Social Media Are Driving Americans Insane (bloomberg.com)

Do we need more evidence... by jddj · 2017-02-23 08:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

...than the current Psychotic-in-Chief?

Re:Do we need more evidence... by DickBreath · 2017-02-23 09:02 · Score: 2

Do you have the cause and effect reversed?

Does the insanity cause the tweets? Or do the tweets cause the insanity?

Does the moon cause the tides? Or do the tides cause the moon?

Do immigrants cause poor living conditions? Or do poor living conditions cause immigrants?

I don't know. Let's ask Mr. Owl.

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I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
Re:Do we need more evidence... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 11:06 · Score: 2, Insightful

You mean the Pussy-Grabber-in Chief.
Bill Clinton left office in 2001.
There's a helluva lot more nasty allegations of rape and actual sexual assault and sexual harassment about Bill Clinton that makes Trump's mere words pale in comparison.
But Slick Willie with the bent wee-wee is OK because he's a Democrat, right?
Re: Do we need more evidence... by Bing+Tsher+E · 2017-02-23 12:36 · Score: 1

Tell us what makes you so angry.
Re:Do we need more evidence... by Maritz · 2017-02-23 22:42 · Score: 1

You're too stupid to even know you're a dumbass.
Sadly true of all dumbasses.
I mean, that's the main problem with them. They all think they're fucking geniuses.

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I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Re: Do we need more evidence... by Maritz · 2017-02-23 22:44 · Score: 1

You should be laughing at what a prick he makes you all look.

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I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Re:Do we need more evidence... by hodet · 2017-02-24 03:30 · Score: 1

Welcome to /. 2017. You're all fucking dumbasses.
Re: Do we need more evidence... by kaatochacha · 2017-02-24 07:18 · Score: 1

In your group, yes. And in the group in another location, they're laughing at you. Because everyone is bellowing in an echo chamber.
Re:Do we need more evidence... by beastofburdon · 2017-02-24 07:52 · Score: 1

Dude, chill out and get some perspective.
They're politicians, every one of them is worthless, evil, and corrupt.
The Clintons, both of them, are every bit as horrible as Trump. You just accept them because you are affiliated with the same party.
Re:Do we need more evidence... by Rick+Schumann · 2017-02-24 10:43 · Score: 1

My oh my, someone is mad!
Re: Do we need more evidence... by CaptainDork · 2017-02-25 03:21 · Score: 1

"Bottom 25" sounds like "Bottom Feeders."
The needle's all the way to the right into to lala land.
Republican town halls are now security risks, and desperate California farmers, who took to heart: "California does not have a drought," are worried they're losing migrant workers.
The press is the enemy of the state now.
I peek at the the orange guy with a tater on his dick, but I, too, avoid the stress and go fishing.

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It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Re: Do we need more evidence... by CaptainDork · 2017-02-25 03:23 · Score: 1

Immigrants, LGBTQ, Obamacare recipients, foreign travelers, reporters and other world leaders don't live in echo chambers.
You do.

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It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Re:Do we need more evidence... by mrchaotica · 2017-02-25 12:29 · Score: 1

You just accept them because you are affiliated with the same party.
THAT'S A GODDAMNED LIE.
See, that's exactly the short of fucked-up false-dichotomy thinking I was complaining about in the first place! I'm a LIBERTARIAN , not a Democrat.

The Clintons, both of them, are every bit as horrible as Trump.
That's the thing, THEY'RE REALLY NOT. The Clinton's are horrible in a "normal" corrupt-big-government sort of way, but they PALE IN COMPARSION to the damage to civil liberties and democracy itself that Trump is doing! The Clintons never (a) kicked the media out of white house briefings, (b) stuffed their administration full of LITERAL WHITE SUPREMACISTS, attempted to normalize lying to the public in a strategy straight out of 1984 or Mein Kampf, or done any of a hundred other ACTUALLY, LITERALLY, AND WITHOUT EXAGGERATION FASCIST things!

