You're the one that said what I said was "populist".
I think that in my second reply I apologized for being harsh in my comment, as I didn't really mean to attack you.
while people aren't "starving in the streets" today, social media makes it SEEM like everything is more negative and terrible than it really is.
While what you're saying is true to an extent, social media also bring a big bonus. People think that they're acting (and activists) just by posting on Facebook. Real action is now for people who are really committed. The rest? Post on Facebook. Social media brings an outlet to a lot of repressed people that would be damaging in the real-world.
It amplifies things and thus makes mountains out of mole hills by comparison.
This has always been true since the invention of newspapers, it's the mechanics of it that is different. We have a good advantage now, information overload. We're still in an early phase, but people are increasingly bored and worried about too much information that seems relevant. As of today most of us are not able to "filter" the information because we come from a world where a breaking news worthy of print (on any media) was somewhat important. We still use our old way of thinking that if it is reported somewhere and read by millions of people, then it's relevant. This is bound to change soon.
We have police being ambushed and targeted that had nothing to do with events in other parts of the country.
You might want to revisit the 60's, 70's and other times in history. People always found excuses to kill each other.
We have groups jumping to conclusions based on spotty smart phone video footage from bad angles and then blocking freeways in cities on the other side of the country in protest (that ticks off people trying to get to work, etc. that had NOTHING to do with what they're protesting) and they organize this on social media.
Again, this has always happened.
I'm simply questioning the "value" of the modern smart phone to society and what society might be like if it hadn't come into being (at least not right away).
And it is a great question, you're absolutely spot on in bringing it on. But you can't forget that we're in a transitional phase which will last several more years. We're living though the industrial revolution... times ten! At this moment we don't know exactly which values are the "good ones". The industrial revolution brought great things... but it also brought kids that worked 12 hours a day in a factory risking their well being. It took a while and a lot of pain to find the value of children education over factory work. We're living a similar period.
How would people be spending their spare time if they had to get on a traditional desktop or notebook in order to check their Facebook page instead of being able to check it 24/7/365 by pulling a phone out of their pocket?
How different would it be if Gutenberg never invented printing? We would dedicate a lot of time to do artistic work and read and copy books and papers. We would be able to assimilate more knowledge (and less information). But school would be limited, news would be limited, etc. There are two faces of the medal. Yes, we spend too much time on FB on our devices. But I can also find all the original papers and media (phone calls, press conferences etc.) of the period I am studying (The Nixon era, Kissinger, and the Vietnam War). I can find books that are almost impossible to find. I can go to college while I work, do my quiz at lunchtime. I can connect with fellow board-gamers, I can plan a trip and reserve rooms etc. in 1/5 of the time.
The world would be a different place, IMO and I personally think more and more that it would be a BETTER place without these smart phones taken to the levels they have been taken.
I agree that it's getting a little bit out of hand, but I trust that the trend will correct itself. I might be naive, I admit it.
I grew up with computers from a Commodore Vic20 and NEVER until now have I truly grown to despise a type of "computer" the way I have smart phones.
I just bought a Vic-20, I opened it the other day. It had a game and the tape recorder, original box, and cables. Amazing, it brought me back to my childhood.
And it's not that the smart phones are "bad" it's that people are addicted to them through social media and its having negative effects on society from ignorance of actual computer functions to calculators to spending all their spare time doing things like Facebook instead of interacting with real people.
Didn't your parents say the same thing when you were playing on your Vic-20? "you should get out more". Before, it was them and your grandparents with the TV.
It's killing pubs in Britain
On this I agree 100%, but it's a matter of basic education. As you don't read the paper while eating with others, you shouldn't check your FB. At my house, or at the restaurant, I strictly forbid my kids (and myself) to check our phones.
kids today have almost no interest in things like driving (something prior generations looked forward to as children and couldn't wait to do while today's kids would rather Uber or have the car drive them so they can Facebook some more....(sigh).
I honestly don't see this, but I am in Texas. Without a car you can't do anything here.
Maybe some of you enjoy the smart phone world, but I've been thinking more and more we would have been better off as a society without it.
I don't enjoy it. I enjoy parts of it, I despise other parts of it.
