Social media and individualism result in increased isolation, as it tears apart the social fabric of our societies. For many there is not much interaction beyond the family circle. Even neighbours are just strangers. This ultimately will undoubtedly lead to major disruptions and social unrest. How do we go about breaking that cycle and build real communities again?
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I don’t agree that it will cause social unrest or that it tears apart the social fabric of our society. I don’t see a reason to discount interactions of people on the internet, or why internet communities are any less real than in-person communities (even if they have some differences).
You might be interested in this book, Bowling Alone, about the decline of participation in in-person social groups.
Online interactions aren’t as rich as in person one, primarily due to the lack of social signals given off by text on a screen. There’s little emotion, the tone of the words you read is the tone you read them in. The internet isn’t a good enough substitute to replace in person connections. Many people suffered during covid when online interactions were the only choice.
Depends on the person, I benefited immensely during COVID when interactions mostly went online. Not everyone interacts the same way, or has the same capacities or preferences. What you’re saying may be true for the majority, though.
A great example of what this Lemmite said is the fact that they got downvoted without a response.
In a face to face setting, the downvoter would need to interact with the speaker out they’d have to bad-mouth the speaker behind their back. Those are more social actions:
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Interaction with the speaker would make it easier to find common ground.
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Badmouthing the speaker would open the downvoter to criticism from other people in the conversation.
Or they take their friends and walk away in silence. Then less people listen to the original commenter because why would anyone listen to someone that’s talking to nobody who’s listening?
I can’t say that my face-to-face interactions with people on contentious issues have been much better than my online ones, honestly, even when I am making a genuine effort to treat their concerns as reasonable and find common ground.
OP is talking about building communities. IRL interactions are situated in a context: a group of friends/neighbours/coworkers or an explicit community meeting.
When people are talking in that context, they think about the opinion of the rest of the group. Saying something unacceptable will burn bridges. Being impolite can do the same thing.
But interacting online typically doesn’t have that risk. We split off into our echo chambers and align with people who share our beliefs, so there isn’t a cost to saying something unacceptable.
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This ultimately will undoubtedly lead to major disruptions and social unrest.
Will it? And if it does, I’ve seen a lot of unrest being in favour of social progress, which I think is at least part due to marginalized groups being able to find and advocate for each other. Is that a problem?
Jan 6 was not a good one. And I fear there’s another coming with this next election.
Yeah, I’m predicting more issues next election as well, whoever wins…
Still, I think it’s a complicated issue that isn’t as simple just “people aren’t spending more time with their neighbours”.
We don’t need to spend more time with the neighbors.
What we need is a way to deprogram 1/3rd of the neighbors of the belief that anyone in the other 2/3rds is responsible for their plight. If we could knock off the victime blaming circlejerks of society long enough to recognize the very easily identifiable common interests we all have…maybe we’ll pull through.
When all is (roughly) well it mat not, but in the face of adversity it will. Paper toilet during covid? Now imagine food, water, medicines shortage.
As an introvert, I find the idea of participating in a lot more community events to be exhausting.
One thing comes to mind, but it’s not really liked/understood.
Social incentive is just as much a thing as economic incentive.
I read your post and replies and I see what you mean. Funny at some point I thought of an app/system that would reward people “karma points” instead of money, for doing good deeds locally. Help an elderly with gardening, help pupils with homework, help food preparation and distribution for people in need, pick up trash, donate clothes to specific people i.e. the ones that would wear them etc… Karma points would get you exclusive stuff money can’t buy.
Social media hardly tears anything apart at all compared to jobs not paying anything + housing costs being four times more than the value of housing, nazis existing, and people being complete delusional cunts about covid.
Most of social media sucking is from the loudest, dumbest progressives getting offended as loudly as possible over as little as possible for clout, creating an environment where nobody wants to hang out.
Social media does encourage it, plus all the nazi/republican bullshit, which is its own problem. But we shouldn’t put our failings as people squarely on social media’s shoulders.
At a certain point, nothing good can happen until people decide, for themselves, that they aren’t gonna be pressured into being idiots just to fit in.
