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View Full Version : Social Media isn't the problem, people are



KristineS
05-15-2012, 04:50 PM
Just wanted to share this article (http://www.brasstackthinking.com/2010/02/social-media-is-not-the-disease/) which talks about the fact that social media doesn't cause the problems in the world it just amplifies them. If you're a jerk offline, you'll most likely be a jerk online too. I think this post is so true, and I like the reminder that social media can help expose your flaws or foibles to a much larger audience, which means we should all remember to be on our best behavior.

vangogh
05-15-2012, 11:15 PM
Good article. I was sold in the first paragraph with this


It’s just the amplifier.

I don't know why more people don't get that. Social media isn't anything new. It's just a new way of doing something humanity has been doing since the dawn of time. Why it's so valuable is because it amplifies our ability to connect with other people. The same basic ideas of connecting with other people are still there though. Some people are angels and some are jerks. Most are somewhere in between They'll be that way regardless of whether or not their online or offline at Facebook or the supermarket.

KristineS
05-16-2012, 11:52 AM
That point got me too. Social media just really gives those who are jerks a bigger stage on which to be jerks. It constantly amazes me how many people do something stupid on a social media site and then are surprised when it comes back to bite them in the behind later. People are paying attention, even if you think they aren't.

cbscreative
05-16-2012, 12:08 PM
One of the comments used the exact same comparison I had in mind...money. Many people believe money changes people. I don't believe that's true, it exposes people (it's an amplifier). If you want to really know what someone is like, give them enough money and you will find out. People seem to be prone to blame the medium rather than the people. I think the author nailed it.

vangogh
05-16-2012, 04:04 PM
I think you're right about money being an amplifier too. Certain things just make it easier for people to be who they are or reach a larger audience. Social media helps us reach a larger audience. It doesn't fundamentally change what we do when we reach those people. The same basic principles of how to interact with other people are still the same and still driving the relationships.

KristineS
05-16-2012, 04:36 PM
I hear the argument a lot about the fact that we're more aware of bad/rude behavior because social media exposes us to more information, and I think that's true, but it doesn't change the people who are being rude or badly behaved. They would have been that way anyway, we just wouldn't have known about it.

Shakespeare was definitely right, if it wasn't before, now all the world is definitely a stage. We all have to remember the spotlight is on us, even when we think it's not or no one would be interested in what we do or say.

vangogh
05-16-2012, 08:57 PM
Another part of all this is the different generations who engage in social media. The 3 of us didn't grow up with the internet and naturally we didn't have social sites to communicate with. We can see the amplification from how it was before. Generations behind us have grown up with the internet and many have been communicating through one social site or another since high school. They're going to have a very different view of things than we will.

Business Attorney
05-17-2012, 01:30 AM
While social media may not change most people, there are so many things that can change people, I find it hard to believe that some people are not changed by social media. Witnessing a bad accident, the death of a loved one, flunking a course, losing a job, having a baby, finding Mr or Miss "Right" - I have personally seen people undergo significant changes for these reasons and more. Is there any reason to think that the internet can never have that effect?

Even if social media doesn't change people, it can certainly change people's behavior. I see people I know who post things on Facebook that they would never say to a person's face. Perhaps they would think it, so you might say that whether they think it or say it is the same thing, but I think that there is a difference. Is the shy person who becomes a raging bully under the cover of an anonymous user name in a forum "really" the former or the latter? Clearly his behavior is different in the different settings and who is to say which is "real"?

Take the football player who makes the fiercest tackles on the field but works with disabled children off the gridiron. Or a comedian like Don Rickles who makes a living insulting people. What is real?

billbenson
05-17-2012, 01:55 AM
One of the things that amazes me are smart or reasonably intelligent crooks. I know someone who is a good salesman, but yet decided to sell products to overseas companies and pocket the money without shipping the product. He's been doing it for years and is going to get out of jail in a few months after spending 2 years inside.

What absolutely amazes me in this case is he has the skills to make the same money legally. Why did he decide to defraud people? It makes no sense.I can see it in the cases of people who are really down and out and don't have the skills to make money. But so often, it's people that have skills. And it's not necessarily just greed.

The only thing that makes sense is a complete lack of ethics. That applies to online and off line!

vangogh
05-17-2012, 10:52 AM
Even if social media doesn't change people, it can certainly change people's behavior.