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"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Re:Do we need more evidence... by syntotic · 2017-02-25 22:13 · Score: 1

What s with White Supremacists? Not being the color of your own excrement is optimal. That is a technical statement. The term White Supremacist was not coined by White Supremacists but by people who believe Equality in X means Equality in U. Then they go beat white looking people like we are supposed to be around beating Afros the way Afros beat other people, including their own. It is in the news. We are not that specific regarding skin tones, because the best place a distinction can be placed, regarding excrement, is already well decided beforehand and null confusions. That is optimal. I am sure their manifesto, if they have one, was concocted under Afro pressures and so is reflecting them, not people like me who do not even question it out of sheer biological obviousness, and thus can be abused by the discourse and the anti-discourse. Imagine if we had to precisely match skin color to copulate and not just be there clean and ready? It is pathetic, the argument was settled during the past six/three centuries, de facto. WS imply we are losing, so we have to assert our position before a stronger winner non white party! If you see the story of Occident as a race (like in speed), you are only calling Cannibal and the Elephants on Rome again. It is the past Administration that made you feel like you were in Central America or the UN, not in the USA.

Too much noise by XxtraLarGe · 2017-02-23 08:48 · Score: 4, Interesting

I definitely got a little burned out on Social Media since the election. I think I've used Twitter a half dozen times since then, and am only checking Facebook once or twice a day, usually to send birthday greetings. Some days I don't get on at all. It definitely lets you do more important/productive things, and you stay out of arguments with your left/right friends who are posting fallacious memes.

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Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.

Re:Too much noise by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 09:23 · Score: 1

Some of the whiniest people are still "unfollowed" months since the election, probably because I realized that I don't really care enough about some of them to hear from them everyday rather than one a month or so at a party or other event.
Re:Too much noise by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 10:48 · Score: 2, Interesting

Pro Tips about how to give no f**ks:
Delete all social media apps, use the web ui, yeah it sucks, and thats the point, you'll use it when have to, and not much more. I check facebork every few days when I think about it, sometimes I post a photo or 3 of some things no one else cares about much, at least its original unlike the junk everyone else re-shares on there.
Twitter, unfollow everything thats useless. My Twit feed only follows the local transit agency so I can bitch at them when my train is late or delayed, I like to remind them that our taxes pay for them, as does the fare I paid, I'm both their employer and their customer at the same time, somehow that allows them to be bad at what they do. The rest of Twitter is useless garbage from people about things that don't matter.
All my iDevices go into DND mode at 5pm, and come out at 8am. When I get home my phone gets plugged into the charge in the keyrack, I dont look at it again until about 30 minutes before I leave for work the next day.
If its important enough, my boss has my land line number to call (yes I still have one, I'm sorry if you don't) if needed. In 3 years I've had one call in the evening from my boss. I goto bed at 9pm, the land line phone is too quiet for me to hear from the bedroom, leave a message if its important, I'll get back to you when I'm done being asleep. If its really important then you'll f**king well drive to my house and bang on the front door.
So far I have missed nothing important ever. I suppose I'm just old enough to remember a time before mobile internet connected phone devices, you know back when a house had one wired phone in it and that was it. Funny thing is, no one missed much then either, and you wont now.
Lastly watch TV for pleasure, not the stupid news. Sometimes I make an exception, but otherwise its just an hour 1/2 of Big Bang Theory and/or Seinfeld before I goto bed at night to unwind and laugh at something.
Re:Too much noise by brantondaveperson · 2017-02-23 21:06 · Score: 1

The trouble with Twitter is that inane nonsense actually gets into real media the whole damn time, and if you want to know what's going on in the world, then you can't avoid it.
Re:Too much noise by gnick · 2017-02-24 03:33 · Score: 1

wtf is twitter even for?
I only follow 2 accounts, both belonging to the same person. I check his tweets every morning because they very well may have global consequences. I'm waiting in terror for the day we see this:

NK too afraid of US might to follow through with EMPTY threats. FAKE NUKES!!

