Has Social Media Failed ?

[Spartacus]

Question. Has the social media experiment failed ? 

Most of the time it is not social.

Most of the time it is not media in the traditional sense. 

Children can feel peer pressure because of it. (as can adults.) 

Does it enrich or blight our lives ? 

Discuss. 

[KidKruger]

I’m not sure there was ever a collective aspiration for SM, Sparts. Some kind of ideal may have been sold but those controlling it may have a different view on what it will do for them. Undoubtedly much damage can be done on both the individual and collective level. And has been. Sometimes I wonder if enough damage has been done to justify quite Draconian restrictions, particularly on those trying to propagate mindsets.

[malumbu]

Not sure what you mean by experiment.  Its just another evolution of mass and one to one communications from drumming, to beacons/smoke signals, semaphore, telegraph and so on.  All came with massive improvements to life but no doubt downsides.  Did you hear about the argument between ships on the same side during the Napoleonic Wars as they got their semaphore flats in a twist?

Now etiquette is another thing and it appears that 95% of Whatsapp users don't understand this.  I posted a guide to common sense on Whatsapp on a thread here a couple of years ago eg don't have private conversations on a group chat, but there was no discussion.

I find the Whatson Section, for sale and recommendations very useful.  There appear to be far too many angry people on some of the other threads.  This Forum seemed to have peaked in constructive discussion a few years ago, judged by the massive decline in wider chats on the Lounge.

Edited that I have a wide definition of social media as per OED: websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking [eg this site, WhatsApp]

In respect to the nonsense, lies, propganda, hate crime etc I expect we had this ever since humans learned to communicate, eg 1930s Germany or from Wiki: primitive forms of propaganda have been a human activity as far back as reliable recorded evidence exists. The Behistun Inscription (c. 515 BC) detailing the rise of Darius I to the Persian throne is viewed by most historians as an early example of propaganda.

Of course it doesn't make things right and a headache for centrist governments and politicians globally.

Edited September 15 by malumbu

[Huguenot]

The EDF is social media, and it seems to have met its goals of connecting and engaging the local community.

The 'media' part isn't a reference to the BBC, it refers to 'a substance that something grows in, lives in or moves through' as a plural of 'medium'.

In the sense that the 'something' is people, then it does the job.

Whe it comes to the BBC, the 'something' is information.

For the most part the contribution has been positive.

However, the downsides are driven by anonymity, and have allowed the worst of human nature to surface.