The problems with Social Media

[Riker'sMailbox]

Ugh. I hate reading this, partly because my very best friend (of 35 years, no less) and I are on polar opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to politics. I hope we survive the current regime (and neither one of us is on FB either, so I can't even blame the internet if our friendship fails). There's a reason why I was taught not to talk freely of politics or religion in open forums when I was growing up.

One of my best friends has become extremely Conservative in recent years and I tend to skew to the left politically. We do not talk about it. I think we both know that it could potentially put a serious hurt on our relationship. But, sometimes the politics shows itself in other ways and it is getting harder and harder to keep my mouth shut. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that we (the US as a whole) can find our way back to center in 2020 and our friendship continues.

 

[Riker'sMailbox]

Which will never happen because there's money to be made and damn everything else. That's all anybody cares about it seems. Yeah, let's legalize pot. Why? Because we can tax it. Nobody is thinking of the societal impact of that. All they see is the dollar signs. And there are even people advocating legalization of more dangerous drugs, for the same reason. Money wins over everything.

No snark intended at all in my question. Why do you object to the legalization of pot?

 

[Pondwater]

I have less than 50 friends on Facebook. Majority of the list is family in Hawaii and Japan. I have a pen pal I’ve known since 7th grade, a few real life ones and a few folks from here that I really love.

I prune my friends list every once in a while.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Twitter is all the social media I need. I don't really know what I'd do with a Facebook account.

 

[Herbert]

No snark intended at all in my question. Why do you object to the legalization of pot?

I'm reluctant to answer for reasons that should be obvious but here goes anyway.

For medical reasons I don't object, even though I'm not convinced of its medicinal value versus it's harmful effects. For recreational reasons I do. I don't use it. I'm not going to use it. I don't want to see it or smell it or be around it. I don't need it. I wanted nothing to do with it when I was a teenager and my friends were smoking their brains out. I also believe that the long term implications of legalizing it will be harmful and that people are glossing over that because all they see is the tax revenue potential. I have seen the harmful effects of pot use. I understand the why people want it legalized I just don't agree with it. Yes, I know there are worse things out there that are legal like alcohol and tobacco, not to mention opioids. I'm hopeful that tobacco will someday become a fringe substance but even if that's a possibility, it's still a long way off. I don't see alcohol going away any time soon or even ever. Perhaps alcohol and tobacco should never have been legal either but we're not getting those horses back in the barn. However, that doesn't mean that we should open the barn door for even more substances.
I do hope that someday humanity evolves beyond the need or desire for such substances but that's probably a complete fantasy.

Having said all that, the legalization of recreational pot is inevitable and I need to come to grips with that. What can I say? I'm just a Herbert

 

[cosmic mouse]

For medical reasons I don't object, even though I'm not convinced of its medicinal value versus it's harmful effects.

Marijuana has proven (in a number of research studies) to be about as potent a painkiller as some of the opioids out there, and without the addiction potential of opioids. For medical purposes I support its use 100%. I actually think pot used in this manner has the potential to eliminate the opioid epidemic in this country.
I personally support its recreational legalization (though maybe not wholeheartedly), but I do agree with you on the lack of research involving people using it long term; although what problems might arise likely (this remains to be seen of course) will be due to the method of ingestion (smoking vs. eating, etc) rather than the drug itself. It's not without negative effects, true of all substances and , as you say, alcohol is way worse in this regard.

The problem right now with performing medical research using pot is that it is still illegal on the Federal level, and research in this particular area requires NIH funding, which means grant money is scarce and obtaining it for research purposes even more difficult. (A scientist can't just walk into a store in Colorado and buy grass to perform research with. It currently has to come from a Federal dispensary). Until this changes there won't be much new information unless it's captured anecdotally (not the best way to go obviously).

Now back to the thread topic... sorry to derail.

 

[Mudd]

I have 182 friends on Facebook. Most are folks I know IRL. Two are my kids.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I would like to clarify something here...

many of you know that I used to be extremely paranoid about Facebook, I fully admit this. I got over that, though. I simply don't see how I would use it. That's the only thing, really.

And even on Twitter, I don't really get into the "social" part (I rarely tweet), but mostly to read others' tweets. Also Twitter is VERY useful for getting in touch with a company's customer service department - oftentimes it's much easier to DM a company you're trying to talk to, rather than wait on the phone.

 

[Riker'sMailbox]

I'm reluctant to answer for reasons that should be obvious but here goes anyway.

For medical reasons I don't object, even though I'm not convinced of its medicinal value versus it's harmful effects. For recreational reasons I do. I don't use it. I'm not going to use it. I don't want to see it or smell it or be around it. I don't need it. I wanted nothing to do with it when I was a teenager and my friends were smoking their brains out. I also believe that the long term implications of legalizing it will be harmful and that people are glossing over that because all they see is the tax revenue potential. I have seen the harmful effects of pot use. I understand the why people want it legalized I just don't agree with it. Yes, I know there are worse things out there that are legal like alcohol and tobacco, not to mention opioids. I'm hopeful that tobacco will someday become a fringe substance but even if that's a possibility, it's still a long way off. I don't see alcohol going away any time soon or even ever. Perhaps alcohol and tobacco should never have been legal either but we're not getting those horses back in the barn. However, that doesn't mean that we should open the barn door for even more substances.
I do hope that someday humanity evolves beyond the need or desire for such substances but that's probably a complete fantasy.

