3 ms·

I think a bit of a tragedy about modern society is that social media outpaced our social development, and we've not adjusted to that yet. Say you've just exite

I think a bit of a tragedy about modern society is that social media outpaced our social development, and we've not adjusted to that yet. Say you've just exited from a cinema, and vent to your friend/SO: "Sheesh, that SUCKED. I want my 2 hours of life back!". Overall, a perfectly common, normal sentiment. Not profound criticism, but it wasn't trying to be. And sometimes you'll have a friend in a group that'll rant about how much they hated this for a bit. Now in modern times, you get a million do the same thing except on Twitter, or the subreddit for that particular work, and suddenly the creators get flooded with an absolute torrent of hate that can go on and on for days. And then when 1% decides to discuss their thoughts at length they can create discussions spanning months, videos, and conversations with people who actually participated in the work and have that last for years. That can be awful for the people at the receiving end of it, when most of the people participating aren't really doing anything unusual. It's just incredibly magnified due to the new ability to have a million people spontaneously gather up and discuss how much X sucked.

vouaobrasil 4y ago
That is a very good point. But, I think one must consider the context and medium of a statement. For example, personally if I read a book and I hated it I wouldn't go on Amazon and say "hey this book was trash", whereas I would say that to a friend. The problem is, posting something on Twitter or publicly is *not* saying it *just* to a friend, but rather to your friends and possibly many other people I think it's just common courtesy to be more restrained in a more public setting. Just like I wouldn't say "hey this book was trash" to the author's face, because that's a possibility when posting online. Also, when you say something online, it's easy to take something out of context, like a joke. Therefore, isn't it reasonable and decent to be a bit more restrained when posting on a medium with a wider reach?
- dale_glass 4y ago
  True, but I think that also needs us getting used to it. For example Twitter can be very public or quite tight knit depending on how you use it, and you can move between spheres pretty much by accident. Respond to the wrong person, use a popular #tag, and suddenly you went from talking to your 10 friends to the entire world. Or even somebody else can do that to you, if some well connected person thinks your take was hilarious and retweets it.

vouaobrasil 4y ago

That is a very good point. But, I think one must consider the context and medium of a statement. For example, personally if I read a book and I hated it I wouldn't go on Amazon and say "hey this book was trash", whereas I would say that to a friend. The problem is, posting something on Twitter or publicly is *not* saying it *just* to a friend, but rather to your friends and possibly many other people I think it's just common courtesy to be more restrained in a more public setting. Just like I wouldn't say "hey this book was trash" to the author's face, because that's a possibility when posting online. Also, when you say something online, it's easy to take something out of context, like a joke. Therefore, isn't it reasonable and decent to be a bit more restrained when posting on a medium with a wider reach?

dale_glass 4y ago
True, but I think that also needs us getting used to it. For example Twitter can be very public or quite tight knit depending on how you use it, and you can move between spheres pretty much by accident. Respond to the wrong person, use a popular #tag, and suddenly you went from talking to your 10 friends to the entire world. Or even somebody else can do that to you, if some well connected person thinks your take was hilarious and retweets it.