Social media will be our downfall

Interesting interview given with former Facebook Exec Chamath Palihapitiya. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/12/12/former-facebook-vp-says-social-media-is-destroying-society-with-dopamine-driven-feedback-loops/?utm_term=.79cc09808e91

A former Facebook executive is making waves after he spoke out about his “tremendous guilt” over growing the social network, which he feels has eroded “the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.”

“It literally is a point now where I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. That is truly where we are,” he said. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works: no civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem.”


I have noticed this pattern around me and it is worrisome. People seem to retreat to the internet to flame each other over tired used up talking points. You can say anything to anyone and have no recourse. The civility of having coffee with your neighbor and actually going in depth about issues, or going to the library and reading Books! so that you might actually be able to hold a conversation beyond Facebook news headlines. And I'm not referring just to political crap that's been going on this year and the left/right. I really mean about just daily life in general and how people stay tuned to the world around them, like current events in other countries or science ect... what do you guys think?

Well things need to come out in the light. Before it was all in the shadows.

Where it goes from here is the mystery.

there is a lot of great stuff coming from the internet. a great evening of the playing field and a amazing opening up of information. but the other side of the coin is that we are flooded by information, ever topic has 10 different versions, no one agrees on what the basic facts are anymore. it's like the jfk thing, there are at least 5 different versions out there now which your average person will find impossible to disprove. we have the same issue in Syria now, with Russia too. people have a bubble of information that agrees and supports their world view. the internet lets us all do that if we don't consciously go out of our way to read the "enemy" news sites too, not just the comfortable ones that give you a world view you agree with.

as for social media, my god, what a monster we have created. social media is now leading to lynch mob mentality. no one is considered innocent till proven guilty. all it takes is some accusations and bang jobs are lost, and death threats are flying. this worries me as it will not end well, all it takes is a few accusations to be disproved and people will believe accusers even less then before. so we should be careful with blindly believing online accusers without some supporting evidence, else it will all backfire.

I stay off social media, though I've posted on a few places in the past. The cannabis forums are about as 'social' as I get online. lol

Thanks for finding this and posting it up.

I stay off social media as well and this site is as social as I get. I actually prefer to have intelligent conversations instead of contentious arguing

This is the only for of social media I participate in. The information is fantastic and the people I talk to from all over the world is exciting. So in a limited sense I enjoy social media but just here.

I agree with the OP

coldcanna said:

Interesting interview given with former Facebook Exec Chamath Palihapitiya. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/12/12/former-facebook-vp-says-social-media-is-destroying-society-with-dopamine-driven-feedback-loops/?utm_term=.79cc09808e91

A former Facebook executive is making waves after he spoke out about his “tremendous guilt” over growing the social network, which he feels has eroded “the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.”

“It literally is a point now where I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. That is truly where we are,” he said. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works: no civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem.”


I have noticed this pattern around me and it is worrisome. People seem to retreat to the internet to flame each other over tired used up talking points. You can say anything to anyone and have no recourse. The civility of having coffee with your neighbor and actually going in depth about issues, or going to the library and reading Books! so that you might actually be able to hold a conversation beyond Facebook news headlines. And I'm not referring just to political crap that's been going on this year and the left/right. I really mean about just daily life in general and how people stay tuned to the world around them, like current events in other countries or science ect... what do you guys think?

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THIS: ...icmag is my social media!

Haha good points here, I haven't used FB in yearsss but I'm a fiend for some ICmag. I'd agree that the internet can be a positive force for good because anyone anywhere can log into the vast depths of the knowledge of humanity--- but that's kind of the point. Just generalizing, most people will consume news by either going to their favorite slanted "news" source or by following links found on Twitter or Facebook. I mean even the fact that "legitimate" news outlets would take time in the news cycle to mention what somebody tweeted? That's the definition of gossip (he said this, she said that)- the average news source has the intellectual capacity of a middle schooler.

There are websites out there for free that you can teach yourself physics, economics, language, or anything. So instead of just repeating the talking points about Tax Cuts for example (we've all heard them. its either "for the wealthy" or "good for business", but I've yet to meet anyone that can bring up principles from an economics class and intellectually dissect the issue. The greatest information access of all time has resulted in dumber humans that can't interact properly.

I thought widespread use of Prozac and other SSRI drugs, and the possible stupefying effect of fluoride in the water, was going to be our downfall.

Will Prozac team up with Facebook to make us a nation that can only stand to think about pet pics and restaurant selfies ?

amanda88 said:

THIS: ...icmag is my social media!

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yup. this plus a couple of outdoor sports sites is as "social" as i get. no FB etc.

Nothing social about social media

I think any time a person engages in a relationship via electronics, while sitting in the midst of persons who are actually present, there's a sad disconnect.

While FB and similar sites have been dynamos for political organizing, etc. (MPP claimed that 1:8 votes for legalization in Co were the result of social media/FB), I agree that it's been at a cost in other areas.

