re: Does mass social media need to die?

I think it has created more division. It exposes people to the point, there are a lot of sub groups people can be lumped into, but at the same time, each group is also stereotyped into one big ole lump.

Take the white nationalist situation in Virginia for example. A group of white nationalist jackasses decide to march and go protest the removal of confederate monuments. There are different groups of people who oppose the removal of the confederate monuments.

There are people who simply think it is part of American history and it just represents an important time in our history.

There are people who says it's about heritage.

There are black people who oppose the removal of the monuments.

The white nationalist obviously oppose the removal of them. Each group has their own reason, but according to social media, because the white nationalist are the ones who went extreme with it, then everyone who supports not removing them are lumped in with the white nationalist. So now, quickly, the perception becomes. If you support the monuments you are a nazi.

And social media allows these issues live on. Someone might watch the evening news and see something that gets them worked up, but then the news moves on and they eventually forget about it. But if there is something that gets someone all worked up. They can go on social media and see all kind of information (some legit, some fake) and it stays with them to the point they get triggered.

Then all of a sudden there is a topic that really gets someone worked up and they express their opinion. People who know that person all of a sudden sees a side of them they never saw before, which is a side of them they don't agree with and then it just gets out of hand.

But look at Houston for example, social media is allowing people to communicate much easier to get information out for other people, etc.

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they need some sort of check and balance to stop misinformation from spreading like wildfire.

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The problem is that people disagree about what is true and false to start with. As the old saying goes, there's a whole bunch of stuff people believe that just ain't so.

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Too many idiots have a voice that don't need one.

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This.

Which is sad because it is also what makes America great....the freedom of speech. It is a conundrum.