Is social media a good thing or a bad thing?

[DaveBrown74]

What are your overall thoughts on social media? Do you see it as a positive or negative in society?

[chiller99]

I think social media goes astray when users imagine some type of anonymity when behind the keyboard and allow too much personal information to be revealed . Spur of the moment opinions can lead to life long problems when a controversial topic is ventured into without research and thinking through the posts

[MightyGiants]

I think this sort of question is akin to asking if a hammer is a good or bad thing.   I mean a hammer could be used as a weapon or it can build a wonderful home.   To a large degree it depends on the intentions of the users.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

When it is used by the controllers of the social media to massage personal political ideologies to try and sway the masses to one side of an issue (their own of course), it is BAD

When used to stay in contact with family and friends who live far apart, it is GOOD

When overused by young people it can be BAD, especially when it is used to bully other kids...which is very common. Also, when people spend entire days on social media instead of getting out and doing something with their lives it's BAD

Ten years ago, I used to use Facebook every day sharing jokes, information my friends and family would want to know, etc. Now, I haven't posted on Facebook in probably two years. I pop it up every once in awhile to see if my kids are sharing pictures of my grandchildren or pictures of a wedding, birthday party, etc., but even my kids no longer use Facebook except one daughter who might share a picture once or twice a month.

To me, social media was a fad that is passing away as people are sick of the political bullshlt and the heavy hands of billionaires who control what opinions people are allowed to hear and therefore squash free speech.

Big Blue Huddle is GOOD though not sure it's a social media platform as much as a place for hardened fans to celebrate, whine, bitch, share ideas, etc., about a sports team

[MightyGiants]

One of the underappreciated dangers of social media is that it can lead to depression.   One of the truisms I learned in life is that the key to unhappiness is to always compare one's self and one's lot in life to others.  There are always going to be people who seem to have it better than you in at least one aspect of life.  Yet despite that being true, it's human nature to naturally compare.

This is where social media can become dangerous.    Many people on social media either knowingly or unknowingly try to create fictions where their lives appear better than they really are.   They are careful in what and how they share things to try and create this image that they are leading great lives.    That in itself is harmless and not even a bad thing.  If anything, it's simply not complaining about the bad in life.  Yet for many people, as they browse through all the posts of wonderful homes, great relationships, wonderful family gatherings, rewarding jobs, and awesome vacations start to feel like their own lives are poor by comparison.  This can often lead to depression

[DaveBrown74]

I think this sort of question is akin to asking if a hammer is a good or bad thing.   I mean a hammer could be used as a weapon or it can build a wonderful home.   To a large degree it depends on the intentions of the users.

I get your point, but I think it's a bit more complicated than that in the case of social media. Social media has an addictive aspect to it that a hammer does not. It also has an unintended consequences aspect to it. People can get involved in it with perfectly good intentions only to find it is hurting their lives in multiple ways. They can also make an honest mistake on social media only to suffer substantial consequences.

[DaveBrown74]

One of the underappreciated dangers of social media is that it can lead to depression.   One of the truisms I learned in life is that the key to unhappiness is to always compare one's self and one's lot in life to others.  There are always going to be people who seem to have it better than you in at least one aspect of life.  Yet despite that being true, it's human nature to naturally compare.

This is where social media can become dangerous.    Many people on social media either knowingly or unknowingly try to create fictions where their lives appear better than they really are.   They are careful in what and how they share things to try and create this image that they are leading great lives.    That in itself is harmless and not even a bad thing.  If anything, it's simply not complaining about the bad in life.  Yet for many people, as they browse through all the posts of wonderful homes, great relationships, wonderful family gatherings, rewarding jobs, and awesome vacations start to feel like their own lives are poor by comparison.  This can often lead to depression

Excellent point. This is especially true on Instagram. It is commonplace now for people to post all kinds of fake pictures or old pictures that are misleading and trying to make their lives look much more exciting or well funded than they are. I hadn't really considered that this could make others depressed. I always felt this untruthfulness showed a lack of confidence or possibly depression on the part of the poster. Interesting point that it can also make others depressed.

[DaveBrown74]

My own personal take is that its capabilities allow for a fast spread of information which can be incredibly useful and valuable. It also allows you to focus specifically on certain individuals and filter others out (in the way that you acquire information). And obviously it allows you to keep in touch with people well. I voted "good thing", because I would certainly rather have it than not have it. I'm not a big Instagram or TikTok person, but Twitter is incredibly useful, and so are others like LinkedIn etc.

Where I think it can become destructive is the overuse of it, which is definitely an issue in this country. That can lead to all sorts of problems, depression being one. It is also no substitute for human interaction in the flesh. And obviously any misuse of it with bad intentions is also a problem and can be very damaging.

[LennG]

I voted BAD as I do not use social media.
I am not on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever else is out there.

Why maybe it's what I have seen from others. Yes, it can keep you close to family, but, for the most part, it's mostly about people needing a spotlight on themselves, what they do all day, what they eat all day, ability to push agendas without ever really having to reveal themselves.
Do I really care what half the world ate for breakfast, bought at the supermarket, experiences at the beauty parlor, you get what I mean.

I just see it as a platform for people to say this is ME. Is THAT a good thing?

[DaveBrown74]

I voted BAD as I do not use social media.
I am not on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever else is out there.

Why maybe it's what I have seen from others. Yes, it can keep you close to family, but, for the most part, it's mostly about people needing a spotlight on themselves, what they do all day, what they eat all day, ability to push agendas without ever really having to reveal themselves.
Do I really care what half the world ate for breakfast, bought at the supermarket, experiences at the beauty parlor, you get what I mean.

I just see it as a platform for people to say this is ME. Is THAT a good thing?

I completely agree that social media is lame and a waste of time when people use it entirely for narcissistic reasons (like thinking large numbers of people care what they had for breakfast that morning). I have a twitter account, and I avoid following individuals who engage in this sort of thing, even if some of their other tweets are useful to me. The narcissistic, self-absorbed stuff definitely turns me off.

However, I do like to follow accounts that put out interesting or useful information with a reasonably high frequency. And there are a handful I also follow because they amuse me. I feel if you curate your list of accounts you follow carefully and update it frequently (both by removing non-performing accounts and adding new potentially good ones), you can end up with a pretty decent overall feed that can be worthwhile to peruse from time to time.

Do I think this replaces more traditional consumption of news, like consistently reading articles from reputable publications? Absolutely not. Do I think even a carefully curated twitter list will still split out plenty of junk? Yes I do. Do I think overuse of it and constantly being on it is a good thing? No, I certainly do not. But I do think it is a supplementary info source that can be useful and entertaining.

[LennG]

Could it be?

[ozzie]

I voted BAD as I do not use social media.
I am not on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever else is out there.

Why maybe it's what I have seen from others. Yes, it can keep you close to family, but, for the most part, it's mostly about people needing a spotlight on themselves, what they do all day, what they eat all day, ability to push agendas without ever really having to reveal themselves.
Do I really care what half the world ate for breakfast, bought at the supermarket, experiences at the beauty parlor, you get what I mean.

I just see it as a platform for people to say this is ME. Is THAT a good thing?

Lenn, I am right there with you. I am on exactly ZERO social media platforms. I'm not going to repeat what you posted, but will just say I agree with everything you said. Overall, I feel social media does more harm than good.