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Social Media Is the New Smoking

theroamingmind.com

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Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#11

Post by calebgilbert »

I've been developing since 2000 in some form or other and have gone from a true believer who thought the internet would save the world, to someone who thinks it's had an immeasurably negative impact on any number of levels.

That said, comparing it to smoking is not broad enough. It's more like social media (and by extension the internet) is more like the 'new water' - a fundamental aspect of living whether we like it or not at this point. For instance, even if you don't partake in social media, the top political figures of the day are, and thus your life is being directly affected one way or the other.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#12

Post by booleandilemma »

oliv__ wrote: post #10

> "That the dude off in the corner consuming his Instagram feed will be looked at the same as the guy standing at the street corner sucking on a Marlboro." I don't think that's ever going to happen. Social networks, contrary to smoking, are built on the very nature of human beings: being social animals. And that's certainly not going away. It would be like wishing that the buddies socializing on the corner would be l…

The other day I saw a woman on the subway spending almost 5 minutes trying to take a flattering selfie.

It was pretty sad.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#13

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

If Social Media Is the New Smoking then I'm smoking 12 packs a day. HELP!

Seriously,there is truth in this statement. People are sinking into their phones and computers and we all think it's amusing. Living peacefully in a society is hard enough when we have to learn to deal with one another. What will happen when we lack those abilities because all we need to do is interact with our technology? Red lights need to be popping up all over the place.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#14

Post by dep_b »

oliv__ wrote: post #10

> "That the dude off in the corner consuming his Instagram feed will be looked at the same as the guy standing at the street corner sucking on a Marlboro." I don't think that's ever going to happen. Social networks, contrary to smoking, are built on the very nature of human beings: being social animals. And that's certainly not going away. It would be like wishing that the buddies socializing on the corner would be l…

> Social networks, contrary to smoking, are built on the very nature of human beings: being social animals.

Bullshit. After quitting I still went to the smoking area at work just to hang out with the people that were taking a break there. Especially when it was completely accepted smoking was considered very social, like grabbing a beer together still is. The "hey let's grab a smoke" is what I miss about smoking.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#15

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #13

If Social Media Is the New Smoking then I'm smoking 12 packs a day. HELP! Seriously,there is truth in this statement. People are sinking into their phones and computers and we all think it's amusing. Living peacefully in a society is hard enough when we have to learn to deal with one another. What will happen when we lack those abilities because all we need to do is interact with our technology? Red lights need to be…

"Living peacefully in a society is hard enough when we have to learn to deal with one another. What will happen when we lack those abilities because all we need to do is interact with our technology."

Being wrapped up in social media might serve as a way of pacifying society. When unemployment is rising due to automation and policy, give the masses shiny websites they can spend all day on and lots of computer games, and then they won't get together in real life much and riot. William Gibson envisioned such a future in his recent novel "The Peripheral".

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#16

Post by Kenji »

thinbeige wrote: post #4

I remember one vacation which was the first after many years: I was lying at the beach enjoying the view. I was so happy that I could afford some vacation after years of suffering and watching millions of vaction pictures from my friends on Facebook. Avid for revenge, I took a picture of the stunning beach view and wrote in big letters 'MY LIFE IS BETTER THAN YOURS'. At that moment I realized what Facebook is about (…

Did you know? Facebook stores what you write into the text box even if you don't send it.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#19

Post by martinald »

I often wonder if social media is the reason behind the dismal productivity gains we've seen in the last decade.

I think this is a really well thought article. I can sort of see the equivalent of The Insider in 20 years time, with Zuck at a congress hearing saying that 'social media' is not addictive.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#20

Post by kartan »

Today I'm going to answer cynism with cynism:

> will social media become the new smoking?

No. Smoking produces cancer, that makes some people really worried. It is even worst if you are pregnant.

> Will browsing your phone anticipating the next notification become a dirty habit that others will shun you for?

No. Unless there are other more cool ways of social media. If you are still using My Space, maybe you already feel like this.

> There are a few instances where it works well but for every 1 nugget of goodness that there is, there are 4 nuggets of bad.

Supported by which data?

> I know I am sounding negative here, but it is the truth.

Ooooh, it's the true. Duh.

> I always feel better after interacting with someone face-to-face.

Me too. Social media doesn't exclude the possibility to have human interaction unless you are in a 90s movie connected to a VR headset. If that happens, you are trapped in "the computer world" and lost for ever.

> social media will never feel like a true genuine connection.

Because it is not. Reading a newspaper doesn't feel either as a "genuine connection", but keeps me up to date with the news. Sending a mail doesn't feel either as a "genuine connection", but I get my job done.

> While naive to believe so, I have to hope that when my son becomes ready to consume the social media lifestyle, by then it will have been a passing fad and ostracized like the cigarette packages of today.

Or he can be educated to understand for what is useful, and for what not, and what are the risks. Abstinence education doesn't work.

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