Is internet social media bad for societal stability?

[rebelknight]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/facebook-brings-out-the-worst-in-people-heres-nine-reasons-why-i/
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-social-media-leads-to-a-less-stable-world/

We all know the good side of internet, it bring information to everyone as fast as a clic.
But whether that information is true or not is harder for the common man to fully investigate.
Are social media (facebook, reddit and so on) actually bad for the stability of our society?
I beleive it is, most folks (including us taleworlders) stay in their cushy echo chamber.
And because of that, our society is becoming incredibly polarized. And if we continue the trend, we're looking at a very less stable world.

Most peoples are at each other throat online and its driving a wedge, everyone rather insult you than tell you why you're wrong.
And that behavior influence real life too. Peoples become more radicals.

i know i'll get insulted back to the stone age.
But what do you guys think?

 

[Splintert]

As often as someone gets insulted for having a different idea, another reasonable person is exposed to a viewpoint or idea they never would've otherwise been exposed to. Society has always been full of gullible, uneducated etc people who would sooner kill you for having a different idea about something than consider you a human being. Throughout all of history there's purges and wars and whatever else you can think of just because another group has a different idea about something. It's no different.

 

[Calradianın bilgesi]

I always assumed most people on this forum are much more courteous in real life.

 

[Austupaio]

I always assumed most people on this forum are much more courteous in real life.

More than likely, any level of anonymity makes people show their true character, see driving as a non-internet example.

Is internet social media bad for societal stability?

Probably, but it's not like there is anything that could or should be done about it.

 

[Arvenski]

For me at least, there is (or has been) a divide between my online and real life personas, and I usually try to keep it that way. For instance, I say "****" all the time when I'm online, I have for years, but I don't think I've ever said it IRL within earshot of other people. I imagine many people are the same way with their online versus RL behavior. That being said, I imagine that the way people act online is eventually bound to influence their real life behavior to some extent. Can formerly-nice people become dicks after spending too much time on the social internet, getting into arguments with other dicks in the various cesspools that exist online? I guess it's possible. However, I imagine there are also a lot of people who already were dicks IRL before they joined the social internet and became dicks online. Will the internet turn enough people into assholes to create social instability? Beats me, dude. Like you say, it might already be happening to some extent. And then again, the social instability we see today could just be thanks to the ****ed up world we live in right now. I think we'll just have to wait and see what happens as time goes on. 

Many new posts.

 

[Austupaio]

The world we live in is better than it's ever been and will, more than likely, only continue to improve.

 

[rebelknight]

The world we live in is better than it's ever been

That i can agree.

more than likely, only continue to improve.

That i am very skeptical.
Unless we stop the infighting and band up to fix global issues like climate change, i think we're living on borrowed time.

 

[Weaver]

Social media is fantastic for societal stability. It is a great place for venting. And it is a very convenient instrument to gauge and influence the mood of the masses.
So at the same time it soaks a lot of aggression that would be otherwise poured on the street and allows the authorities to better manipulate the social agenda too.
I'll make a prediction that in the future not just social but real political discourse will also move to social media. Presidents will be elected through likes instead of votes. It is going to be great.

 

[Kharille]

I've heard of incidents of online bullying and all, but I've never been engaged in such negativity.  I think its good that people lose inhibitions.  Course', if some people are easily influenced they may be induced to commit crimes, but that is still a flaw on their part.


I do have anxieties since I prefer the online world to the real world.  I don't think I can think of another warband player in real life, even after gifting about 3 copies to some friends.  What a sad depressing world this is.

 

[Mad Vader]

I actually met some modders in RL because we worked together.
They'll never find the bodies.

 

[Duh]

I actually met some modders in RL because we worked together.
They'll never find the bodies.

Same. Nordous and Monnikje in Amsterdam and Moscow. Good times.

 

[Mad Vader]

I actually met some modders in RL because we worked together.
They'll never find the bodies.

Same. Nordous and Monnikje in Amsterdam and Moscow. Good times.

Nice. The key TLD guys: GetAssista, Triglav, mtarini in Ljubljana. Even bigger geeks than I expected.

 

[Weaver]

I thought GetAssista was Russian.

 

[Mad Vader]

I thought GetAssista was Russian.

That's why he flew from St. Petersburg.

 

[Snazzelicious]

I believe the people who let themselves become neets and neckbeards are at fault for their own failures in life. I love 4chan, reddit, taleworlds, and the internet but I don't let it consume me. For example it's mostly lowlife neckbeards who frequent echo chambers like pol on 4chan. (Even though I love pol memes, there's no denying that board is a cesspool of losers.)

In other words there isn't anything wrong with social media. The problem is addiction.

 

[rebelknight]

That's not what we were talking about but okay.
Avatar check out tho.
It fit with the post knowing the character.

 

[Snazzelicious]

I literally just said I think addiction is the problem and not social media itself. Prettttty related.

 

[Cpt. Nemo]

Rabble's gonna Rab.

 

[rebelknight]

I literally just said I think addiction is the problem and not social media itself. Prettttty related.

i don't think addiction the problem.
I see normal non addicted peoples making up their mind via facebook posts.

 

[Weaver]

It would be a relevant post if you elaborated on how internet addiction impacted societal stability. I think at this point it obviously increases it.