Social media - good thing or bad thing?

You can't read the news these days without coming across a story about someone or another that has been abused on Facebook or Twitter.

Were these tw*ats always around but had no outlet for their behaviour or are they a "new" thing, a product of social media itself?

And apart from allowing people on opposite side of the world to keep in touch with each other, are there any real benefits to any of it? I ask because I really don't see any if I'm honest. I just see platforms for waffling on interminably about yourself,  being vile to other people and wasting time.

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Comments

  • Perhaps it is better to be abused on twitter than in real life (assuming real life still exists)

  • Surely neither is acceptable?

  • via twitter it is just a disturbance of electrons............

     

    Some people need to man up

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    I wouldn't even use facebook but for one group of people, and I don't twitter at all.

    I think some people's lives are taken over by it all, and that can't be good.

    In the old days vile horrible people sent poison pen letters.  Twitter is just the modern version of that.  They were always there, it's just easier these days.

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    I do think that people are too quick to spread "news" on twitter, as some folk who will be hearing from Lord McAlpine's lawyers are going to find out.

    People do love to be the first one breaking the news!

  • An internet forum (e.g. ths one) is a form of social media...

  • Tom77 wrote (see)

    An internet forum (e.g. ths one) is a form of social media...

    and ?

  • And if you think it's a bad thing, why are you here?

     

  • I generally think social media is a good thing.  Without it I would have been completely isolated from anyone I knew for the last 4 months and my life would have been hell.  Instead I had a very close circle of friends who watched out for me and made the effort to drive hundreds of miles to be with me when they detected that I needed company and a friend.

    I am now making friends here, several of which I have got in contact with through social media, such as my new tri club FB page.  I guess I could ahve found these people without the internet but it would have been harder

    There can be unpleasantness on social media, but I've experienced a lot more unpleasantness in real life.  There are nasty people everywhere and if you can't learn to step away from the keyboard when someone turns nasty then there doesn't seem to be much hope for you in real life.

  • All forms of social media have good and bad points. The fact of the matter is that like it or not, social media is here to stay.

    Anyone who abuses someone else online is subject to the same laws on defamation as a newspaper journalist would be.

    I'm just going to slip in to law student mode for a moment whilst I explain. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) gives the right to respect for private and family life, meaning that people's private business has the right to remain private, so if you publish on Twitter a comment about them that is not in the public's interest to know, especially if it turns out to be untrue, you could find yourself with a defamation case on your hands.

    This is balanced out by Article 10 of the ECHR, which gives the right to freedom of expression, so if you believe that the public has a right to know about something, then you have a right to publish it, which of course also covers publication on a social media site.

    The courts try to take in to account both Article 8 and Article 10 when deciding on a defamation case, as neither Article has a natural precedent over the other, but be warned that if they decide that the right to respect for private and family life over rides the right to freedom of expression in a particular case, you could find yourself in deep doo.

    You have been warned! image

  • Dave The Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

    via twitter it is just a disturbance of electrons............

     

    Some people need to man up

    Do you really believe that? Some people have committed suicide after being hounded on social media - would you tell their loved ones they should have been able to "man up?"

    Tom77 wrote (see)

    An internet forum (e.g. ths one) is a form of social media...

    Indeed  - but forums llike this have been around for quite a bit longer and are (arguably) well moderated. You also have be part of a certain interest group to even know that they exist in most cases.

    As Mark Easton just said on the BBC - social media is completely uncivilised, he compared it to the wild west image

  • Yes. It is petty name calling, no more than playground rabble.



    If people don't like what others are saying about hem, then stop loggin on !
  • I guess it was all different before the internet, when I was hounded into attempting suicide...

  • OK so people have killed themselves over some petty name calling. That's all right then.

    You or I may choose not to log on Dave - I daresay we remember life before social media and aren't in thrall to it. If you were a 15 year old teenager you may not find it so easy to opt out.