--
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.

Excuse moi, monsieur... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 08:48 · Score: 3, Insightful

Uhmmm... seriously ? Since there has been obviously *zero* change in the political landscape between August last year and January this year, the only possible conclusion for the reportedly increased stress from the political landscape is social media. Rrrright... We don't need fake news when plain idiocy will do just fine.

Life before int4rw3bz by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 08:52 · Score: 2, Insightful

There was a time when we spent most of our free time outdoors, playing games or hiking/biking, swimming etc. And we lived in the city. I pity the under 45s, if they had to exist for two seconds without a computer or phone, they'd melt. Sorry to say but it sucks to be you.

Re:Life before int4rw3bz by TWX · 2017-02-23 08:54 · Score: 2

Before the interwebs was console gaming. My mother has talked about seeing the shift in the neighborhood as the various kids got nintendos or segas and how suddenly groups of kids stopped playing outdoors.

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Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by ColdWetDog · 2017-02-23 09:28 · Score: 2

Ogg: Ogglet! Go outside! Play! Get eaten by that tiger!
Ogglet: No dad, can't I just paint on the wall a little longer? It's raining.
What is new is old.

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Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by William+Baric · 2017-02-23 10:12 · Score: 4, Insightful

Before Nintendo and Sega, there was Atari, Mattel and, later, Coleco. Yet, it never stopped us from playing outside. What your mother doesn't tell you is that kids stopping going outside was mostly because women became the head of the household during the 80s (instead of men), and so making sure kids were safe became the utmost priority. On the one hand, mothers said they wanted their kids to play outside, but, on the other hand it had to be in a controlled way and kids had to be watched all the time. So kids ended up preferring to stay in their rooms. Don't blame consoles or the Internet, blame mothers.
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by thinkwaitfast · 2017-02-23 10:26 · Score: 1

Console gaming was only for rich kids. The rest of us had to play board games with our neighbors. I only knew one kid with an Atari 2600, Keith, but he was a lot younger than me.
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by TWX · 2017-02-23 12:05 · Score: 1

I donno where you lived, but we were pretty thoroughly smack-dab in the middle of middle-class. We saved up our allowances for almost two years in order to buy that Nintendo. We traded games with our friends because no one could afford to buy everything that we wanted and we bought and sold games at local shops.

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Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by demonlapin · 2017-02-23 12:31 · Score: 3, Interesting

When I was nine, my parents gave me a house key. They told me where the spare was hidden, too. Then they told me to take my bicycle to and from school (about 1 mile, 1.6 km). If I woke up late, or it was raining, my mom would put me in the car and drop me off. If it was still raining when school let out, she would pick me up, but otherwise I would just walk home. I'm 42, so very much an 80's kid. We did all kinds of dangerous stuff. The only expectation my parents had was "be home by dinner". And that extended into my teenage years - although my curfews were ridiculously early, I could literally tell them nothing about what I was going to do, and nothing about where I was going to go, and it was cool. It sucked, because there was no flexibility, but at the same time, I could do whatever I wanted. No expectation that there would be parents present. No expectation that we would be available. Come home by X, what you do until then is your business.
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by thinkwaitfast · 2017-02-23 13:47 · Score: 1

Inflation adjusted, the 2600 was almost $800 which is a lot to spend for a kid's toy.
Re:Life before int4rw3bz by Evtim · 2017-02-23 17:54 · Score: 2

