Poll of the Day > If social media was big during the 90's, would people still act the same?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I tried to get that all in the title, but you know how tons of people are acting crazy on social media these days and just in general? Do you think the same thing would be happening during the 90's? I feel like people's mindsets during the 90's weren't screaming back and forth, calling each other libtards, sexists, homophobic, racists (sure, that was happening, but not to where the word has lost its meaning like today), etc. I sometimes go on various Facebook news pages and all I see are both liberals and conservatives attacking each other over trivial things. I'm guessing this will be the norm going forward and it's just disheartening to see us attacking each other like this. When I'm out shopping, I can tell with the body language and looks on peoples faces that they have disgust and a chip on their shoulder. Do you think this will get worse in the future or stay about the same? I almost just want to disassociate myself with anything pertaining to social media.
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idk, I wasn't alive in the 90's.
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Ivalice_VKP posted...

Do you think the same thing would be happening during the 90's?

Absolutely.

Ivalice_VKP posted...

I feel like people's mindsets during the 90's weren't screaming back and forth, calling each other libtards, sexists, homophobic, racists (sure, that was happening, but not to where the word has lost its meaning like today), etc.

Oh it was indeed happening. However if you give a voice to the voiceless that's when shit goes down.

Ivalice_VKP posted...

When I'm out shopping, I can tell with the body language and looks on peoples faces that they have disgust and a chip on their shoulder.

Human interaction is a novelty these days for me.

Ivalice_VKP posted...

Do you think this will get worse in the future or stay about the same? I almost just want to disassociate myself with anything pertaining to social media.

It'll get worse. Humanity is doomed.
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Ivalice_VKP posted...

Do you think this will get worse in the future or stay about the same?

Nah, we're getting developing an understanding of social media echo-chamber effects. It's hard to step out of your bubble when you don't even know you're in one. I see things getting better.
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I thank god every day that my sub generation (i just turned 37, class of '99) was like the last one to get through high school and college years before social media took off. Middle school especially is awkward as fuck without Facebook making it a trillion times worse.

Ivalice_VKP posted...

I tried to get that all in the title, but you know how tons of people are acting crazy on social media these days and just in general? Do you think the same thing would be happening during the 90's?

Yes.

The reason why you didn't notice it in the 90s was because those viewpoints were squelched. The internet was in its infancy and platforms like Youtube and Facebook didn't exist. People with terrible opinions were out there, but they had no ability to voice those opinions to the world that didn't involve going through news(paper) censors and likewise they had limited ability to find like-minded individuals. Social media and the internet solved both those "problems".

And honestly? I'm actually kind of glad that era is dead. Yes, the rise of the internet and social media brought the morons with it, but it's worth remembering that things like "equality for minorities" and "gay rights" used to be the sort of radical ideas that the censors would clamp down on. Having to put up with dipshits is a small price to pay when you look at the bigger picture.

Ivalice_VKP posted...

Do you think this will get worse in the future or stay about the same?

I think things will improve, slowly but surely.

Keep in mind that everyone is still new at this whole "social media" thing. Hell, the idea of social media at all is, what, a decade old roughly? That means it's at the same stage of its development as television in the 1930s or the internet in the 80s. People are slowly figuring out the nuances of communicating in environments where we lack audial and visual cues that imply tone and give deeper meaning. That part, at least, I think we'll eventually get better at.

What you're talking about with people going around angry with a chip on their shoulder, though? I think that's over-simplistic to tie that to just social media. Could be an economy that is barrelling towards automation and fewer human jobs with virtually no preparation, could be a tremendously ugly political environment, could be a local crisis, could be something else altogether. There's a lot more pieces to the puzzle than what you're implying.

Ivalice_VKP posted...

I almost just want to disassociate myself with anything pertaining to social media.

I do that. I have no accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The only "social media" account I have is a LinkedIn page, and even that I barely visit. It does occasionally leave me on the outside looking in when parties or special events are planned and invites are sent on Facebook, but beyond that I'm pretty happy with my stance.
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