Has social media made people more stupid...

[Beerus]

Has social media made people more stupid or just made everyone else on the outside of the mess more aware of their stupidity?

I really can't tell at this point. People are so desperate for attention on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. that I can't even comprehend what is going on anymore. I am always seeing videos of people faking social media posts for attention, especially with these recent riots pretending to care. I see memes mocking people for making themselves look ignorant and childish on these platforms. I see women acting slutty for attention and men acting like they know it all and have it all just to be appealing. I feel like if something were to happen where Facebook, Twitter, and the other big networks were to get shut down just for a few days, there would be a mental collapse in society.

I am genuinely scared of how addicted a lot of people have become to this stuff. It is bad.

 

[Yoshi]

You forgot to mention that a lot of people like to act fake or phony for surface friends too. People who have thousands of friends on Facebook just aren't happy people. There's also a lot of backstabbing on social media with all of the unfriending and to a lesser extent, unfollowing.

What you do on social media doesn't matter either and doesn't reflect your real life. I could say the same thing about the Internet in general, but it seems like social media is on a global scale, so it makes it more harmful to humanity as a whole, not to mention it killed a lot of the Internet off already. So it's a blessing to find a website like this full of intelligent people.

Do you actually think social media will go away at some point? I would love for that to happen.

 

[Beerus]

Do you actually think social media will go away at some point? I would love for that to happen.

I don't think it will, it will just change over time.

 

[Yoshi]

I try to stay away from toxic or negative people as much as I can now. It's not good for your mental health. It's impossible to do so on social media unless you have less than 100 Facebook friends or something.

I agree with you when it comes to women dressing revealingly or taking revealing pictures online, or men acting like they're hot shit because of all of their accomplishments in their lives on social media too. It's just cringeworthy behavior.

 

[Super Kami Guru]

Has it made people more stupid? I'm not sure it has, but it has brought those stupid thoughts that people have at times and put them on a global platform rather than tucked inside of a diary or even their head, and that leads to problems because those thoughts that would have stayed hidden or silent are suddenly out there and make people look...well...like social media people tend to look when they're caught out.

 

[Punkhead]

I think the human race as a whole has gotten stupid, there is a reason why, and social media has just exposed it.

 

[Carnotaurus]

I think people have always been stupid, we just weren't aware that much. 50 years ago there could be stupid anti-vaxxers flat-earthers no-maskers but nobody could hear them except for their little circle of imbeciles. Nowadays they can spread their bullshit much more easily, they can unite into heards, try to force feed every poster or commenter with their crap. Even corrupt naive minds with half-learned articles.

I saw this the other day and while I found it half funny I agree to an extent that it represents the sad reality of stupidity and manipulation.

 

[Beerus]

I think people have always been stupid, we just weren't aware that much. 50 years ago there could be stupid anti-vaxxers flat-earthers no-maskers but nobody could hear them except for their little circle of imbeciles. Nowadays they can spread their bullshit much more easily, they can unite into heards, try to force feed every poster or commenter with their crap. Even corrupt naive minds with half-learned articles.

I saw this the other day and while I found it half funny I agree to an extent that it represents the sad reality of stupidity and manipulation.

Flat-earthers are harmless. Not even worth paying attention to them. They mostly gather at their conventions and talk plane flight patterns. You only have to worry if they are teaching children about this stuff and in most cases, I don't believe they are. In most cases, a child is smart enough to know better anyways.

I think the people who are against the masks are just fed up, or Karen. lol I don't think people understand the purpose of the mask to begin with. They are meant to ensure you don't spread the virus to people who can't afford to catch it because a lot of people who do catch it, especially kids and younger adults, are asymptomatic and won't know if they are contagious or not.

