I don’t think the widespread adoption - or lack thereof - is a good indicator for being a fad or not being one. That being said, I don’t think social media is one.
However, the original commenter is right by saying that social media is far from being a necessity.
Generally I also understand the increasingly negative sentiment towards social media and the assumption that it does far more harm than it does good doesn’t seem far fetched anymore
> However, the original commenter is right by saying that social media is far from being a necessity.
We need something to allow people to organize around friends/topics/places and discover ideas, share, make sense of the world, act, etc. Reddit, Facebook, and twitter served those needs. I prefer social media over traditional newspapers that are very top down.
Smaller forums and chat servers did that just fine prior to Google shoving them to page 500+ them in favor of the government created platforms and unified narratives. [1]
In a sense, nothing beyond food, water and basic shelter is a necessity. Humans of the same species certainly lived somehow without whatever tech we can think of, including fire and clothing.
That said, I deleted my FB and TW/X account and while I don't miss their toxicity, I am more isolated than ever. I noticed that even for older people, their willingness to meet in person has gone down and their ability to reply to e-mails, including purely coordinational ones, is seriously shot.
I don’t think the widespread adoption - or lack thereof - is a good indicator for being a fad or not being one. That being said, I don’t think social media is one.
However, the original commenter is right by saying that social media is far from being a necessity.
Generally I also understand the increasingly negative sentiment towards social media and the assumption that it does far more harm than it does good doesn’t seem far fetched anymore
> However, the original commenter is right by saying that social media is far from being a necessity.
We need something to allow people to organize around friends/topics/places and discover ideas, share, make sense of the world, act, etc. Reddit, Facebook, and twitter served those needs. I prefer social media over traditional newspapers that are very top down.
Smaller forums and chat servers did that just fine prior to Google shoving them to page 500+ them in favor of the government created platforms and unified narratives. [1]
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Xxi0b9trY [video][documentary][44 mins]
In a sense, nothing beyond food, water and basic shelter is a necessity. Humans of the same species certainly lived somehow without whatever tech we can think of, including fire and clothing.
That said, I deleted my FB and TW/X account and while I don't miss their toxicity, I am more isolated than ever. I noticed that even for older people, their willingness to meet in person has gone down and their ability to reply to e-mails, including purely coordinational ones, is seriously shot.