Having said all that, the legalization of recreational pot is inevitable and I need to come to grips with that. What can I say? I'm just a Herbert

Thanks for the response.

 

[scotpens]

I'm not on Facebook. I've never been on Facebook and I've never had any reason to be on Facebook.

I mean, 200, 300 or more "friends"? Makes me think of the customer who orders 800 Christmas cards each year at the print shop where I work. Who the heck knows 800 people? I don't know 8 people!

 

[Spot's Meow]

many of you know that I used to be extremely paranoid about Facebook, I fully admit this. I got over that, though. I simply don't see how I would use it. That's the only thing, really.

If you aren't one who would be posting much or at all, I think the use is simply in being able to follow other people's lives. I wouldn't care about following most people, but I do find that it comes in handy at work. Most of my coworkers are friends on Facebook, and often when we have group events, or in the chatter that happens before/after meetings, things someone posted on Facebook become a topic of discussion. Like, "oh I saw the photo you posted last weekend, that looked so interesting!" and then a conversation starts. And inevitably, the one or two people who aren't on Facebook have no clue what everyone's talking about and feel left out.

I wish it didn't have to be that way, but unfortunately people treat it like another way to network. For this reason I see no harm in having a Facebook profile and checking in on what's going on in people's lives occasionally, but not posting much myself.

 

[Butters]

I can see why it should be a good thing in theory, but don’t most people just use it to embellish their lifestyle?

Like, “woe is me, another business trip to India, wish I could just stay at home and chill” type updates.

It may just be my bitter envy at everyone having a much better time of it than me.

 

[Refuge]

Facebook is an outlet. I'm not into it but last night my Mum linked me to photos someone had of my brother. It's like a gift when someone has died and you find a precious photo of happier days. When I logged in there was the saddest entry from a friend that I wouldn't have known otherwise so it does make a difference in people's communication. I wish I had the interest to contribute more. Message board posting like this is about as committed as I want to get.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I carefully curate my Facebook account. It's mostly friends, convention friends, a few TrekBBSers and a few others who are friends of friends.

 

[Lord Garth]

My biggest issue with Facebook is baby pictures. I’m okay to see someone’s baby or kid once a month. But every few days? I don’t care about your baby! I also hate when people constantly talk about their relationship.

Baby Photos drive me crazy! I get it. It's great that my friends have kids. I don't need to be updated every day. I feel bad for the generation that was born in this decade. 10 years from now they'll be so embarrassed by all those pictures.

I'm glad Facebook didn't exist in 1979. My baby pictures would've had cute little me surrounded by horrible '70s fashions. And, yes, from what I can tell from old photos of my family and the general area, the "70s" lasted until 1982.

 

[Pondwater]

Baby Photos drive me crazy! I get it. It's great that my friends have kids. I don't need to be updated every day. I feel bad for the generation that was born in this decade. 10 years from now they'll be so embarrassed by all those pictures.

I'm glad Facebook didn't exist in 1979. My baby pictures would've had cute little me surrounded by horrible '70s fashions. And, yes, from what I can tell from old photos of my family and the general area, the "70s" lasted until 1982.

I love baby photos. Old and new. Throwback ones are my favorites. I’m just glad social media didn’t exist while I was in high school.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Baby Photos drive me crazy! I get it. It's great that my friends have kids. I don't need to be updated every day. I feel bad for the generation that was born in this decade. 10 years from now they'll be so embarrassed by all those pictures.

I'm glad Facebook didn't exist in 1979. My baby pictures would've had cute little me surrounded by horrible '70s fashions. And, yes, from what I can tell from old photos of my family and the general area, the "70s" lasted until 1982.

Exactly! All these babies/kids now are going to potentially see these photos of themselves one day, in not-so-flattering situations (naked or using the potty for example) and be horrified. Hell, I get horrified myself. I really don’t need to be updated on some kid’s use of the toilet, or any other mundane thing a kid does.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Exactly! All these babies/kids now are going to potentially see these photos of themselves one day, in not-so-flattering situations (naked or using the potty for example) and be horrified. Hell, I get horrified myself. I really don’t need to be updated on some kid’s use of the toilet, or any other mundane thing a kid does.

The thing is, I don't think they'll actually be horrified by it. They'll grow up in a world where's it normal to live stream yourself 24/7 doing any and everything. My younger sister was just showing me the other day how common it is for young women to post photos of themselves practically naked to compare their weight from day to day. When my sister scrolls through Instagram it looks like she's scrolling through pornography. The younger generations have a lot less shame and see exposure as totally normal. Privacy has a different definition for them. Embarrassing baby photos will be nothing.

 

[Mojochi]

The problem with social media is that it's neither sufficiently social, nor sufficiently media, & the societal migration towards depending on it so fervently for both, is honestly alarming. Whole generations raised on Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter & Tinder, or the like. A more superficial state of existence has maybe never existed, imho. How can we truly ever know the effects it will have on the mental state of its adherents, in decades to come?

I swear to Christ, I look around at work or in corridors, & people seem to me now like lobotomized, screen gazing drones, lost to the reality they inhabit, in pursuit of their next digitally generated dopamine fix.

 

[Australis]

I've kept FB friends down to around the 40 mark, and most are family.

Listen to this guy. He is a bit stupid, but his words say some interesting things (most of his vids are good, if you can get past his hyperactivity). Interesting stuff. Remember listen to the words.

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