In his 2010 book “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” Nicholas Carr argued that our immersion in digital media is rewiring the way we think, turning us into distracted skimmers who are losing the capacity for deep concentration.
Yet social media was in its infancy back then. His lament in those days was aimed at a panoply of online distractions such as email that needed to be written, blogs that cried out to be read, streaming videos, downloadable music — in other words, anything but the task at hand. He mentions Facebook, but only in passing. Over the years, I’ve sometimes wondered what he would make of the explosion not just of Facebook but of Instagram, TikTok and their ilk now that they’ve taken over so much of our lives.
Well, my question has been answered. Earlier this year Carr published what is essentially a follow-up to “The Shallows.” Titled “Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart,” the book surveys the mediascape of algorithmically driven tech platforms and finds that it is not just driving us to distraction but is creating a less happy, more polarized and more dangerous world.
Read the rest at Poynter Online.
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“… humans are not genetically coded to interact peaceably with large numbers of unseen strangers talking with (or past) each other.” That echoes something I said back in 2014, that people weren’t made to live at the speed of Facebook and Twitter:
https://sassone.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/thoughts-on-social-media/
Somehow I got sucked into Threads from Facebook. It seems to be overrun with outrage posts with very little moderation or fact-checking. Every thread seems to get to the cesspool level almost immediately. Much more toxic than I remember Twitter being (though I ditched Twitter 10 years ago). I’m pretty much ignoring Threads now, and avoid clicking on Thread clickbait.
Facebook is pretty toxic in itself, but at least you can curate your feed somewhat.
I’m on NextDoor, which I find to be useful in understanding my new environment in PA. NextDoor didn’t have a great reputation on the Cape, so I guess it depends on how civil the local group wants to be.