Has social Media destroyed the fabric of human civilisation?

Yeah I remember you, people say i've got a photographic memory. It's not quite that. But i have an incredible ability to surprise people with things i recall.

I used to post on WP as well .  Many, many many years ago.  So long ago that I don't remember my username. I think I briefly rejoined last year too.

Yes . I post on wrong planet. I'm oldish, but not quite that old !! I hope life is treating you as well as possible.

I've never been able to join Bluesky, as I can't use a smartphone. Can't get the swiping right.

Bluesky was almost exclusively made up of people on The Left last time I was on that.  Social media isn't my thing anymore though and I try never to go on them if at all possible

Creating something and then blaming it for subsequent misadventure and pestilence. = golem.

or Frankenstein's monster, if you like.

I doubt anyone will read this due to the way thr forum is structured. Newest first meaning replies to older posts get lost

Without a doubt it's far from perfect. I had hoped that Mastodon would be a better alternative. Unfortunately it turned out to be more pro abusive behaviour than X/Twitter.

I think it isn't just stuff by way of tangible objects. It's also the incessant need to constantly be DOING stuff. It wasn't like this 20 years ago. I remember when doing things used to be a treat. Now it's almost like a god-given right. I don't think it's fomo, it's just that more stuff is now available to do and it probably links with the conspicuous way our lives are lived. Via social media. All I'm thinking of now is "Digger World" as an example. I can't keep up with some people who are constantly on the go doing stuff then complaining that they don't have any time for themselves. 

And everything has to be some sort of experience now. You can't have anything normal anymore. Social media has inflated the world we live in all sorts of ways from the language we use, how we express ourselves, how we live our lives and how we react. It's far more than sharing photographs. 

With regards to other people's use of camera phones etc and what they choose to do with their time and hardearned, I'm "live and let live" it's up to other people what they choose to do. It's all relative.

Yes, and you could add mobile phones have contributed to it, as well.

People now seem to be more intimate with their phones, than those they may love or be with.

Sure, but I would say most of the cheap stuff is also low quality I buy things if I really need them. If I don’t need them, I just do t buy them and I often buy second hand things 

The title of this post is brilliantly hyperbolic - but it’s hard not to agree, I suppose one could say that social media has also enabled communities to find each other. But then my feeling is that these communities have tended to harden into echo chambers. I think we could all do well to remember that old maxim of British life: “live and let live”.

Twitter is a burning dumpster fire now.

Billy87 said:

Most people I see are far more interested in filming and posting their lives to curate a perfect online profile of themselves

It probably p*ss*s people off but my profile on social media is a 'warts and all' one, especially so on Twitter. I have no desire to make out that I'm ppiew. I have comparatively good and bad days.

Billy87 said:

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? 

I personally can't see what the problem with this is. Indeed the problem might actually be that it's seen as being a 'problem'.  People will respond in different ways to such a sunset. There is no right or wrong way to respond. There is no malign intent involved. There are far greater things  to criticise social media for.

I use the block function on Twitter a lot. Polite disagreement is fine. Not being the sharpest tool in the box is fine. Being nasty, and deliberately saying things that are untrue, on the other hand....

For a very short while I also used a supposedly  better alternative to Twitter called Mastodon. For all its shortcomings,especially since Musk took over,in the 10 years I’ve been on Twitter I’ve never been treated as badly there as I was on Mastodon. I was totally naive, and stupid, to buy into the hype about it. When you have several people   having a go at you because you’ve stated that both women and transwomen should be treated decently and respectfully, then without any doubt you’re in a toxic environment. Even more toxic when you point out that being treated as having done something wrong when you haven’t is a major trigger,one that’s due to a childhood experience, and your account gets ‘limited’.

It doesn't need to be sh*t for me to not want it.  There is quite a lot of fine products out there too...all being "pushed" at us all the friggin time from every direction (it seems?)

I just don't want as much, nor of the same stuff, that most people do......so this lack of appetite perhaps help me feel so 'immune' to the tsunami of sales and marketing of "stuff"......plus I do proactively avoid it wherever i can.....I make it hard to target me with stuff that other people think I should want.  F that.

Yes! Even long time ago I laughed, that if all people were like me, most of those big companies selling sh*t would have bankrupted. 

Alienatedhuman said:

I guess this attitude is common in our community

Yes.  It makes us powerful.......and dangerous.

When I see something beautiful- yes, I do take a photo of it. Just for myself. After taking a photo I take a moment to enjoy it - to live the moment! As for social media - except from here I hardly ever use it. I have an instagram account but I don’t use it much. There are some beautiful artworks people show, I also hoped to find some more autistic people in there but it’s somehow not interesting for me. I prefer here. It’s up to people what is most important for them, although not fully, because masses are being manipulated. All the screaming ads “must have” etc. it’s a manipulation. I’m much more immune to that because I don’t care about what is trendy and I don’t need to be or have just because everybody does this. I guess this attitude is common in our community. 

Well said.

I prefer to read a paper but very critically.   There is a problem with people swallowing the news uncritically also though.  Some people will believe what they read in the press and some will believe everything on social media and the internet. Knowing what to  believe and what to discount is key.

That is always going to be hard for a lot of people unfortunately.  It's complex stuff.

Like many tools, social media can be used for good and bad. A concern for me, and something that I believe leads to a lot bad uses and therefore abuse is the fact that social media posts are largely unattributable and therefore there is no accountability. People can say whatever they want and there is no repercussion. So they do. This also leads to bad actors who wish to destabilise our society using social media to sow disinformation and foment unrest. Newspapers and mainstream online media are attributable and therefore accountable. Whilst they might have a political bias or be controlled by media families, this is known and can be taken into account when interpreting output. So many people rely on social media for their news and opinion and I think this is very dangerous.