“Social Media” seems to be the oxymoron of the 21st century.
Telecommuting/Work from home now means isolation and reduced interaction with fellow employees.
TikTok is now the “Hold my beer” answer to YouTube’s level of short attention span and attention wh0r!ng.
Cyberbullying is now one of the major contributors to juvenile depression and suicide.
(I ditched FB almost a decade ago, I don’t do any of the popular apps, I don’t watch the major media sites.)
The saddest thing to me is that the pendulum is never going to swing back toward more personal interaction – we will simply continue the slide into our own individual little universes – consuming only what confirms our beliefs, becoming more anonymous with our hatred and anger, and less and less…..social.
Being alone does not necessarily mean that one is “lonely”. I’d rather be alone than having someone taking advantage, ridiculing, harassing or otherwise mistreating me.
It isn’t just loneliness that is an increasing problem. We are losing our ability to be social, our ability to be around people with whom we may disagree and people who “are different.” Online, we don’t have to control our emotions — we can just “unfriend” or switch sites. We can associate only with those who agree with us and we don’t have to listen to other points of view. We can narrow our world down to only people exactly like ourselves and/or pretend to be someone we aren’t.
When we live and work and go to school physically with other people, we have to be able to stay calm upon occasion, listen to things we disagree with, think before we talk, associate with people we don’t necessarily like; and, in general, be civil to those around us. We can more easily recognize that people come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, ages and have lots of different opinions, likes, dislikes; and that doesn’t make them bad, just different. And we can still work and play together. That is how we keep our civilization going.
TimBenzidrene about 1 year ago
“Social Media” seems to be the oxymoron of the 21st century.
Telecommuting/Work from home now means isolation and reduced interaction with fellow employees.
TikTok is now the “Hold my beer” answer to YouTube’s level of short attention span and attention wh0r!ng.
Cyberbullying is now one of the major contributors to juvenile depression and suicide.
(I ditched FB almost a decade ago, I don’t do any of the popular apps, I don’t watch the major media sites.)
The saddest thing to me is that the pendulum is never going to swing back toward more personal interaction – we will simply continue the slide into our own individual little universes – consuming only what confirms our beliefs, becoming more anonymous with our hatred and anger, and less and less…..social.
monya_43 about 1 year ago
Being alone does not necessarily mean that one is “lonely”. I’d rather be alone than having someone taking advantage, ridiculing, harassing or otherwise mistreating me.
braindead Premium Member about 1 year ago
He was really quiet and kept to himself. Hard to believe he was responsible for a tragedy like this.
GiantShetlandPony about 1 year ago
So are abusive spouses and such. Especially, but not exclusively, if they have guns.
GreenT267 about 1 year ago
It isn’t just loneliness that is an increasing problem. We are losing our ability to be social, our ability to be around people with whom we may disagree and people who “are different.” Online, we don’t have to control our emotions — we can just “unfriend” or switch sites. We can associate only with those who agree with us and we don’t have to listen to other points of view. We can narrow our world down to only people exactly like ourselves and/or pretend to be someone we aren’t.
When we live and work and go to school physically with other people, we have to be able to stay calm upon occasion, listen to things we disagree with, think before we talk, associate with people we don’t necessarily like; and, in general, be civil to those around us. We can more easily recognize that people come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, ages and have lots of different opinions, likes, dislikes; and that doesn’t make them bad, just different. And we can still work and play together. That is how we keep our civilization going.
Jack7528 about 1 year ago
Gee you think!
NeoconMan about 1 year ago
Never retire; it’s deadly. When I lose my noodle and can’t lecture anymore, I intend to get a job as a Walmart greeter.
rossevrymn about 1 year ago
This is sad.