I often say, those of us old enough to remember the early days of the internet had such hope for how it would unit us. You could share your thoughts, customs and beliefs with people all over the world in an instant. And instead, algorithms have made it an echo chamber, pushing people further and further to extremes of intolerance. Zuckerberg will be "the first against the wall come the revolution" (am I allowed to even say that in a rhetorical way, without facing the wrath of the social media radicals?)
Yes this is it, because we believed opening up all the knowledge through the WWW would enlighten us but we failed to account for the many bad actors (and bots and AI) that would shift and distract our views and opinions, weaponising them and pitting us against each other. I think social media and media in general is doing a great job keeping us distracted (and enraged) just enough to ensure there won’t be a revolution.
Wow, loved reading this. I have been doing a lot of thinking on how easily we collectively react to things we see online, and trying myself and encouraging others to try to think and seek more information before going through a knee-jerk reaction to something. The more I do it, the more I find myself able to be discerning, the less I feel compelled to emotionally react to something, and the more I am able to stay focused on my own, hopefully helpful, work. Keeping focus on how we can help, heal and grow instead of giving energy to fear and anger. It’s a long process, but it works. Thanks for sharing. 🙏
Thank so much for reading and yeah It’s so hard feeling this constant pressure to immediately react to things, especially as news and notifications moves at lightning speed. I thinks it’s so important to not only take a break from these apps regularly but also appreciate when folks aren’t always posting and engaging. Hope we can all find ways to slow down more and take some deep breaths. There seem to be some weird and intense times ahead 😳
Aversions to whiffs of extremism? Check. Discomforted by people speaking overly convincingly? Check.
I did the militant atheism thing back in the day, until I realized a) that it was wrong and mostly performative because b) you aren't going to argue/debate/reason someone out of their firmly-held beliefs. So, yeah, don't waste your time doing that with MAGAs either.
Thank you! I ran in anarchist circles in high school and quickly was like ok but this guy seems to be pretty insistant on telling us what to do so is this really anarchy?
Super cynical with tongue in cheek me: he was really just trying to start a cult to get chicks. The 'willful' ones bailed leaving him with those who would follow orders. ;-)
I often say, those of us old enough to remember the early days of the internet had such hope for how it would unit us. You could share your thoughts, customs and beliefs with people all over the world in an instant. And instead, algorithms have made it an echo chamber, pushing people further and further to extremes of intolerance. Zuckerberg will be "the first against the wall come the revolution" (am I allowed to even say that in a rhetorical way, without facing the wrath of the social media radicals?)
Yes this is it, because we believed opening up all the knowledge through the WWW would enlighten us but we failed to account for the many bad actors (and bots and AI) that would shift and distract our views and opinions, weaponising them and pitting us against each other. I think social media and media in general is doing a great job keeping us distracted (and enraged) just enough to ensure there won’t be a revolution.
Wow, loved reading this. I have been doing a lot of thinking on how easily we collectively react to things we see online, and trying myself and encouraging others to try to think and seek more information before going through a knee-jerk reaction to something. The more I do it, the more I find myself able to be discerning, the less I feel compelled to emotionally react to something, and the more I am able to stay focused on my own, hopefully helpful, work. Keeping focus on how we can help, heal and grow instead of giving energy to fear and anger. It’s a long process, but it works. Thanks for sharing. 🙏
Thank so much for reading and yeah It’s so hard feeling this constant pressure to immediately react to things, especially as news and notifications moves at lightning speed. I thinks it’s so important to not only take a break from these apps regularly but also appreciate when folks aren’t always posting and engaging. Hope we can all find ways to slow down more and take some deep breaths. There seem to be some weird and intense times ahead 😳
Aversions to whiffs of extremism? Check. Discomforted by people speaking overly convincingly? Check.
I did the militant atheism thing back in the day, until I realized a) that it was wrong and mostly performative because b) you aren't going to argue/debate/reason someone out of their firmly-held beliefs. So, yeah, don't waste your time doing that with MAGAs either.
Thank you! I ran in anarchist circles in high school and quickly was like ok but this guy seems to be pretty insistant on telling us what to do so is this really anarchy?
Super cynical with tongue in cheek me: he was really just trying to start a cult to get chicks. The 'willful' ones bailed leaving him with those who would follow orders. ;-)
I like this very much.
Cheers, really appreciate you reading 🥹