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> the world feels like such a blur Get off of social media and twitter. Stop watching/reading the news every day. If you want to keep up with current events,

> the world feels like such a blur Get off of social media and twitter. Stop watching/reading the news every day. If you want to keep up with current events, read a politically neutral monthly periodical. I grew up in the 70's and 80's. Every generation looks back on its youth as "the good old days" but things really were much less stressful then and the main difference I see is that you were not connected to a firehose of real-time updates on everything.

adamnemecek 8y ago
I'm not on social media. It's more like, idk, what you deal with living in modern society. And it doesn't matter if you are connected or not if everyone else around you is. If there's a Twitter organized revolution happening around you, ignoring it might be harmful. At no point was I reminiscing about good old days, and my argument is actually very orthogonal to that statement.
- dwaltrip 8y ago
  > If there's a Twitter organized revolution happening around you If this actually happens, you won't need to be on Twitter to find out about it.
  - adamnemecek 8y ago
    At that point it will be too late to prevent it tho.
    - ryandrake 8y ago
      You’re going to prevent a Twitter-organized revolution by... being on Twitter?
      - adamnemecek 8y ago
        Not prevent, runaway from it.
- ams6110 8y ago
  It's not just social media. Everything was slower. If you wanted to learn about something, you had to take a class, or go to the library or bookstore and find some books. There was no Google, no Wikipedia, no Reddit. In some sense this limited what you could accomplish but it also made you think about investing time and everything was overall more deliberate. Now, there's no going back, but you can still choose to live your life at a slower pace. The world is only a blur if you choose to ride the merry-go-round.
ethbro 8y ago
I had a hilarious exchange with a 20-something person at an event recently. Me: "Is {particular social injustice} still happening in the world? I feel like that doesn't happen regularly anymore." Person: "People are doing it all the time on Instagram. I've seen two posts this month." Me: "I'm not on Instagram." Person: "It happens on Facebook too. I saw one this year." Me: "I'm not on Facebook." Person: "Then how do you know what's going on in the world?!"
- sp332 8y ago
  So you wanted to know something, and this person knew it, and it's funny because you wanted them not to know it either? I don't get it.
  - adamnemecek 8y ago
    That it’s as infrequent as non existent and that few samples are extrapolated to make statements about state of the world.
    - watwut 8y ago
      My close colleges and family don't do X in my presence is hardly proof of X don't exist. Making that observation and then extrapolating it to state of world is equally fallacious.
JacksonGariety 8y ago
The dilemma is that leaving social media is increasingly tantamount to leaving society, which is the basis for what remains of politics. On the other hand, the "politics" that occurs on social media is increasingly nothing other than a popularity contest. It seems hopeless.
- castlecrasher2 8y ago
  It's a personal dilemma, not a societal one. My personal take of social media is similar to yours in that it's a popularity contest and allows people to distract themselves from community, local, or family involvement and from self-improvement.
- ryandrake 8y ago
  > The dilemma is that leaving social media is increasingly tantamount to leaving society This seems to be an opinion often stated as fact. We all have the power to end the hopelessness. Anyone can take the first step by leaving “social media” behind. You might find that the world indeed goes on without it and is even better/richer!
- nogbit 8y ago
  Tantamount...not the slightest. Social media is a cesspit that hawks fly over to prey on you. Create tight knit communities (like immediate family) and leave it at that.
- jaredklewis 8y ago
  > The dilemma is that leaving social media is increasingly tantamount to leaving society Aside from my debilitating addiction to HN, I don't use social media. I have a job, family, large circle of friends, and all the usual attachments to society. I vote and love to debate politics with pretty much anyone interested. How exactly would my attachment to society be improved by more social media? If HN went away tomorrow, would I no longer be a part of society? I have found fruitful, enjoyable political discussion and social media to be more or less incompatible. Twitter and Facebook work great for the purpose of "rallying the base." Tweeting or sharing the latest polemic showing all your friends how truly liberal or conservative you are doesn't do much to bring in converts. But the political bases in the US are quickly approaching max rallied-ness. From here on out is the actually difficult tasks of changing hearts and minds, and that doesn't happen on social media. If you care about politics, the further you get from social media the better.

