Are Social Networks Bad for Humanity?

Discussion in 'Discussion' started by Amaury, Apr 8, 2014.

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Are social networks bad for humanity?

  1. Yes. Why?

    16.7%
  2. No. Why?

    25.0%
  3. I think it depends and can go either way. Why?

    58.3%
  1. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    This is a discussion I came across (and also posted in) here and figured, "What the hell? Let's start a discussion on KH-Vids about it!'

    I'm gonna say no. It really varies from individual to individual.
     
  2. ♥♦♣♠Luxord♥♦♣♠ Chaser

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    I think it depends on what you mean by "social network". There are good and bad things that come from things like Twitter, Facebook, forums, YouTube, etc. Some of those good things are the obvious factor, people. Meeting new people can be amazing, and now it doesn't matter where they live. However I have seen many bad things in social networks. Facebook for example, back when I had one, all I really saw was a bunch of attention whores (this includes guys) using Facebook as their method of acquiring attention that they cannot get normally through other means.

    I watched the video linked on that other forum and wasn't exactly wow'd by it. I mean I get there point but a lot of this stuff can differ from person to person. Me for example, my home town is filled with a ton of terrible people that I would do anything to get away from. However, I can log onto khv and just talk to people that I know are fun, nice, etc and just get my fair share of human communication that way. That being said I do have friends and people I care about "irl", they just moved so I am like the only one left in this hell hole excuse of a town. That's another thing I hate actually, the term "in real life". I could say something wonderful to someone on a forum, twitter, etc and it might make them very happy. Is that not real? Is that not real happiness? Same thing with the negative side to that. I have said some terrible things to people online and clearly they were effected by it. That's real, I don't care what anyone says.

    And I guess back to the question itself. Is it bad to the people who are lacking the attention they "need" at home? I guess so, but at the same time its more or less their fault for misusing a social network as a means to cope with their problems. Which could also be argued against. This doesn't really ever end.

    I guess tl;dr

    It varies, a lot.
     
  3. Mixt The dude that does the thing

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    First off, I want to say that the primary piece the video is talking about is not new. Crowded loneliness has been around much longer that social media. I know that was never actually said, but it often gets implied accidentally so I want to nip the "Back in my day we didn't have these problems" train of thought in the bud.

    However I will also admit that crowded loneliness becomes a lot easier now. I think the biggest factor is filtering. With such a wide audience the vast majority of what you put out is shallow feel good topics; for two reasons I think. First, you don't put your dirt laundry out to dry. I don't my classmate's girlfriend that I met a party that one time to know about a fit of depression I'm having, thank you very much. Second, if they don't care for you, they don't want to hear it anyway (How often have we told people to get a blog and leave it out of the spamzone? Jokingly or not). So with everyone plastering up snapshots of their public image it is easy to feel like no one knows you. After all you didn't say it and no one knows to ask. And perhaps the worse issue is the feeling that you are the only one with issues. And the scary bit is that both are gradual changes in perception, you've had the bad habits and thought processes for a while before it hits you emotionally.

    To be clear though this only carries risk not inherent issues. If nothing else conventional communication is still there. We haven't actually lost anything. If you earnestly feel that your needs aren't being met online, then go offline. However I believe there is no reason that you can't have these necessary conversations online, you just need to take measures against both those issues in turn. Seek out the people that care for you in more private means and tell them what you wish people would know. And realize that people are almost always less perfect than they make themselves appear online.

    So yes, there are issues there. And yes, people do regularly fall into them. However there are benefits too. Perhaps the greatest is that boundaries are weakened, often to the point of nonexistence. It allows me to meet all of you guys who I would have almost no chance of meeting otherwise. It allows me to keep up to date with me cousin while she is studying abroad in Mexico and Europe. And the filter effect has a positive side too: efficiency. You guys didn't have to sit though me deciding points were off the point, or wrong, or too specific. So in a cost vs benefit look, I say there is no real need to fear the interwebs.

    I totally agree with this. I'm okay when it is used casually as just a location. "This happened on KHV. That happened IRL" It is necessary context. But when people start claiming that the value of social interaction is significantly diminished, or even nonexistent, because it happened online, I honestly get pissed off. If that message hits its mark I've never seen it do good. Good times get brushed aside and bad times get ignored instead of dealt with.
     
  4. A Zebra Chaser

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    I think the worst thing about online interaction, psychologically, is the ease at which someone can create an echo chamber for their specific beliefs. It leads to insane stuff, like the absolutely CRAZY beliefs you can find about society on tumblr. It's also really easy to avoid responsibility. I had a friend who had a friend who said she should just cut out anybody she wants from her life and that she doesn't owe them an explanation, no matter how good friends they were. She hurt a lot of my friends doing this, and I haven't heard from her in over half a year.
    I think in particular this sort of thing can stimulate vulnerabilities in people with mental variances, such as autism, and can inflame even tiny symptoms into unhealthy countenances.

