Over the past 20-30 years, since the growth of the internet and text-messaging on phones, how has it impacted how people communicate with each other? Has it had any affect on how people view society?
I was thinking about this overall subject, especially when issues concerning the use and abuse of social media, "fake news," and the general sense of disconnectedness, echo chambers, and concerns over the escalating hostility and hatred in the overall culture.
It used to be that most communication was done by people talking to each other, either in person or over the phone. Many people would write letters, of course, although I was never much of a letter writer myself.
Political discussions would still occur, but among the ordinary people, it was face to face, most of the time. There were no forums or message boards or social media, so if you got into a political argument, it was in person.
People would typically get their news from newspapers and magazines, along with news on TV and radio, but there wasn't any way for the public to talk back or post any comments - unless they wanted to send in a letter to the editor (which I've done in the past, the only letter writing I ever really did). But then it would be up to the publication as to whether it gets printed. Anyone who was an outright hater, crackpot, conspiracy theorist or anyone else who might be seen as on the "lunatic fringe," their words would hardly ever see print - unless it's something they printed at home on a budget much lower than that of the New York Times. Or sometimes it might appear in the form of graffiti or on bathroom walls. (Actually, some of the bathroom walls at my school had long polemics on them, going back and forth, not unlike one would see on a message board.)
But now, what we used to write on bathroom walls is now plastered over the internet, available to countless millions of phones, tablets, and computers with access to social media. And people apparently eschew oral communication in favor of text communication.
Could that be a factor in people becoming meaner and nastier? Could that be why politics has become more and more vitriolic and ugly?
I was thinking about this overall subject, especially when issues concerning the use and abuse of social media, "fake news," and the general sense of disconnectedness, echo chambers, and concerns over the escalating hostility and hatred in the overall culture.
It used to be that most communication was done by people talking to each other, either in person or over the phone. Many people would write letters, of course, although I was never much of a letter writer myself.
Political discussions would still occur, but among the ordinary people, it was face to face, most of the time. There were no forums or message boards or social media, so if you got into a political argument, it was in person.
People would typically get their news from newspapers and magazines, along with news on TV and radio, but there wasn't any way for the public to talk back or post any comments - unless they wanted to send in a letter to the editor (which I've done in the past, the only letter writing I ever really did). But then it would be up to the publication as to whether it gets printed. Anyone who was an outright hater, crackpot, conspiracy theorist or anyone else who might be seen as on the "lunatic fringe," their words would hardly ever see print - unless it's something they printed at home on a budget much lower than that of the New York Times. Or sometimes it might appear in the form of graffiti or on bathroom walls. (Actually, some of the bathroom walls at my school had long polemics on them, going back and forth, not unlike one would see on a message board.)
But now, what we used to write on bathroom walls is now plastered over the internet, available to countless millions of phones, tablets, and computers with access to social media. And people apparently eschew oral communication in favor of text communication.
Could that be a factor in people becoming meaner and nastier? Could that be why politics has become more and more vitriolic and ugly?