That's true. Everything we experience changes us in some way. I wouldn't think social media is going to change you the same way seeing a bad accident would though. And I don't think it's something that would fundamentally change who you are. No question though that generations who grow up with Facebook and Twitter will communicate differently than those of use who grew up without them. An easy example (that's not just a social media example) is all the abbreviations like lol and omg that have entered the language.

Still it's not changing who people fundamentally are. Social media is not going to make someone a bully for example. That person already is a bully inside. You could argue that a person who wouldn't bully people offline, because they aren't physically strong enough to get away with it, could bully people online, because the physicality is removed. I would argue the person hasn't really changed though. Social media may have provided the means, but it create the bully.


The only thing that makes sense is a complete lack of ethics. That applies to online and off line!

Exactly. Facebook, Google+, and Twitter don't somehow turn ethical people into unethical ones or vice versa. They may provide a new medium for someone to be unethical, but it doesn't change the person and that person would have found some other medium through which to be unethical.

KristineS
05-17-2012, 01:06 PM
I do agree that some people feel that being online behind a screen name gives them a cloak of invisibility and so they would say or do things they otherwise wouldn't, but we've all heard enough stories by now to know that anonymity is never assured. Social media just gives people a bigger arena in which to display what ever behaviors they want to display, but it won't ultimately protect them from being exposed. It's a good reminder to stop and think before you do something online. Even if you think you're anonymous, or that whatever you're doing is just between you and whomever receives a Tweet, for instance, it probably isn't, and you need to always be aware of that.

cbscreative
05-17-2012, 02:00 PM
It looks like the word change is the sticking point here. I don't see any real change taking place. Even if someone acts differently online and offline, did they really change? Their behavior was already inside them, it's just a matter of when, where, and under what conditions they are compelled to let it out.

To build on what David said though, I think events and experiences can change someone's perspective, therefore changing the person, but I seriously doubt social media really changes a person. I'm sure it could over time if a discussion gets you to see someone else's point of view, but the original point about someone being a jerk online is just evidence they are really a jerk still stands.

vangogh
05-18-2012, 01:01 AM
some people feel that being online behind a screen name gives them a cloak of invisibility and so they would say or do things they otherwise wouldn't

I think that's true, but you can say similar about so many other things. Suddenly become wealthy has been brought up as one. Alcohol does the same thing. A bad mood could get you to snap at someone you wouldn't otherwise snap at. Lots of things give us an excuse to act a certain way we normally wouldn't. How we act is still our responsibility. I don't think you can blame the internet for your behavior. It's still your behavior.


Even if someone acts differently online and offline, did they really change?

If it's something that happens once or twice, probably not. Over time though it could. Like you said events and experiences change us. People who have grown up communicating over the internet will develop different communication skills than those of us who grew up before the internet. We had more face-to-face communication and more vocal communication. We learned better how to read body language and audible cues. On the other hand younger generations are learning how to interpret different word usage in a text. I bet how much someone does or doesn't make typos could tell you something about their mood. If you spend a lot of time on Twitter, limited to 140 characters it forces you to use less words to make a point and probably leads to changes in the way you write in general and even think. More txt speak probably does the same.

Will any of that change a nice person into a jerk? Doubtful, but I think the tools we use to communicate can definitely change us in ways we don't realize.

AlexMc
07-02-2012, 10:14 AM
Nice article, thanks for sharing!

A-E
07-25-2012, 03:18 PM
People as well as business need to connect on many level! Social media is one of them ! It's another way of connecting. Another possibility of amplify the business and connect ! It s not everything, but it's a good part of the puzzle I believe

vangogh
07-26-2012, 11:25 PM
It's another way of connecting.

That's exactly it and that's really all it is. You're right again when you mention the possibility of amplification. That's what all these social sites are. They're simply the same old connections and networking and getting to know people we've always done. They just have a new way of doing it that allows you to connect with people you couldn't meet in person and they make it easier for the things you say and do to spread.

nealrm
01-30-2013, 11:36 AM
An interesting article. It makes some points but is one sided. Yes, people have been jerks before social media, people that are jerks in real life will be jerks on the web....... But the are several things about social media that were left out.

