you see a beautiful sunset is your first instinct to stand there and contemplate its wonder or to post a picture of it online? 
There's lots more that could be said on this discussion, especially the effect on young people.

Would be interested to hear everyone's opinions 

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  • 2 months ago
    Billy87 said:
    I believe social media has destroyed the fabric of civilisation.

    I think social media has made us lazy in our communication, inventing a new language that is easy to convey 'surface' information (emojis, I'm fine, a quick SMS) but the effort to go deeper in a conversation, truly listening to someone else, giving them the space to talk and open up, doesn't happen as much. It is when we dig that bit deeper that we start to process our lives and make meaning of our situations, process grief, etc. It is much easier to bully people, and to express unfiltered opinions and ideas online: you can just create a new profile if that version doesn't suit you any more. Of course it is hard to say that this over-simplification fits all, especially as I don't use much social media these days.

    Billy87 said:
    We have become extraordinarily self obsessed and narcissistic

    There is research apparently which shows that narcissism is on the rise, and it is related to the rise in self-esteem. The thinking is that to increase your self-esteem you have to think yourself better than others in some respect, and this comparison you are putting others down.  I watched a really interesting TED talk that mentioned it in passing:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4&t=1s

Reply
  • 2 months ago
    Billy87 said:
    I believe social media has destroyed the fabric of civilisation.

    I think social media has made us lazy in our communication, inventing a new language that is easy to convey 'surface' information (emojis, I'm fine, a quick SMS) but the effort to go deeper in a conversation, truly listening to someone else, giving them the space to talk and open up, doesn't happen as much. It is when we dig that bit deeper that we start to process our lives and make meaning of our situations, process grief, etc. It is much easier to bully people, and to express unfiltered opinions and ideas online: you can just create a new profile if that version doesn't suit you any more. Of course it is hard to say that this over-simplification fits all, especially as I don't use much social media these days.

    Billy87 said:
    We have become extraordinarily self obsessed and narcissistic

    There is research apparently which shows that narcissism is on the rise, and it is related to the rise in self-esteem. The thinking is that to increase your self-esteem you have to think yourself better than others in some respect, and this comparison you are putting others down.  I watched a really interesting TED talk that mentioned it in passing:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4&t=1s

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