As for anti-vaxxers, I'm not going to say all the viewpoints are logical (a lot of people make themselves sound very stupid online and most views come from a place of fear) but I do think things need to change, at least in the US. I don't agree with mandatory vaccination, I think that should be a choice just like you have the choice to eat a healthy diet or a shit diet or to accept treatment for a disease or not. People that deny they do anything/don't work don't read studies apparently. Vaccines do what they say, sometimes not always to the degree they say or without any side-effects/reactions. I think there needs to be more transparency, testing, and liability with those companies for sure. We don't need to get rid of them, just improve them and the policies around them. There are certain ones that most people should get but not all of them are necessary for everyone and I think following how the Japanese handle them at the very least is better. They wait until infants have fully developed their immune systems (which happens at around 14-16 months) before doing vaccinations unless it is otherwise needed.

I feel like the people we need to worry about most right now are the ones completely ignoring science, calling for acts of violence on each other, and pushing the narrative of you either agree with me or you are the enemy. People will always long to feel like they belong and to be in a group of like-minded people but when you only surround yourself with people who agree with you, you have no room to grow. I understand not everyone will agree with me and I won't agree with everyone else but to be hateful over it or get violent over it is just arrogance and ignorance. You don't have to agree with everything someone believes in or align with someone's world views entirely to consider them a friend or to care for them. If people treated relationships this way, we'd all be single and lonely as hell. Maybe this is why divorce rates are so high these days, not many are willing to compromise or agree to disagree.

I don't like discouraging people from asking questions but you shouldn't ask questions and only seek the answers you want to hear. That seems to be a big problem today.

 

[LividJay]

As Mr. Mackey would say, "Social media is bad, m'kay?"

 

[Punkhead]

you shouldn't ask questions and only seek the answers you want to hear. That seems to be a big problem today.

Entire World History and Mankind History summed up

 

[Mustafar Reginald]

Remember the fire challenge? People would just legitimately set themselves on fire, extinguish the fire (usually in the shower) and then upload it to social. I like to call it five seconds of flame for fifteen seconds of fame though I know a lot of people suffered for longer than five seconds. When this was being reported, I heard one of the persons talking about it mentioned her friends said they did the fire challenge years ago, pre-Facebook. So yeah, people have always been idiots, though social media exacerbates the problem by giving idiots ideas and a potential payoff to their stupidity.

 

[Beerus]

Remember the fire challenge? People would just legitimately set themselves on fire, extinguish the fire (usually in the shower) and then upload it to social. I like to call it five seconds of flame for fifteen seconds of fame though I know a lot of people suffered for longer than five seconds. When this was being reported, I heard one of the persons talking about it mentioned her friends said they did the fire challenge years ago, pre-Facebook. So yeah, people have always been idiots, though social media exacerbates the problem by giving idiots ideas and a potential payoff to their stupidity.

I remember being an idiot as a teen. I guess some people just take longer to grow up.

 

[Super Kami Guru]

I remember being an idiot as a teen. I guess some people just take longer to grow up.

Some never do!

 

[Carnotaurus]

Flat-earthers are harmless. Not even worth paying attention to them. They mostly gather at their conventions and talk plane flight patterns. You only have to worry if they are teaching children about this stuff and in most cases, I don't believe they are. In most cases, a child is smart enough to know better anyways.

I think the people who are against the masks are just fed up, or Karen. lol I don't think people understand the purpose of the mask to begin with. They are meant to ensure you don't spread the virus to people who can't afford to catch it because a lot of people who do catch it, especially kids and younger adults, are asymptomatic and won't know if they are contagious or not.

As for anti-vaxxers, I'm not going to say all the viewpoints are logical (a lot of people make themselves sound very stupid online and most views come from a place of fear) but I do think things need to change, at least in the US. I don't agree with mandatory vaccination, I think that should be a choice just like you have the choice to eat a healthy diet or a shit diet or to accept treatment for a disease or not. People that deny they do anything/don't work don't read studies apparently. Vaccines do what they say, sometimes not always to the degree they say or without any side-effects/reactions. I think there needs to be more transparency, testing, and liability with those companies for sure. We don't need to get rid of them, just improve them and the policies around them. There are certain ones that most people should get but not all of them are necessary for everyone and I think following how the Japanese handle them at the very least is better. They wait until infants have fully developed their immune systems (which happens at around 14-16 months) before doing vaccinations unless it is otherwise needed.

