Has social Media destroyed the fabric of human civilisation?

Yes, Yes, Yes. I despise it. People are no longer living in the moment and every time I've tried a new platform I've ended up leaving for my own sanity. Reddit was the last one. It's basically an attack on free speech, the ability to debate and discuss, gone. Anyone with independent thoughts are arrested by the thought police disguised as 'mods' or are obliterated by downvotes. I got called misogynistic for referring to myself as female. Honestly, I'm done with it all, cancel culture disgusts me. Everyone should be entitled to personal opinion, there are two sides to a story (with a few exceptions of course). When only one side is shown it influences people to not be able to hear other sides. I also can't stand how autism is portrayed as cool and influencing people to want to have 'the 'tism', totally downplaying the support autistic people need when only the 'quirky' side is shown. I could go on and on... I realise this post is 8 months old but I'm so pleased to see it. I always I feel like I'm totally alone on this.

You are not alone. I often feel alone with it too so it's nice to see someone who feels the same! When I go out without a smartphone and I look around me and see everyone mindlessly scrolling, oblivious to birds, nature, even their own kids, I feel like there has been a zombie apocolypse and I'm the only one who hasn't been bitten!

I agree with you about cancel culture too. We seem to have lost the ability to agree to disagree as a society 

Yes 100%. It's actually funny to watch. I go out without a phone all the time, it's so peaceful. I don't feel the need to be validated by online strangers 'liking' my posts. I wouldn't have a smartphone if I had a choice but I feel forced into it by society, you can't even park without needing an app anymore :-( 
I'm quite into online privacy too. I miss the days of being anonymous and appreciating the world around you, rather than desperately trying to take a photo of it! I've written an article about this but don't know where to post it because someone will probably have it censored.

Yes 100%. It's actually funny to watch. I go out without a phone all the time, it's so peaceful. I don't feel the need to be validated by online strangers 'liking' my posts. I wouldn't have a smartphone if I had a choice but I feel forced into it by society, you can't even park without needing an app anymore :-( 
I'm quite into online privacy too. I miss the days of being anonymous and appreciating the world around you, rather than desperately trying to take a photo of it! I've written an article about this but don't know where to post it because someone will probably have it censored.

I don't understand going out scrolling on phones. I take mine but it is in a pocket. No one would want mine, but to me having it in your hand is offering it to be stolen. I like to see where my feet are going and stop and watch birds pulling up worms. To me going out for a walk is a chance to unwind.

I've never seen it. I can totally believe it though, it's all designed to get you hooked. I only have four apps and they are just for getting discount in certain stores I use regularly.

Cloud44 said:

I feel like everyone is under the spell but me. 

That's exactly how I feel!

Yes, when it was just laptops and computers it was controllable. People would go out and escape it and experience their lives. No one carried their PC in their pocket. Once it became a device that you carried around with us all day it became inescapable and replaced real life. 

All these sites are designed to be addictive. Have you seen The Social Dilema? It explains how apps are designed to mirror a fruit machine with brightly coloured icons where you scroll down from the top to be rewarded, not with money or prizes, but with new status and notifications. 

Yeah Reddit has awards to keep you hooked. 150 consecutive days, 200 days etc, then I realised I was letting an online award that means nothing to no one, keep me on there. Taking back control felt good!

I totally agree about everyone giving up. It would be nice if the internet went back to computers/laptops only. Then it's there for info, something to do to kill a couple of hours of boredom (as it used to be). It became toxic when it became 24/7. 

I also describe it as a mass hypnosis! I feel like everyone is under the spell but me. 

I don't know medium so well, I have heard of it though. 

Cloud44 said:

countryside walks in the sunshine are my favourite thing, it's so calming

I couldn't agree more! I love being out in the countryside, I love sitting at the river, watching the water move and the ducks and swans going about their day. They don't need devices to be happy. 

Reddit seems to have a similar effect on you that Twitter had on me, I became completely addicted to it and the reward of that little blue bubble every time there was a notification, not good. 

I think if everyone gave up social media and smartphones tomorrow, within a week almost no one in the world would miss them. It's like a mass hypnosis that, if people woke up from, they would be baffled how they ever spend their lives on it

I know, countryside walks in the sunshine are my favourite thing, it's so calming. I honestly believe social media is the cause of the current mental health crisis. No one knows how to switch off, constantly comparing lives, online arguments, depressing news in your face all day. When I was on Reddit the first thing I did was check for notifications, yet as soon as I deleted it I found I didn't miss it at all and felt more positive and alert.

I have a limited data on my phone so when I'm away from home and not on WiFi it is pretty much a dumbphone, I'll turn the data on every couple of hours in case of any important messages but otherwise there's no internet active on it, it also means I can turn the data on for a limited time for parking or other times when I'm forced to use an app. I also turn the WiFi off at night, who wants disturbed sleep? People know to contact me on SMS/normal phone call if urgent.

I have planned to check out Substack. I'm already on Medium but I write purely about late diagnosed autism on it so I don't want to mix it up with my rants about the world, so yeah, Substack might be a good one for that.

Have you tried Substack? It's a good place to write your thoughts on the world

I have gone back and forth about owning a smartphone. I don't want one but sadly it is almost impossible to do anything or have a social life without one. Everything from my cricket team to my church organises on whats app. So I have come up with a solution. I have two phones, one a basic smartphone with no apps other than the ones I need for basics like what's app. The other is a basic Nokia that texts and calls and nothing else. I use the Nokia for normal life, I take it out with me and text and call family on it. 
The smartphone stays on my dresser unless I need it to organise something on whats app or get a digital ticket for an event etc. It seems to be working quite well. 

I agree with you about appreciating the world around you. I see people walking through parks or past beautiful lakes filled with wildlife and they never look up from their phones. One day these people are going to realise they wasted their time on something meaningless and they'll never get it back