Look Who it Was Random video

Is Social Media Dividing Us?

1,966 views · Published 25 June 2015 · 3:03 · Indexed 19 October 2026

Channel: Desktop HIFI · 2015 · Science & Technology

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Technological advancements in communications has brought people from around the world together in ways that we couldn’t have imagined not long ago. In particular social media networks. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest and others allow us to create our own networks of people to interact with and ignore others.

Our ability to custom tailor our news feeds to reflect our way of thinking, friends on Facebook with similar attitudes and opinions allow us to create our own “bubble” of reality. We basically spend our time reinforcing our opinions with like minded people,

Before social media became a dominant force in our society, we basically read the same news, watched the same tv programs, and had a common point of reference to go by. We as a society was connected through common experience.

At one time we tolerated differing opinions, we all had friends of friends that we didn’t like, but we accepted them as part of our group. This is no longer the case. Social has made it easier than ever to avoid anyone or any idea that we are uncomfortable with, at any time for any reason.

There are consequences for everything we do. Intended or unintended. One of the biggest unintended consequences today is the complete polarization of our American politics. The war between liberals and conservatives, attracts more extreme voices to what should be civil discourse. Social media has made it easy for common decency and respect to utterly breakdown. Hate is all of it’s ugly forms has never been easier to perpetuate thanks to social.

Self appointed social media warriors have taken to hijacking legitimate points of view, and twisting them into their own PC mentality and devaluing anyone who disagrees as being misogynistic, a bigot or an extremist .

Common sense and decency has given way to hate and extreme thinking thanks to the relative anonymity of the internet.  Social media while a great communication too, is also partly to blame to the near destruction of civil discourse in our society. I ask this question. Do we really want a world where we never have to listen to an opposing point of view? Do we want a world that our thinking is never challenged? Are we losing our empathy for our fellow human beings?

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