    On the exact reverse end, social networks are how I'm able to keep in contact with my friends and family with ease even after they moved far away, I've made COUNTLESS great friends and innumerable valuable experiences through digital social interaction.

    Like here's an example. A few years back, when I was depressed, my friends and family forgot about my birthday. It didn't really upset me at the time, in my current mental state I didn't believe I was worth remembering. But then a complete stranger send me a happy birthday message, and that completely turned my day around, and was part of my eventual realization that at the end of the day people are inherently good.
    And if you put in the effort, there will always be inherent good to find anywhere, even on the internet
     
  5. Ienzo ((̲̅ ̲̅(̲̅C̲̅r̲̅a̲̅y̲̅o̲̅l̲̲̅̅a̲̅( ̲̅̅((>

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    The thing with online is it gives the person the chance to be whoever they want to be, they are anonymous so they could unleash their inner weirdness onto the internet or create someone new to be or, most likely, they will just be themselves. The internet is stabbed at quite a lot because it has become such a huge part of our lives and people can fear it consuming us but it's a great way to stay connected to the rest of the world. The world has become so much smaller and so much bigger at the same time- it's smaller because I can now speak to someone on the other side of the world in a heartbeat but it's bigger because this whole virtual reality has become huge! I have learned so much interesting culture from you guys and I always love to see the differences between our countries.

    This year has been quite lonely because all my friends went off to university and I have been left at home, my best friend is still where I am and I still have loads of church friends who I see regularly but day to day, if I didn't go on the internet (or go into work) then I would speak to no one but my parents. Thinking about it, I think I would go insane. I'm an extrovert and need other people's company to make me feel happy (Not allll day, I need some time alone) and the internet provides that. I have some really good friends that I can only speak to online, on facebook, KHV or by text (not social media but I am counting it if they are far away xD) and I would not know them at all if social media didn't exist and they all have such a huge impact on me (hey @Cat~ got me into Doctor Who and now look at me >:3 my life would not be the same without that show and everything else it has inspired me to watch). Humans are social animals but our world is big and not always friendly, if you live in a place where you clash with all the people then, without social media, you would have no other way of constantly talking to others (you have letters but they take a while and can easily lose track of each other).

    Of course, there is the bad side of social media, like the pages on tumblr that promote mental illness and anorexia just sicken me. The "cut for Bieber" makes me cringe so much just thinking about it. There is also the internet safety talks- don't add people you don't know, don't talk to strangers and meet up with them as they are probably rapists. These things are all incredibly important and should be taught to all kids but it's the only thing you really hear about which gives it such a negative image.

    Facebook is filled with people who want attention, THE AMOUNT OF SELFIES! It bothers me a lot, I refuse to join instagram because I am sure it would be an awful lot of selfies. Now, I have no problem with people taking pictures of themselves but taking them with the intent of gaining attention bothers me a lot. It has become a place where you can feed that type of behaviour and I don't really know how to stop it, the only hope it that they grow out of such behaviour.
     
  6. ShibuyaGato Transformation

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    I hate it when people take this to either extreme. Honestly, you want an example of either? Stop reading the news and see for yourself just how negative facebook or tumblr can be. There's going to be negativity no matter where you go, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the positives. It's all about how you react. If I'd let the jerks on KHV get to me back in 2009, I wouldn't be where I am today (nor would I have as ridiculous a friend as @Ienzo or as big an obsession with any of the major shows I'm into). It's all about what you take away from the experience. People are generally jerks, but if you don't take a chance, how will you ever find anyone to prove you wrong?
     
  7. Patman Bof

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    I don' t use Facebook and the likes at all, just forums. I have people in my family who are clearly too addicted to them for their own good (and more importantly that of their kids) but it' s a risk that comes with any media. And in their case I' d say it' s a symptom, not the illness.

    Just like Ienzo I' m in it to lighten my solitary moments and to meet different cultures and point of views. When TV was invented we were promised a window to the outside world, a tool for worldwide understanding. Can' t say it really delivered on that one, the desillusionment towards the establishment medias is growing bigger and bigger. The internet seems far more appropriate a tool for that. There' s a reason say, China or Turkey fear social medias.

    Good, bad, at the end of the day it is what you make of it. So far I' d say the good outweights the bad, we' ll see ...
     
  8. Peace and War Bianca, you minx!

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    No. Nuclear armaments are bad for humanity, not Miley Cyrus or Facebook. Just because we're exposed to dirt bags and massive pricks who are either delusional, uninformed or teenage angst twenty something year olds doesn't make humanity worst off. We've suffered centuries of misogynist, racists, classists or religiously motivated bastards ruling our countries, commanding armies, becoming politicians and teachers. We'll survive trolls. Hell, we have bigger fish to fry in the real world.

