Far too many people in far too many instances have degraded social media into anti-social media. It happens through misinformation, often done with malintent (as opposed to simple, plain ignorance). It is a serious issue as it’s become pervasive, whether spread by governments, fearmongers, warped weirdos, or anyone else who foments lies online, as far too many people simply believe whatever they read/hear/watch.
Sometimes people believe because they want to believe something’s true- it fits their ingrained belief system, or makes the “other side” look bad. Spreading rumors, lies, and innuendos used to require some deviant cunning, but nowadays anyone with a website or an opportunity to chat, rat, or combat can place just about anything they regurgitate anywhere.
Thus, it comes as no surprise that we’re seeing non-friendly countries with ulterior motives suggest nefarious theories or rationale related to the recent Maui fires. And we’ve witnessed a vital state employee’s resignation due to veiled and not-so-veiled threats made against her and her family. Very classy.
In an NPR interview, Tristan Harris, an ethicist who left Google in 2013, stated that his job there was to make sure that the “…products the company made were not harmful”. He quit when he realized that was no longer possible.
The growing existence of dubious asocial media sites where non-truth proliferates is frightening; just how far down this evil rabbit hole will we go? Ethicist Harris claims the whole purpose of many sites is “…to get basically lower and lower into what will get your attention, which means I play into your reptilian brain, your lizard brain to get the dopamine out.” Lovely…
The goal is to get to the very base of our apparently no-longer-evolving brain stems so we can become more hooked, intrigued, and voyeuristic via lies, rumors, and come-ons. It’s known as addiction. Ka-Ching! And you thought you were simply semi-fascinated by someone’s benign lunch salad or side trip to Machu Picchu…
Too many people have been bullied, embarrassed, and/or ostracized online. Quit, if you can. Find other forms of connection and/or entertainment. When a good person in local government doesn’t want to play any more due to this cesspool, we all lose. When purposefully misleading misinformation scrambles emotions already under duress due to the horrible fires on Maui, we all lose. Quit the antisocial angst… What then becomes of morons that no one reads, watches, or follows? Nothing.
Think about it…