The Social Dilemma

[Superman]

I do not visit social media sites. Never really did. I come here, and TalkBass, and AudioKarma and Wikipedia. I do Google searches and I have an email account where I get notes from family and friends, and advertisements from vendors I have used. I go outside and play. So yeah...I am 'offline' with regard to social media. Where, apparently, 50% of Americans get their news. That is as far down that road as I will go here.

There is a documentary you should watch, whether you use social media or not. Particularly if you have kids. It is on Netflix, and it is called The Social Dilemma. I strongly encourage you to watch this.

That is all.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Wife was an avid Facebook user and quit in the last week. Same with most of her family and many of her friends. I still have an account but never post and am planning to cancel whenever I get around to it. The blatant manipulation of social media for political gain, I don’t care for which side, is totally unacceptable and should scare the hell out of every American. Not to mention the harvesting and resale of our personal data. I think freedom of speech is perhaps our most important right, regardless of your perspective, and that cannot be infringed upon.

[Superman]

Agreed. Watch the documentary. You say social media is manipulated for political gain and it is actually simpler than that. The purpose is financial, not political.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Superman

Agreed. Watch the documentary. You say social media is manipulated for political gain and it is actually simpler than that. The purpose is financial, not political.

Agreed, unfortunately in our society those are intrinsically linked. That goes for both sides.

[Bugsinrugs]

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly evolving. It’s pretty scary.

[wildthing]

I think I have a healthy dose of skepticism of any media, print or online, so I don't really get my news from Facebook.

And if 50% of people are dumb enough to get swayed by the media, print or online, then as they say, the people get the government they deserve.

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by Superman

Agreed. Watch the documentary. You say social media is manipulated for political gain and it is actually simpler than that. The purpose is financial, not political.

Zuckerberg isn’t political?

Twitter isn’t political?

Google?

These monstrosities may have begun as financial mechanisms but they sure have jumped into politics.

I watched that ‘documentary’. It wasn’t a documentary. It was more manipulation. Seems like it worked. After watching that movie, people think the socials are apolitical.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Agreed, unfortunately in our society those are intrinsically linked. That goes for both sides.

How true.

[porsche930dude]

I dont see any reason to quit at this point. Its all about what you follow. I deleted my old account a couple years ago and quit it for like a year. My new page i put nothing on it and have no friends. I just go on the groups that i like which are all car/ motorsport related. Theres a hell of alot more politics on this forum than i get on fb. Same with youtube. And if its news you want. Well the internet is no different than tv. If you want it you will find it.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Zuckerberg isn’t political?

Twitter isn’t political?

Google?

These monstrosities may have begun as financial mechanisms but they sure have jumped into politics.

I watched that ‘documentary’. It wasn’t a documentary. It was more manipulation. Seems like it worked. After watching that movie, people think the socials are apolitical.

Their actions become political, but consider that they are sociopaths out competing for the king of FU money and then it all makes sense.

IOW, they have pay to play (influence) platforms. They really don't care who is paying. China, for example, has google doing their bidding (suppression).

[onewhippedpuppy]

In my opinion social media is one of the biggest threats to the fiber of our society today. The elimination of human contact, reduction to arguments to a finite number of characters, and the narcissistic reduction of profiles to a virtual highlight reel provide nothing positive to humanity as a whole. I think it has reduced our ability to have nuanced discussions of issues, instead people choose sides and jump to snap judgements as opposed to understanding and discussing the other side of an issue. While I don’t think I politically agree with Supe I would be thrilled to sit down over a beer and discuss issues, even if I don’t agree with him. The lack of respect for both sides of an issue is in my opinion a byproduct of the ADD aspect of social media and slowly destroying civil discourse. But that’s just my opinion....

[Crowbob]

Intersting post, Matt.

Jumping to snap judgements, choosing sides, loss of nuance, inability to see the other side. All true.

[red-beard]

I'm strategizing on reducing my FB presence. For my company, we need to maintain a presence. But I want to scale back to mostly that.

The election has shown me that even some of the decent people I know can POST absolutely vile stuff. And then they go on to use the SAME ACCOUNT to try to get people to their business. NOT a good idea. I have never talked politics on Social Media.

Except here. I only talk politics on-line in one place. In PARF.

[cstreit]

Facebook is a place to keep in touch with friends and see what they’re up to. Anyone that uses it for news sources is a fool.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Facebook is a place to keep in touch with friends and see what they’re up to. Anyone that uses it for news sources is a fool.

Absolutely... Could not agree more.

[red-beard]

Let the "unfriending", begin...

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Let the "unfriending", begin...

I do this once a year. If you’re not a car guy friend, or family, we better have had a beer together in the last two years. Otherwise I drop them. (I’m making exceptions for 2020)

Liberal use of the 30 day snooze usually is enough time to let people rant it out before I see their baloney again.

[Bill Douglas]

A friend was/is a victim of identity theft. the bad guy was taking out large business loans in friends name. the police got him, but while on bail he was working full time trying to scam more and more money using friends identity.

I don't know how the guy found out so much as to fool banks and loan places, but I'm sure a certain percentage of it came from social media.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Let the "unfriending", begin...

I "unfriend" you!!!! Lol.

I gave up Farcebook many years ago and am glad I did. The only "social media" I interact with are these forums here, a classic boat forum, classic Dodge truck forum, and a couple of sailing forums. I do spend some time online playing a racing game on my phone and that's about it. Farcebook it seems has just turned into a venue for arguing and name calling from what I've heard. People be brave AF when they can hide behind a keyboard instead of having a real discussion face to face.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Facebook is a place to keep in touch with friends and see what they’re up to. Anyone that uses it for news sources is a fool.

And they vote.