I got that beaten. 7 yrs old when got the key and went to school alone. Dinner at home rule stopped at the age of 13. I would call only if stayed overnight at a party. We [bunch of boys] could go hiking the mountains and our parents would not hear from us for 3 weeks! More astonishing, around age of 15 the girls joined us! Can you imagine a parent of today sending her daughter at age of 15 with a bunch of boys to a remote location that has transport in and out once per 3 days, no communication whatsoever [even post], 50 km from the nearest city that has hospital? And you know what? Nobody got molested in any way, nobody got pregnant. In fact from 36 people class in high school 5 families emerged [still going strong; kids and all]. At the same time if somebody of today could eavesdrop on us we would be labeled the most PC incorrect people. Nobody back then took imaginary offense [or micro, even nano-offense] from people speaking their mind.
Fuck the fucking communists, but they did give us carefree, crime-free [totalitarian societies have very little petty crime, mostly it is big, state crimes that happen] advertisement-free, religion-free, no gadgets, play outside childhood. For that, together with the education [critical thinking was a must, it was actually thought even though at the end it back-fired against the communist party], I am grateful.
Re: Life before int4rw3bz by thinkwaitfast · 2017-02-23 19:38 · Score: 1

I don't know what happened to him, but his brother who was my age isn't anymore :(

Not insane by TWX · 2017-02-23 08:53 · Score: 4, Funny

It is not driving me insane!

now give me a minute to see what fark, deadspin, facebook, twitter, reddit, tumblr, livejournal, wordpress, and blogger have to say about it.

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Do not look into laser with remaining eye.

Re:Not insane by TWX · 2017-02-23 09:05 · Score: 2

no but my narcissism was self-lovingly confirmed by repetition of safe space reaffirmation bias.

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Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Re:Not insane by TWX · 2017-02-23 09:06 · Score: 1

Yes. To the same degree that any time confuses and frightens me.

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Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Re: Not insane by TWX · 2017-02-23 11:19 · Score: 1

Only if I-am-bored or if I'm feeling rotten.

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Do not look into laser with remaining eye.

No by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 08:54 · Score: 1, Insightful

In this case, the medium is not the message.

What's driving Americans insane is the manifest insanity of certain Americans.

Social media? by WolfgangVL · 2017-02-23 08:57 · Score: 1

Blaming the discussion platforms instead of the madman at the helm for the uniform rise in political anxiety is just the sort of thing that is causing the stress to rise in the first place. Well, at least for me, but I was already a little touched to begin with.

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You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.

Re:Social media? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 09:15 · Score: 1, Insightful

So then you agree that when Obama was President and he drove conservatives crazy that it was his fault?
Or does that only apply to Presidents you don't like?
Why the double standard then?
Re:Social media? by nine-times · 2017-02-23 10:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

For whatever extent you want to talk about the news itself being the cause of stress (which is fair to do), I think we have to look also look at the setup of the platforms, human nature, and the culture around social media, as likely contributing factors.
Because really, however bad the news was, 20 years ago you'd be waiting for the nightly news to find out about it. Several decades before that, you'd be waiting for the following day's newspaper. Now, we're getting constant updates, and those updates may be causing a device in your pocket to vibrate and make noise every time something new comes out. We know that checking all of those notifications is addictive, and not checking causes stress. However, constantly feeling the need to check also causes stress. (human nature)
Also, we have grown to expect that everyone is constantly online, always checking all of their platforms. Speaking for myself, I get messages via various social networks, and if I don't respond immediately, people freak out and take personal offense. Even when I try to remove those apps from my phone or turn off notifications, I get angry messages from people because I'm ignoring them. (culture)
I think it's also worth pointing out that most of these platforms are not really designed for occasional use. I've thought it would be nice if you could set a time-based digest of a social networking site. For example, instead of looking at Twitter, give me a weekly digest of the tweets that (based on some criteria) I'm going to be most likely to want to read and respond to. Only update Twitter at 9am on Sunday mornings with the 25 most important tweets of the week. But Twitter doesn't work that way. It's basically built on the idea that you're always looking, always paying attention, because if you stop paying attention for a day or two, you're just going to miss things and they'll get buried under a flood of other tweets. (the platforms)
Basically, I don't think we can do much about the human-nature aspect. Realistically, I don't foresee the platforms changing because they're providing the instant-feedback that people want. In my thinking, they key would be to change the culture and expectations around social media, which would change what we want from the platform, which would change the platform.
But then, intentionally changing culture is not so easy either.
Re:Social media? by Grishnakh · 2017-02-23 10:14 · Score: 1, Informative

