Is Social Media making us less Intelligent ?

[Abu Hadi 10,103]

As someone who grew was a child in the days before social media was 'a thing'. I can't help but think social media is forcing us to live in a 'bubble' surrounded only by those who agree with us. When you go on facebook, youtube, even google news, these sites show you content by default that matches with your past viewing / searching habits. So, for example, if you are a democrat, you will see links from Washington Post / NY Times at the top of your search pages. If you are a Republican, you will see Fox News, NY Daily News, Washington Times, etc. 

You will start to think after a while that everyone agrees with you, because that is all you see. Then become shocked and annoyed when you hear another point of view. Is social media making us not only less intelligent, but less tolerant ? 

I was at our holiday lunch at work and I sit next to this middle aged white lady who I have worked with for almost a year. We got along very well / had a good working relationship. Then one of my other coworkers and I were having a political discussion and I said something about Trump and how he seems to do things mostly for his own benefit. It didn't seem like a strong or outrageous comment, but I could see this lady's face turning red and she has been avoiding me since that lunch about 1 week ago. So I started thinking, 'There are alot of people, even alot of Americans who don't particularly like Trump, she must of heard something like this before. But then I thought, Maybe she hasn't. Got me to thinking. 

BTW, I don't think any different / less of her because now I know she is a Trump supporter. But maybe not everyone thinks like I do ? 

[ali_fatheroforphans 6,144]

Social media is programming us in a way. It makes us feel that the "popular view" is the "right view".

There are some positives but overall it is making us less intelligent.

I personally have deleted the Facebook app. It really messes with your thinking and gives you a false reality. You see one racist comment with a thousand likes and you feel that it is the reality.

[Ayuoobi 228]

@Abu Hadi Personally I think that the whole "bubble" thing is kind of a partial truth. The reality is that people in your generation generally speaking were far more moronic and ignorant than anyone who grew up with the internet. The reason is because the mainstream media would filter information and present carefully crafted narratives and nobody would know the wiser. The major printing distributions were also controlled by a few big players of a certain ethnic minority. Ergo, it was easy to brainwash the vast majority of the population.

This is no longer possible with the internet. They are trying to do it now with manipulating Google algorithms, but they still have not figured it out. For about 15 years the internet has been the wild west where people have been exposed to raw information. Even Shoeless Joe from Bumville Kentucky now is aware of U.S. military conspiracies, the globalist agenda and the like.

The fact of the matter is that most people on both the left and right have in fact heard the arguments and visited the websites and watched the youtube videos of opposition figures. Most trump supports have seen clips from the Young Turks and most progressives have seen some Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson or other right-wing figure.

The reason why the lady reacted so strongly is not because she has never heard this before, but rather because the country is so polarized. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone is ultra-sensative because Western civilization is undergoing a massive conflict in values between modernism and postmodernism. Basically if you say anything negative about their leading figures / worldview, they pass takfeer on you and assume you are of the opposition camp. 

If you talk to any person from a third world country that has major political strife, it's the same thing. It's not the internet, though that may be a contributing factor in many different ways to fanning the flames, but at root is the difference in value and the takfeer that each side has passed against the other. 

EDIT: All the above being said, i still voted it's making us less intelligent for one reason: Instagram. God help us all.

Edited December 28, 2017 by Ayuoobi

[Abu Hadi 10,103]

6 hours ago, Ayuoobi said:

@Abu Hadi Personally I think that the whole "bubble" thing is kind of a partial truth. The reality is that people in your generation generally speaking were far more moronic and ignorant than anyone who grew up with the internet. The reason is because the mainstream media would filter information and present carefully crafted narratives and nobody would know the wiser. The major printing distributions were also controlled by a few big players of a certain ethnic minority. Ergo, it was easy to brainwash the vast majority of the population.

This is no longer possible with the internet. They are trying to do it now with manipulating Google algorithms, but they still have not figured it out. For about 15 years the internet has been the wild west where people have been exposed to raw information. Even Shoeless Joe from Bumville Kentucky now is aware of U.S. military conspiracies, the globalist agenda and the like.