  • The same people who spread malicious gossip in the workplace, school etc will do so on Twitter. At best they should be ignored, at worst the rule of slander should apply ( or should that be libel? No, that involves real writing, twitter is a spoken medium really).

    (edited for spelling)

  • It might "feel" like speaking because it is so immediate but it isn't - it's writing and therefore libel.

  • I'm a big fan of Twitter. Considering the sheer volume of traffic, the relatively low percentage of offensive posting (they get disproportionate coverage) is actually a positive reflection on society, I feel.

    but a conversation with my nephew did open my eyes a bit to the challenges it can pose kids.

    He is a wee bit awkward, and prone to being bullied. In years gone by that may have stopped at the school gates but now the pressure to impress/fit in is a 24 hour job.

    Don't log on, you might say.

    He doesn't. But that makes it even harder for him because it places him even further on the periphery...the 'other'.

    I respect him because he just does his own thing anyway, tries not to let it get to him, but social media can make life hard for kids.

  • The rule is simple, if you are going to say something about someone, you have to think "would I be prepared to say this face to face?" if the answer is no, then don't say it, twitter it or post it. If it is yes, then do it face to face, don't hide

    Also I agree with earlier posts, people who feel insulted by Twitter etc need to grow up a little

  • the dude abides wrote (see)

    I'm a big fan of Twitter. Considering the sheer volume of traffic, the relatively low percentage of offensive posting (they get disproportionate coverage) is actually a positive reflection on society, I feel.

    but a conversation with my nephew did open my eyes a bit to the challenges it can pose kids.

    He is a wee bit awkward, and prone to being bullied. In years gone by that may have stopped at the school gates but now the pressure to impress/fit in is a 24 hour job.

    Don't log on, you might say.

    He doesn't. But that makes it even harder for him because it places him even further on the periphery...the 'other'.

    I respect him because he just does his own thing anyway, tries not to let it get to him, but social media can make life hard for kids.

    Exactly my point Dude - as adults most of us are equipped to deal with it (although I don't think anyone should have to suffer the sort of abuse that someone like Lorraine Pascale is currently getting) . Kids are different. 

  • Wilkie wrote (see)

    I do think that people are too quick to spread "news" on twitter, as some folk who will be hearing from Lord McAlpine's lawyers are going to find out.

    People do love to be the first one breaking the news!

    On the other hand, in some situations the "real" story (or at least another side of the story) comes out via Twitter when the official news may be very limited - I'm thinking of the tweets from ordinary people during the riots in Egypt.

     
    EKGO wrote (see)

    The rule is simple, if you are going to say something about someone, you have to think "would I be prepared to say this face to face?" if the answer is no, then don't say it, twitter it or post it. If it is yes, then do it face to face, don't hide

    Also I agree with earlier posts, people who feel insulted by Twitter etc need to grow up a little

    Agree with that! Actually people should think "if this tweet gets picked up by the media, would I be happy to have my name publically associated with it"

  • Something I don't think has been mentioned is the aspect of anonymity social-media offers, its not enough to follow EKGO rule as some users will attack and victimise without revealiing themself.

    I'm not a big social-media user but do feel in large it is an excellent innovation, which is becoming more and more emeshed in our lives.

  • Jwheezy - You're right of course, some people will hide, but as long as enough people do the right thing, then the right thing will prevail. You can't legislate for abusers but doing the right thing is still preferable.

    In theory assume that I as an ethical person am in competition with you are unethical and will resort to anything, then realistically it is difficult for me to win on a level playing field. However the more people doing the right thing, and seeing the right thing means more will see the behaviour. This is wqhere you have to trust principles, its not an easy thing to remain ethical but its more rewarding.  

  • The problem is that some people take what they read on on Facebook and Twitter to be fact, which it often isn't.

    This is a bit like the Americans who get all of their history from films.

  • It depends on the quality of social media or story itself. If it is anything encouraging, it is really great and helpful!
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