Social Media - is it really a good thing?

Vicious111 said:
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An example being that the algorithms work to direct people to topics that will purposely antagonize you. If you get angry or pissed off you are far more likely to continuously respond to a heated debate you are having with someone than you would a positive interaction. Ergo the idea of social media actually being a negative thing in your life.

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This seems to cover half the topics on BM. What are you upto, Ric?
 
I have a facebook business page and it has done wonders for my visibility. Most of my posts reach 3k people which is far more than the traditional advertising i used to buy.
My fb personal page gets friend requests every day, and every day i ignore them. I just interact with my family very close friends and that's usually through pm's.
Twitter confuses the shit out of me whenever i see stuff on here that others post.
 
When I worked for an insurance company we caught about 66% of fraudulent claims via Facebook. The amount of people who said they had never met another person involved in the accident and then found out via FB was amazing. How stupid are some people.
One even left open a conversation where they talked about how they were going to scam the insurers.
 
Its like the invention of wheel. That allowed tanks and they killed people, British Leyalnd cars to humiliate people and programmes like the Wheel of fortune to be made and Rui every Sunday in my house. Its here, it aint going away and we need to try and control it more and reduce the abuses.
 
I think it's pretty much universally accepted that it isn't a good thing.

But there was a guy in the local neighbourhood who has severe dementia that went missing the other day. People put posts on Facebook etc and within a few hours he'd been found.

Not sure that would've been possible without access to social media so it does have its good points.
 
I used Twitter mainly for work reasons. I only really follow other professionals, but I occasionally use it to see what's trending, especially after incidents in the football. Never actually post my political views on there though, firstly because I use my real name, and secondly, because it's designed to not allow people to debate properly or with any nuance.

But yeah, why anyone would want every fleeting thought about the news of the day publicly available under their real name is beyond me. I'm sure I've said some things I regret in the past, but I did so anonymously. I'm the same on Facebook. It's for chatting with my friends and let my mum see my photos. That's it.
 
Someone once quipped that Facebook was full of people you wish you didn't know and Twitter full of people you wish you did.

The internet has made everyone think they're a player these days. Look at LinkedIn profiles and the shit people claim they do. Job titles etc.
 
peoffrey said:
Someone once quipped that Facebook was full of people you wish you didn't know and Twitter full of people you wish you did.

The internet has made everyone think they're a player these days. Look at LinkedIn profiles and the shit people claim they do. Job titles etc.
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So, you've seen my linkedin profile then? And for the record I can read minds and bend spoons with my mind. Although, I will admit here though, Ive never been employed as a shark wrestler, didn't lead the raid on Entebbe and wasn't married for five years to Nicole Kidman and am not fluent in Latin....or invented lasers.
 
It’s a dangerous cesspit of algorithms that trap you into one way of thinking, and make even moderate views different to yours seem like wildly extreme views of enemies who should be hated.

It’s also alarmingly dumbing down society.
 
Magicpole said:
So, you've seen my linkedin profile then? And for the record I can read minds and bend spoons with my mind. Although, I will admit here though, Ive never been employed as a shark wrestler, didn't lead the raid on Entebbe and wasn't married for five years to Nicole Kidman and am not fluent in Latin....or invented lasers.
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I caught one out at work. “Oxbridge educated” on LinkedIn yet degree from Cardiff.
 
Alex-MCFC said:
There's a few Home County lot like that - the best example is at Durham. There's always countless examples of them kicking off with the locals.
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I’d get it in East London from St. Mary’s Uni Hospital in Whitechapel. Stand up to them and they always back down.

Wherever I live, I aim to be away from students because they lack any life experience. Believe they’re completely untouchable.
 
PannickAtTheDisco said:
largely ditched Twitter earlier in the year and much happier for it
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same here. Although not my choice. I got a permanent ban for calling some particularly insane cultist dipper who was trolling me a scouse ****.. at least I think that’s why I was banned, they never gave me a reason

I haven’t missed the poison that infests that platform one little bit
 
Vicious111 said:
I have been watching some videos recently on the whole process and mentality of the algorithms that go into creating social media news feeds. Honestly, it's actually rather alarming. Not only are they absolutely flooded with advertisement after advertisement until it resembles a Times Square cluster fuck, but the addictive processes it uses to keep people hooked are shocking.

An example being that the algorithms work to direct people to topics that will purposely antagonize you. If you get angry or pissed off you are far more likely to continuously respond to a heated debate you are having with someone than you would a positive interaction. Ergo the idea of social media actually being a negative thing in your life.

I binned Facebook a while back and reactivated it recently to promote my business page. Not interested in shite clickbait videos or ramblings of people I know bordering insanity. The quality of material is absolute garbage. I find Instagram is decent and enjoyable enough. Twitter I ignore entirely as it harbours the absolute worst of society.

Thus comes the next point however, your data. We are essentially being milked dry for our data in an economy which is worth Trillions and being called the digital oil. For anyone interested in the matter there are some guys (Jason Lanier - explains alot on the algorithms) working to create a new platform that actually pays you for your data. And make it positive.

Personally, I think it completely disconnects you from reality and worse, it doesn't actually give you anything. You can spend an hour strolling through crap videos and repetitive posts only to learn well...absolutely nothing. If you deleted that hour from your memory you would be in exactly the same position. TV programs, books and computer games provide a story and entertainment value. Even this blog provides reasoned discussion. Social Media is being linked to anxiety, loneliness, self esteem issues, sleep deprivation and envy. I wonder if in 70 years time they will look back on it as a harmful addiction, just as we look back at how smoking was good for you and reduced stress levels...
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great post but it is rewarding watching the facebook generation injure themselves on the many (many) video compilations which hit my feed
 
Magicpole said:
So, you've seen my linkedin profile then? And for the record I can read minds and bend spoons with my mind. Although, I will admit here though, Ive never been employed as a shark wrestler, didn't lead the raid on Entebbe and wasn't married for five years to Nicole Kidman and am not fluent in Latin....or invented lasers.
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we need to connect on LinkedIn, you seem very interesting
 
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