I feel like the people we need to worry about most right now are the ones completely ignoring science, calling for acts of violence on each other, and pushing the narrative of you either agree with me or you are the enemy. People will always long to feel like they belong and to be in a group of like-minded people but when you only surround yourself with people who agree with you, you have no room to grow. I understand not everyone will agree with me and I won't agree with everyone else but to be hateful over it or get violent over it is just arrogance and ignorance. You don't have to agree with everything someone believes in or align with someone's world views entirely to consider them a friend or to care for them. If people treated relationships this way, we'd all be single and lonely as hell. Maybe this is why divorce rates are so high these days, not many are willing to compromise or agree to disagree.

I don't like discouraging people from asking questions but you shouldn't ask questions and only seek the answers you want to hear. That seems to be a big problem today.

Of course I was just using examples. I can't figure out nor exhaustively point out what people would describe as stupid on social media. Especially since we're different cultures.

Fact is, did media make us more stupid, or more insensitive?

I've seen people nowadays making memes out of the Beirut explosion, Belarus protests and other things we should be empathetic about. On the premise of "just internet humor". And this is just an example.

On the premise of just joking and just dark humor and all, would the affected people find it funny at all?

 

[Beerus]

Fact is, did media make us more stupid, or more insensitive?

I think the general public being brought online without years of experience in socializing outside of social media caused some of these problems. I was socializing online since 2002 so I grew up with it and learned how to talk to people online, so to speak, and I don't think a lot of people today who frequent social sites had that. That is likely why you see this disconnect with people. Going from passive to hurtful/angry in a matter of seconds without even feeling bad about it. Like if I genuinely believe I said something directed at someone else hurt them, I would feel awful.

I've seen people nowadays making memes out of the Beirut explosion, Belarus protests and other things we should be empathetic about. On the premise of "just internet humor". And this is just an example.

People will always make jokes about serious topics but I think to do it while the events are still going on, and with a direct tie in to the event is ignorant. And honestly, some people would rather live in ignorance. That has been the case long before social media. I think we are just more aware of it in this case.

 

[India Actual]

My opinion on the matter is that the youth of 2/3 of North America, U.S. and Canada specifically, are very disconnected from reality because of their lack of any specific and/or distinguished external threats. In the 80’s and 90’s we had the Cold War and “stranger danger” to keep us aware of our surroundings. I feel some people born in the late 80’s and 90’s over here are very disconnected from the realities of what is and is not actually a danger to their lives. Divorced from reality is a good way to put it.

Everything you see happening in Portland is a microcosm of “white privilege” and is perpetrated by a group who does very little to contribute to society. Yet they feel the need to act like freedom fighters to save the country from itself and Trump. He says mean things and talks out of his ass. I’m literally trembling in my boots at there mere notion.

Grow up kids. You’re adults now. Stop looking to gov’t as your moral compass and saviors from “oppression.” You know what has pulled more people out of poverty than anything else on the planet? Capitalism and a hard day’s work. Try it sometime, you may find yourself with a Happy meal and a smile.

 

[Beerus]

What's that old saying? Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for life? I think that is how it goes. Government handouts help a lot of people but it seems there are more that take advantage of the system or just get stuck in it so in the long run it does no good. Very few people that start accepting food stamps and other benefits get off them.

 

[Yoshi]

What's that old saying? Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for life? I think that is how it goes. Government handouts help a lot of people but it seems there are more that take advantage of the system or just get stuck in it so in the long run it does no good. Very few people that start accepting food stamps and other benefits get off them.

That's actually a very good comparison to our current situation. Even though unlike the man who can't fish, there are millions of Americans who know how to work but can't.

I'm honestly surprised we're living in a socialist era where Donald Trump is president of the United States and the majority of Congress is Republican now. What the hell is going on here?

 

[Beerus]

Donald Trump is president of the United States and the majority of Congress is Republican now. What the hell is going on here?

 

[Yoshi]

That isn't what I meant, but this still gave me a good laugh.