Social Media - is it really a good thing?

Grassland Blue said:
Their lives are so much better than ours.
Best holidays
Best sex
Lovelier babies
Best jobs
Nicer homes
Bigger/faster cars
First class travel
and a mate called Tarquin...
etc, etc...
Click to expand...

We're all brainwashed to try and out-do our peers. We judge it based on materialistic shite that doesn't really matter.

In reality, the people who're portraying these incredible lifestyles on social media are just as depressed and dissatisfied as the other 99% of people. It's just they're better on photoshop.
 
Lee Mack once said social media is like leaving your front door open for strangers to come in, look around, sit down and observe while the whole family is home. Then getting all the photo albums out and flicking through while having a brew.
 
Nope.

It has made the younger population (and some of the adult population) completely obsessed with obtaining "likes" and being conscious of their looks. It has further promoted a materialistic culture which involves one upmanship on a mass scale.

If something happens in the street say a mugging or fight, first instincts are for somebody to film it. Whilst that might be great for police evidence lets not get away from the fact that bystanders are filming for the likes rather than helping out a victim.

I've not yet touched upon the awful bullying abd trolling that goes on, I really feel for parents and kids dealing with SM bullying.

Yes there's good things to come out of SM such as crowd funding, spreading awareness etc but it's at a cost. Our population can't be trusted with anything really.
 
Dirty Harry said:
Came off general social media (Facebook especially) years ago, my old neighbour, a retired Psychology professor, used to call it 'evil' and 'toxic', he was right, still moderate on a training and nutrition forum, but that's full of people I've known for years and it's a very close group, but life is way way better without the other stuff.

Hate to say it, but when football finished due to Covid, life was even better.
Click to expand...

the problem is … not all of it is ‘evil’ and ‘toxic’ … one of my old school mates, a girl in her 30’s has been diagnosed with terminal Brest cancer whilst pregnant , she has 2 children already.
Anyway, a fundraising page has been set up for her for prolonging life treatment and hoping to raise 250,000 - she is nearly there.

there is no way she could have raised this without the power of social media.
 
Grassland Blue said:
Their lives are so much better than ours.
Best holidays
Best sex
Lovelier babies
Best jobs
Nicer homes
Bigger/faster cars
First class travel
and a mate called Tarquin...
etc, etc...
Click to expand...

I really fucking hate one-upmanship.

No I'm not bitter or jealous, I can enjoy things in life without the need to gloat. When people feel the need to go on about their hols, car, house etc I see it as a sign of insecurity.

Happens on work calls all the time, and you can see the dick measuring contest unfolding as the one upping over holidays takes place (mostly from so called "managers"). You'd think given circumstances, differing salaries a manager would do well to use some tact and not gloat but nope - wanky showing off galore.
 
Social media has its pro's and a seemingly long list of cons to go with it.

when used properly its a great way for friends and families to feel part of there group from long distance. this can be a life line to many. You get to follow the bands/teams you like and get quality news from them directly about new events/gigs etc etc.

But, the list of con's just keeps growing. from the one up man ship already noted. to full on mob mentality where a small minority can and do strongarm there more radicalised views of the world. and then on top of that you have Bots/"ourside actors" directly manipulating it via ad's and fake posts. the mob mentality, mixed with bots and manipulation is causing significant issues. from manipulating elections to antivax conspiracy crap.



this video explains a lot about the issues with Mob mentality/bots. where the more you see the same things repeated over and over it feels like its "true".
 
Last edited:
BlueHammer85 said:
the problem is … not all of it is ‘evil’ and ‘toxic’ … one of my old school mates, a girl in her 30’s has been diagnosed with terminal Brest cancer whilst pregnant , she has 2 children already.
Anyway, a fundraising page has been set up for her for prolonging life treatment and hoping to raise 250,000 - she is nearly there.

there is no way she could have raised this without the power of social media.
Click to expand...
You get the odd good thing mate, of course you do , but it doesn't mean it's not evil and toxic most of the time.
 
Dirty Harry said:
You get the odd good thing mate, of course you do , but it doesn't mean it's not evil and toxic most of the time.
Click to expand...

i agree, I'm off it - but if the power of social media can help raise millions towards various charity's - that's a massive plus.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
i agree, I'm off it - but if the power of social media can help raise millions towards various charity's - that's a massive plus.
Click to expand...
It is for sure, but I do ask myself, at what cost ?
Facefuck in particular, It'd be interesting to see the positives in comparison to the negatives (which I highly doubt they'd ever do, or be able to), the negatives which have caused people to take their own lives, or attempt it, the ones who've been bullied mercilessly, the parents/children made to feel worthless because they can't afford to pay for the latest "2nd year of nursery Prom night" etc etc, for me mate, the negatives I've seen far outweigh the positives.
 
I don’t bother with FB or Twatter. I occasionally read Twitter posts on BM and end up reading the replies to a controversial post. It seems abusive, full of repetitive cliches and a bit juvenile.
I do use Linked In and have got my last two jobs from contacts on there. I don’t read or post blogs and I keep any conversation to a minimum. It is crawling with recruitment agents and it’s easy because your profile is easily accessible to them. If you create a good profile you end up in more searches and more views.
 
Manchester33 said:
We're all brainwashed to try and out-do our peers. We judge it based on materialistic shite that doesn't really matter.

In reality, the people who're portraying these incredible lifestyles on social media are just as depressed and dissatisfied as the other 99% of people. It's just they're better on photoshop.
Click to expand...

Trouble is people can run up huge debt trying to keep up with them.

The people that boil my piss are the so called influencers, those that spend ages getting the perfect shot of their food/house and then photoshopping it but people go yeah that’s reality. What was it Marilyn Monroe said? Something about they go to bed with Marilyn and wake up with Norma Jeane… the dream and the reality.

It’s the internet and you can be whoever and whatever you want to be Cinderella
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top