If it "drives you crazy" when you're discouraged by society and government from oppressing people who aren't part of your religious nuttery, then maybe you need psychological help.
Re:Social media? by tlhIngan · 2017-02-23 10:41 · Score: 4, Interesting

Because really, however bad the news was, 20 years ago you'd be waiting for the nightly news to find out about it. Several decades before that, you'd be waiting for the following day's newspaper. Now, we're getting constant updates, and those updates may be causing a device in your pocket to vibrate and make noise every time something new comes out. We know that checking all of those notifications is addictive, and not checking causes stress. However, constantly feeling the need to check also causes stress. (human nature)

It's the reason we have the term "FOMO", or Fear of Missing Out. By not being attached to our phones 24/7 we fear we're going to miss big news about something (... almost always trivial in the big scheme of things).
If you hate that term, get used to it - it's a root of the term for the phobia, and as a medical diagnosis.
Re:Social media? by Grishnakh · 2017-02-23 11:50 · Score: 2

Of course it isn't, but the people who were "driven crazy" were surely motivated by that kind of thing, not substantive policy issues.
Re:Social media? by WolfgangVL · 2017-02-23 13:42 · Score: 1

You're really making some big assumptions! HYUGE assumptions! Sad!
I am quite enjoying the current politic! I believe that a madman at the helm is just about the only way we are going to see the kind of change in our system that we sorely need. He's already pushed hard enough on so many hot button issues to bring even the millennials into the discussion. He's got the ball rolling on so many issues that we are discussing the psychological effects of trying to pay attention to them here on slashdot!
I don't care what your motivation might be, conserv-, liber-, demo-, repub-, or batshit-cray, when you've managed to bring this many people into a conversation that only a few short years ago was considered to boring to even pay attention to, you're doing something right.

--
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
Re:Social media? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 14:28 · Score: 4, Interesting

I've the exact opposite problem. I managed to 'train' my friends to never send me SMS messages except for emergencies. I could carry my old cell phone with me just for emergencies. Smart Phones are something else however. You are constantly updated with all kinds of notifications. Even when you turn out all notifications and want to use your smart phone you see all those numbers of missed notifications, messages or emails on your screen. That's the reason why I gave up on smart phones. I still have my iPhone 4S but it just lays on my desktop connected to my computer. I never take it with me. I've also given up on emails entirely, except at work. I don't check work email at home. I've never made profiles on any social network. I rarely watch television, only when there is a program I would like to see, after recording it of course.
I only read newspapers on the internet on a tablet or at my desktop at home (I pay for the digital edition) and I sometimes read Slashdot. I don't use internet everyday. In summer or weekends when the weather is nice I prefer to hike or bike or I go out with friends in my free time. Although I'm more disconnected than most, I still feel the pressure of the always connected people in my life.

Many people have similar opinions about some issues. I never understood why all of the sudden when we grow older most of my friends have the same opinions. When we were teenagers and in our twenties we had interesting discussions about small problems and world politics. Today they all have similar ideas. I've noticed when a friend tried to convince me, he pulled out his smartphone and showed websites that he learned through facebook. That's when I was struck. Have my friends become drones? The most frustrating part is that lately they have become anti-Trump drones. I didn't know Trump except that he was a wealthy non politician going for president, I just understood that he was hated by established media and politicians but loved by the voters. That can happen. But how can someone who isn't American become an anti-Trump drone and even start using American English slogans. I've even heard them talk about 1984. I told them that they looked more like the 1984 workers who knew the truth about some far away event from the screen then that inexperienced president who doesn't know how to talk like a politician and offends a lot of people with short tweets. When I told them they were drones of the cultural hegemony as described by Antonio Gramsci I expected an interesting discussion like in our younger years. Instead they became offended and angry and compared me with Hitler...
This happened a few weeks ago, and it is just one of the many anecdote that slowly turns me crazy. It seems that the always connected people stop thinking about the information they read. There is probably too much different information on a short time that makes it impossible to actually think things over. This makes them take over opinions from the national media without forming their own opinion. I don't know. I do know that more and more people are convinced about an opinion and don't accept a different opinion and sometimes even freak out when you say you don't agree.