First social media allow us to interact with others without personal face-to-face interaction. Most people avoid harming others. Face-to-face interaction make it hard to deliver harmful comments. Most people would dramatically soften their comments when dealing with others directly. Phone interaction reduces lessens our contact with a person. We don't have to see the effects on the comment only hear the effect. This makes it easier to harm others. Social media almost completely removes personal interaction. We don't see or hear the results of our comments, we can easily ignore any written feedback on our comment. In general it allows comments to be made with little if any discomfort to the poster.

Second social media allow us to make comments anonymously. Not only can comments be posted without having to interact with the person, but no one even needs to know that you made the comments. This removes all social barriers to interactions. The only thing left is personal barriers. Some of us have good barriers, other not so good. However, none of us have perfect barriers. The last perfect person died around 2013 year ago. All the rest of us are imperfect. We have our flaws, our biases, bad days and dark sides. Social barriers provide us with feedback to keep those aspects of ourselves in check. HG Well explored what happens to a good person when social interactions are removed in his book The Invisible Man. Social media allow us all to become the invisible man online.

Social media also provides a group to fringe ideas. Most people with extreme ideas will move towards the social average of the group. Social media allows those on the fringe to talk with others also on the fringe. So instead of moving toward center they stay out on the fringe. Not only do they stay on the fringe, those in the group tend to reinforce and feed off each other. So the beliefs get stronger and more extreme.

Saying that social media is only an amplifier is like saying that throwing water on a grease fire only amplifies the fire that way already there. Technically it might be true, but the end result is more damaging than the original issue.

KristineS
01-30-2013, 12:28 PM
I definitely agree with your point about social media allowing fringe groups to perpetuate themselves. I've seen that happen. Social media definitely makes it easier for people who have no physical proximity to exchange ideas and reinforce whatever prejudices or craziness may already exist.

I don't believe that people can ever truly be anonymous online though. They may have the illusion of anonymity, and that may be enough to make them behave in ways they wouldn't were they face to face with another person, but I don't think there's anyone who is truly anonymous online. There are too many stories of people hiding behind screen names and being found out for me to be comfortable with that assumption.

nealrm
01-30-2013, 12:38 PM
I agree the anonymity maybe more illusion than actual. However, it has been shown that even the anonymity offered by being in a car effects behavior. Social media offers a great deal more than that. So I think it is a safe assumption that it does alter behavior.

vangogh
02-05-2013, 01:30 AM
I think it's fair to say the anonymity alters behavior, though to me that's still an amplifier, particularly in regards to social media. It's amplifying someone's ability to hide behind anonymity. It's still the same people who are jerks offline that are being jerks online or at least people who want to be jerks offline, but may not be willing to be face-to-face. These people might still harass with phone calls or letters or email or plenty of other means that aren't considered social media.

Social media might make it easier, but again I see that as an amplifier. I don't social media is going to take someone who's a nice person offline and turn them into a jerk online.

I'm not sure the specifics of anonymity in a car you're referring to, but I'm guessing it's more along the lines of someone picking their nose or pretending their a rock star while singing along to the radio. I'm guessing the anonymity isn't causing them to crash their vehicle into other cars or even cut people off more regularly. Even if the alter behavior was something like cutting people off or reckless behavior, to me it's still amplifying a behavior the person already holds to some degree.

KristineS
02-06-2013, 12:53 PM
I'm inclined to agree with you about this, Vangogh. I don't think people who are generally nice and kind offline are going to turn into raving trolls online simply because they're using a screen name instead of their real name. Although I do think that perceived anonymity can change some types of behaviors, maybe make a shy person more likely to speak out perhaps, or make people be a little more willing to defend their point of view more fiercely. I don't think social media can change who a person basically is, though.

daddiomedia
02-08-2013, 09:04 PM
I totally agree and that's why I'm very restrictive with those that have my clients passwords. I don't need someone impressing the bar with his "wit" while pissing off a customer. My personal rule of thumb is that the more alcohol is consumed, social media becomes non-existent, Especially clients.

vangogh
02-12-2013, 02:43 AM
My personal rule of thumb is that the more alcohol is consumed, social media becomes non-existent

Yeah alcohol and social media usually don't mix well. I think there's a generation of people who wish they'd not pressed submit at some point or another.