The fact of the matter is that most people on both the left and right have in fact heard the arguments and visited the websites and watched the youtube videos of opposition figures. Most trump supports have seen clips from the Young Turks and most progressives have seen some Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson or other right-wing figure.

The reason why the lady reacted so strongly is not because she has never heard this before, but rather because the country is so polarized. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone is ultra-sensative because Western civilization is undergoing a massive conflict in values between modernism and postmodernism. Basically if you say anything negative about their leading figures / worldview, they pass takfeer on you and assume you are of the opposition camp. 

If you talk to any person from a third world country that has major political strife, it's the same thing. It's not the internet, though that may be a contributing factor in many different ways to fanning the flames, but at root is the difference in value and the takfeer that each side has passed against the other. 

EDIT: All the above being said, i still voted it's making us less intelligent for one reason: Instagram. God help us all.

Salam. 

Actually I was in my teens when people started going online, so my 'generation' is kind of the border between generation 'x' and the millennials / gen y / digital natives. So I have a clear memory of pre / post social media eras. It is true that before social media became popular, you had basically the big three network ABC, NBC, CBS and their affiliates who 'owned' the media landscape. At the same time, there was still alternative media at that time (Cable stations, many smaller radio stations, magazines) and underground media. The only difference between then and now is that it is a lot easier to get your message, whatever that is, in front of millions or billions of people almost instantly. 

But those who wish to hide information from people did not stop. It is still just as easy to hide things, but it is now done using a different technique. In the old days, it was possible to actually 'hide' information, i.e. make sure noone knew about it. Now it is just as easy to hide information by creating 'static', to release the information, then surround it with fake information so that all of it seems fake, even the things that are true, or all of it seems true, even the parts that are fake. This is the technique that is being used now. 

I can give you thousands of examples of this, but here is one that will be clear to most people. If you google 'Sept 11 conspiracy theories', the first few links you will get Wikipedia, etc, shows that the most common conspiracy theory is that the two towers and tower 7 were brought down by a controlled demolition, i.e. not by plane impact and the resulting fire as the government says. This is a well established fact backed by thousands of different professional opinions including many hundreds of architects and engineers and others with a high degree of credibility. But if you look into the issue further, you will also see many theories connected to Sept 11 that have almost no evidence connected to them, such as who exactly was responsible for doing the operation that brought down the buildings. So there is enough evidence to say that they 'official account' of what brought the towers down is basically bs, but at the same time we don't know exactly how they were brought down or who did it. 

Most people are uncomfortable with having partially answered questions in their mind. The people who deliberately create static play on that aspect of human nature, very effectively.  So if they decide that the official story is bs, they will immediately jump onto one of the 'bandwagons' of conspiracy theorists who are selling their 'complete package' of who, what, when, where, and why (like Alex Jones for conservatives minded people and the 'Loose Change' brand for more liberal people, you can google 'Loose change 9/11' if you haven't already heard of this ). These 'packaged' conspiracies contain alot of things that are not true or at least are not proven, along with things that are proven. So people will either embrace the whole 'package' and end up mixing truth with falsehood or will reject the whole package, in which case you are rejecting the part that is true. So you are either accepting falsehood or rejecting truth, both of which are bad. So along with the truth, there is static which is also accepted and which eventually undermines the truth. 

After my 'journey' thru the maze of 9/11 and other conspiracy theories, I eventually became comfortable with the fact that I know some things and there are other things I don't know and will probably never know until the Day of Judgement. If you can get comfortable with saying 'I don't know' but at the same time seek knowledge with a sincere intention, then you will be ok on the Internet and social media. Otherwise, it will do more harm that good. IMHO. 

 

Edited December 28, 2017 by Abu Hadi

[Ayuoobi 228]

@Abu Hadi WS good post - I agree that without the internet many conspiracy theories that are actually taking place would not have light shed on them nearly as brightly. And the tactic to discredit the truth is spot on. My apologies for the presumption of what generation you were in, but I think the main points I was making regarding your OP are still pretty accurate inshaAllah.

[Wholehearted Shi'a 618]

The CONTENT on social media is certainly making us less intelligent.