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Maybe for the better? The internet hasn’t been the positive life force many in the global south have needed. WhatsApp rumors, TikTok, crypto scams… there’s nobo

Maybe for the better? The internet hasn’t been the positive life force many in the global south have needed. WhatsApp rumors, TikTok, crypto scams… there’s nobody warning them about all these things.

Guest42 5y ago
True, I feel like removing 90 percent of my non-work internet usage would be very helpful.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  Try quitting social networks and reading more on educational sites such as Wikipedia. There is a lot of amazing things out there. One does not have to be dragged into the "OUTRAGE OF THE DAY!" mud that is Twitter or Facebook.
leovailati 5y ago
People tend to emphasize the negatives, like you mentioned, but WhatsApp has revolutionized communication in the low-income country I came from. And I think ultimately creating a net benefit for society (even though the conspiracy theories are really bad). Calling/texting using the cellular networks is still pretty expensive, so a lot of mom-and-pop shops conduct a significant portion of their business over WhatsApp (for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent 1-800 number).
- throwaway2331 5y ago
  > revolutionized I have only seen "revolutionized" used in the context of commerce and industry. Whether the procession of such is negative or positive is subjective to one's own taste. I think what you just stated is a negative. The net benefit is material, at the cost of everything incorporeal. I believe the GP and I are in agreement here.
yosito 5y ago
> The internet hasn’t been the positive life force many in the global south have needed As someone who's spent a lot of time in the global south and met a lot of people whose livelihoods depend on the internet, I'm curious what evidence you have to back up your claim.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  The internet has made a lot of things more convenient (sending mail, ordering goods and services for example) but there were solutions to these problems before (postal mail, catalogs, phone/mail order, etc). The new stuff (social media in particular, and the instantaneous, always-connected nature of things in general, and the privacy-invading tendencies of online providers) is what we haven't figured out yet, and where most of the negative effect is coming from.
  - yosito 5y ago
    > there were solutions to these problems before Are you talking about the global south?
- vanusa 5y ago
  The commenter made a perfectly reasonable observation, actually, which could apply just as well to any sweeping modernization (for example the advent of mass-scale global trade, the collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe, or even colonialism). Each of these transformations have created winners and losers within the affected countries, and a heck of a lot of social churn to boot. It's pretty superficial to just say "net overall benefit, nevermind the losers" any of these cases. So I'd say the onus is on you to provide comprehensive data to support your sweeping claim that the number of losers has been apparently negligible in the countries (including all factors, not just economic). And that's data, not your pile of subjective observations from the biased selection of people you met, here and there.
  - inglor_cz 5y ago
    "Every technical development has its social downsides" isn't a very deep or original observation.
jarenmf 5y ago
As someone coming from a failed state, the Internet is probably the recent invention with most tangible positive impact on people's lives. Even with Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, ... etc the pros hugely outweigh the cons.
kingcharles 5y ago
TikTok always get a lot of negativity because it's a cheap, easy joke to throw out there. Even I am guilty of abusing it this way. If you open a new account you get a lot of retarded videos, but if you stay for a while and let the blackbox algorithm work its magic then you can find some incredibly insightful videos, especially around topics of neurodivergence, mental health and gender/sexual diversity.

Guest42 5y ago

True, I feel like removing 90 percent of my non-work internet usage would be very helpful.

inglor_cz 5y ago
Try quitting social networks and reading more on educational sites such as Wikipedia. There is a lot of amazing things out there. One does not have to be dragged into the "OUTRAGE OF THE DAY!" mud that is Twitter or Facebook.

leovailati 5y ago

People tend to emphasize the negatives, like you mentioned, but WhatsApp has revolutionized communication in the low-income country I came from. And I think ultimately creating a net benefit for society (even though the conspiracy theories are really bad). Calling/texting using the cellular networks is still pretty expensive, so a lot of mom-and-pop shops conduct a significant portion of their business over WhatsApp (for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent 1-800 number).

throwaway2331 5y ago
> revolutionized I have only seen "revolutionized" used in the context of commerce and industry. Whether the procession of such is negative or positive is subjective to one's own taste. I think what you just stated is a negative. The net benefit is material, at the cost of everything incorporeal. I believe the GP and I are in agreement here.

yosito 5y ago

> The internet hasn’t been the positive life force many in the global south have needed As someone who's spent a lot of time in the global south and met a lot of people whose livelihoods depend on the internet, I'm curious what evidence you have to back up your claim.

throwawayboise 5y ago
The internet has made a lot of things more convenient (sending mail, ordering goods and services for example) but there were solutions to these problems before (postal mail, catalogs, phone/mail order, etc). The new stuff (social media in particular, and the instantaneous, always-connected nature of things in general, and the privacy-invading tendencies of online providers) is what we haven't figured out yet, and where most of the negative effect is coming from.
- yosito 5y ago
  > there were solutions to these problems before Are you talking about the global south?
vanusa 5y ago
The commenter made a perfectly reasonable observation, actually, which could apply just as well to any sweeping modernization (for example the advent of mass-scale global trade, the collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe, or even colonialism). Each of these transformations have created winners and losers within the affected countries, and a heck of a lot of social churn to boot. It's pretty superficial to just say "net overall benefit, nevermind the losers" any of these cases. So I'd say the onus is on you to provide comprehensive data to support your sweeping claim that the number of losers has been apparently negligible in the countries (including all factors, not just economic). And that's data, not your pile of subjective observations from the biased selection of people you met, here and there.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  "Every technical development has its social downsides" isn't a very deep or original observation.

jarenmf 5y ago

As someone coming from a failed state, the Internet is probably the recent invention with most tangible positive impact on people's lives. Even with Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, ... etc the pros hugely outweigh the cons.

kingcharles 5y ago

TikTok always get a lot of negativity because it's a cheap, easy joke to throw out there. Even I am guilty of abusing it this way. If you open a new account you get a lot of retarded videos, but if you stay for a while and let the blackbox algorithm work its magic then you can find some incredibly insightful videos, especially around topics of neurodivergence, mental health and gender/sexual diversity.