I told my wife about 6 years ago, in cynical hyperbole, that Mark Zuckerburg's head should be placed on a pikes poles outside the American Family Values office for helping to create and further fuel a beast that has brought more invisible barriers between family members than anything I can remember in my history, short of serious alcoholism, violence, or elevated conflict.

Our older son back then, dissatisfied by insistence that he pull his weight, and other expectations of a familial/parental nature, more or less disconnected from family at that time. He'd come home from school, and after minimal activities of a required nature, spend time visiting with e-friends, many of whom I'd never met or heard the names of before then.

Yes, ICMag can incorporate some or all of the same brain chemistry pitfalls re. dopamine, etc., and ALL of it has the capacity, whether FB, IC, or what ever to be an excellent resource for learning, but a room full of people, supposedly caring about each other, and all of them staring into one electronic device or another, seemingly oblivious to the others' existence, is truly a sad Norman Rockwell print to behold.

When 1 in 5 high school and/or middle school students is getting out of bed in the middle of the night to see if someone liked their new profile pic, then we're adrift in less than healthy waters.

*Yes, my post count indicates this is an area of hypocrisy for me... But... but.. I'm a social hermit... ;^>)

i don't do social media (except FC and ICMAG) ... except i have a FB "business page" - what a scam. i find absolutely no benefit to my business from A LOT of FB posts and boosts. FB users don't want to click away ... they just want to be distracted. it's yet another opium for the masses.


interesting to see. makes me stay focused on my projects and goals. and wow! there is enough information on the internet to do any fucking thing imaginable. makes my days (and nights) far more interesting than the crap on the intertubes.

facefook is evil, they created a feedback loop that gives people dopamine hits when their shit is liked or shared leading them to post even more personal shit about their lives. one of the guys involved in setting up facefook just recently admitted he feels guilty as hell about what they did. he explains how humans are forgetting how to have normal polite interactions and discussions. people on facebook and twitter interact in a horrible way with each other, it's damaging for our society, but my biggest worry is for kids growing up with this who never learned anything else. interestingly enough there is data out there showing that schools that disallow cell phones have better results then those that allow them, in France they are gone forbid cell phones for the whole school day. they are doing it for health reasons, thats a whole other discussion. but yeah social media like most things is a two edged sword, at it's best it shows the greatness in humanity, at it's worst it shows the opposite side of humanity. of course pandoras box is open now, there is no closing it anymore. not as long as the internet lasts anyway.

gaiusmarius said:

facefook is evil, they created a feedback loop that gives people dopamine hits when their shit is liked or shared leading them to post even more personal shit about their lives. one of the guys involved in setting up facefook just recently admitted he feels guilty as hell about what they did. he explains how humans are forgetting how to have normal polite interactions and discussions. people on facebook and twitter interact in a horrible way with each other, it's damaging for our society, but my biggest worry is for kids growing up with this who never learned anything else. interestingly enough there is data out there showing that schools that disallow cell phones have better results then those that allow them, in France they are gone forbid cell phones for the whole school day. they are doing it for health reasons, thats a whole other discussion. but yeah social media like most things is a two edged sword, at it's best it shows the greatness in humanity, at it's worst it shows the opposite side of humanity. of course pandoras box is open now, there is no closing it anymore. not as long as the internet lasts anyway.

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And social media (FB, et al) has been used by authorities for a long time now to tag folks. I've known of persons being busted by virtue of locating their whereabouts via FB, etc.

Persons post who they are, who they know, what they do, when they do it, sometimes when they're home and not, etc., and more. A surveillance agency's dream come true.

If someone had said to those persons 10-20 years ago, "I want to know (this, this and this) about you." The person being asked likely would've said, "Screw you!!"

Now, with limited prompting, folks post that shit all day long.... Voluntary participants in the data mining and surveillance world.... So someone will reach out to their lonely asses from thousands of miles away and say, "Hey, I like you, I think."

moose eater said:

And social media (FB, et al) has been used by authorities for a long time now to tag folks. I've known of persons being busted by virtue of locating their whereabouts via FB, etc.

Persons post who they are, who they know, what they do, when they do it, sometimes when they're home and not, etc., and more. A surveillance agency's dream come true.

If someone had said to those persons 10-20 years ago, "I want to know (this, this and this) about you." The person being asked likely would've said, "Screw you!!"

Now, with limited prompting, folks post that shit all day long.... Voluntary participants in the data mining and surveillance world.... So someone will reach out to their lonely asses from thousands of miles away and say, "Hey, I like you, I think."

Click to expand...

very good points, people are giving up so much info about themselves it would have been impossible to believe it as you say 20 years or so ago. the worst thing is the addictive nature of these things.

also the way people decide to be judge and jury about almost any topic and they are willing to pass verdicts and form virtual lynch mobs. jobs are getting lost and as you say the so called security services love that stuff, in fact facecook was co funded by the cia or fbi if i don't mistake what i read about this years and years ago.

edited to add: speaking of cell phones, seems its not just France worried about the health effects, check this out:
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/california-advises-against-keeping-phone-190200089.html