    Social networking is a form of communication, digitally processed on a global scale. Communication is a product of being social creatures, we develop ways to exchange thoughts, feelings and information. The act of communicating has helped humanity survive and thrive, allowing us to work together as well as get what we want. Communication is essentially our best way to be better people, it's not bad inherently and i'd even argue it's pretty good.

    There will always be those who chat **** and use it as a political stand, but there will also be those who use it to spread laughter and promote good causes. Can't have one without the other.
     
  9. Ars Nova Just a ghost.

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    Ehh, I can see both sides here. On the one hand, the sheer degree of connectivity is nice for some... and not so nice for others. For hardcore introverts it can be smothering. Not to mention people can develop bad habits through these sites, like the aforementioned echo chamber behavior or just using it as another brick in the procrastination wall. While I believe it's up to people to draw these lines for themselves, we should be able to assess which social networking sites have the worst help-to-harm ratios and either protest them or snub them.

    The issue is that many social networking sites make it difficult to opt out. Google+, for instance, is being pushed onto people with any kind of Google account, be it Gmail or Youtube, when many people have no reason to have one. Likewise, Facebook connectivity is one of the most obnoxious things in the world, with many sites using it as their primary registration method or just flashing pop-ups in your face every five minutes.

    If we have the liberty to stay away from these sites, then they can be used responsibly and any risk they pose is voluntary; if not, then detriments are being forced on us for benefits that we may not appreciate or that may not be enough. I just wish sites like these weren't so aggressive, especially since their user base is already so stupidly big. Well, maybe not Google+'s, but I certainly don't ever want to try it now that they've tried to shove it down my throat.
     
  10. A Zebra Chaser

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    Just want to add on to this because I actually LOATHE the creepy stalker stuff that comes with this
    "By sharing your facebook information you allow us to:
    -Access your cell phone number
    -Send invites to your friends
    -Make posts on your behalf"

    That sort of stuff is a pretty huge problem with social networks, and it's creepy to boot
     
  11. Ars Nova Just a ghost.

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    That's a good point I forgot about. A lot of these "social networking" sites are trying to take out the "social" part and turn their users into billboards. Hence snapchat, which sits on a throne of lies and I hope none of you use it :x
     
  12. Dr.M Merlin's Housekeeper

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    They are only bad because it eliminates actually speaking to people and to just type to them and only share the good experiences and it may change you somewhat depending on the person (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/status-update-im-so-glamorous/) sure it keeps people updated with others lives but people could always just call each other. Not to mention the amount of people who stalk one another on Facebook, twitter, etc.

    The only good thing I seem from social networking is that if you have family or friends outside of the place in which you can see them face to face then it might be good to keep them in touch with one another along with planning events in order to see one another.
     
  13. ♥♦♣♠Luxord♥♦♣♠ Chaser

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    Ignorance is bliss~

    I have seen countless examples of people just updating "statuses" with only positive things, but if you dug even slightly deeper than that, all the things you just said would be proven wrong. Don't get me wrong I am not going all "Pro Facebook" on this thread, in fact I think Facebook is trash. What I am saying is when given the chance, people tend to open up fairly easily. Take DM's on twitter (a form of private messaging), I have gotten countless from people, most of which were fairly serious. How about YouTube? It's just typing and videos right? No. People can connect and make bonds the same way you would "in real life" (kill me now I hate that phrase). I have made several friends through YouTube and Twitter, and if you consider forums a social network then I have made even more close bonds. Hell I got a girlfriend out of that. People think that the social networks are as far as it goes, but no. You can meet someone online, they could have similar interests as you, and then all of a sudden you are gaming with them / talking on Skype.

    "Eliminates actually speaking to people"

    That is just sick
     
  14. Peace and War Bianca, you minx!

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    Honestly showing a bit of age here, but I remember when some people avoided opting into have any email account. People didn't want that partial stigma of being part of the niche PC market back in the early-mid 90s, as well as many didn't want just anyone contacting them through email, like it was your home telephone number or address.
    We can see how that went, but I honestly don't care anymore. People'd be able to find me with or without a gmail, facebook or twitter if they really wanted, because we all use the internet, have accounts, we all now use email. Having different names doesn't mean we're different people. I could use Google search right now and find if some member on here have different accounts elsewhere. Some would be able to check the IP address. Ok I'm rambling, but I'm saying that there is no real secrecy online anymore.

    I personally am thankful of social network integration to sign into accounts. It's so much easier than remembering which of the 12 password variations I have in my head and used in this account I haven't logged into for 3 months. As long as you know the service you're using, it's all that matters. Issue is, people are dumb, they don't know the terms or issues of what they're using. I'll inform them if I can, but when we have the internet at our fingertips, being ignorant is a weak excuse.