adamnemecek 8y ago

I'm not on social media. It's more like, idk, what you deal with living in modern society. And it doesn't matter if you are connected or not if everyone else around you is. If there's a Twitter organized revolution happening around you, ignoring it might be harmful. At no point was I reminiscing about good old days, and my argument is actually very orthogonal to that statement.

dwaltrip 8y ago
> If there's a Twitter organized revolution happening around you If this actually happens, you won't need to be on Twitter to find out about it.
- adamnemecek 8y ago
  At that point it will be too late to prevent it tho.
  - ryandrake 8y ago
    You’re going to prevent a Twitter-organized revolution by... being on Twitter?
    - adamnemecek 8y ago
      Not prevent, runaway from it.
ams6110 8y ago
It's not just social media. Everything was slower. If you wanted to learn about something, you had to take a class, or go to the library or bookstore and find some books. There was no Google, no Wikipedia, no Reddit. In some sense this limited what you could accomplish but it also made you think about investing time and everything was overall more deliberate. Now, there's no going back, but you can still choose to live your life at a slower pace. The world is only a blur if you choose to ride the merry-go-round.

ethbro 8y ago

I had a hilarious exchange with a 20-something person at an event recently. Me: "Is {particular social injustice} still happening in the world? I feel like that doesn't happen regularly anymore." Person: "People are doing it all the time on Instagram. I've seen two posts this month." Me: "I'm not on Instagram." Person: "It happens on Facebook too. I saw one this year." Me: "I'm not on Facebook." Person: "Then how do you know what's going on in the world?!"

sp332 8y ago
So you wanted to know something, and this person knew it, and it's funny because you wanted them not to know it either? I don't get it.
- adamnemecek 8y ago
  That it’s as infrequent as non existent and that few samples are extrapolated to make statements about state of the world.
  - watwut 8y ago
    My close colleges and family don't do X in my presence is hardly proof of X don't exist. Making that observation and then extrapolating it to state of world is equally fallacious.

JacksonGariety 8y ago

The dilemma is that leaving social media is increasingly tantamount to leaving society, which is the basis for what remains of politics. On the other hand, the "politics" that occurs on social media is increasingly nothing other than a popularity contest. It seems hopeless.

castlecrasher2 8y ago
It's a personal dilemma, not a societal one. My personal take of social media is similar to yours in that it's a popularity contest and allows people to distract themselves from community, local, or family involvement and from self-improvement.
ryandrake 8y ago
> The dilemma is that leaving social media is increasingly tantamount to leaving society This seems to be an opinion often stated as fact. We all have the power to end the hopelessness. Anyone can take the first step by leaving “social media” behind. You might find that the world indeed goes on without it and is even better/richer!
nogbit 8y ago
Tantamount...not the slightest. Social media is a cesspit that hawks fly over to prey on you. Create tight knit communities (like immediate family) and leave it at that.
jaredklewis 8y ago
> The dilemma is that leaving social media is increasingly tantamount to leaving society Aside from my debilitating addiction to HN, I don't use social media. I have a job, family, large circle of friends, and all the usual attachments to society. I vote and love to debate politics with pretty much anyone interested. How exactly would my attachment to society be improved by more social media? If HN went away tomorrow, would I no longer be a part of society? I have found fruitful, enjoyable political discussion and social media to be more or less incompatible. Twitter and Facebook work great for the purpose of "rallying the base." Tweeting or sharing the latest polemic showing all your friends how truly liberal or conservative you are doesn't do much to bring in converts. But the political bases in the US are quickly approaching max rallied-ness. From here on out is the actually difficult tasks of changing hearts and minds, and that doesn't happen on social media. If you care about politics, the further you get from social media the better.