Like that overweight girl that started convincing me about the fact that meat is very unhealthy and that we were not build to eat meat, while she was eating an orange carrot. I told her we were evolved to eat meat hence why we have large brains, but we are definitely not evolved to eat orange carrots because orange carrots are a result of the meat powered human brain who managed to selectively breed the woody texture out of carrots to make them edible and even managed to selectively breed the colour orange as a tribute to "Willem van Oranje". The ancestors of the carrots could only be harvested in the wild for a limited period before carrots/roots became like wood. She didn't know what to say. This was information she never heard about. Instead she started to call me names and walked away with an angry face when nobody
Re:Social media? by Chalnoth · 2017-02-27 11:21 · Score: 1

The fears of conservatives with regard to Obama were based on facts that were entirely fabricated. They weren't based upon anything Obama actually said or did, but were often the result of conservative commentators simply making up horrible things out of whole cloth. Witness the whole birth certificate scandal that lasted for years.
By contrast, the fears of liberals with regard to Trump are based on Trump's words and actions. If anything, many Liberals have given Trump far more of a benefit of a doubt than he deserves. For example, many believed that Trump would be okay on Transgender rights, and then this happens.
Trump is a serial liar, but he has always been very honest about his intentions (despite widespread beliefs, this honesty is the norm among politicians). Conservatives were afraid of Obama because they thought he was doing or was going to do things that he never said he'd do and never actually did. Liberals are afraid of Trump because he's doing exactly what he said he would do.

This really proves nothing by Striek · 2017-02-23 09:04 · Score: 1

The highest stress levels, it should be noted, are reserved for those who constantly check their work e-mail on days off. Their average stress level is 6.0. So those of you who think it's somehow pleasant to work from home on a Saturday afternoon, you're actually fooling yourself.

That's on a scale of 1 to 10, and the average across America is 4.4 for those who didn't RTFA. (Extremely sloppy summarizing. Way to go, msmash!)

And besides, this is only a correlation - the article does not identify whether constant email checking causes stress, or if people who are already stresses are more likely to check emails. It further goes on to state:

About 42 percent of constant checkers specifically point to political and cultural discussions as causing stress. And the impacts play out in real life—35 percent of constant checkers say they are less likely to spend time with family and friends because of social media.

Suggesting (at least to me) that constant email checking and high stress levels simply have a common precursor, not that one causes the other.

--
"Government is like fire; a handy servant, but a dangerous master." -- George Washington

Continuous distraction by dschiptsov · 2017-02-23 09:05 · Score: 1

It the same as to stay in the midst of a mob where everyone is shouting arbitrary bullshit. What would you expect?

Dropping Out of Social Media by Tempest_2084 · 2017-02-23 09:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

I think the big problem is that everyone seems to want to use social media to shout their political and social beliefs constantly and non-stop. Before the rise of social media I had a pretty good idea of where my friends were in the political/social spectrum, but we never really discussed it. Now it seems that everyone must not only tell you where they stand on issues, but they have to tell you why you're wrong for not taking the same stance. Day after day with the smug condescending memes, fake news pieces from whacked out websites, pointless hoaxes that Snopes debunked years ago ad nausem. After a while it just gets on your nerves and you either join them, drop out, or go insane. I've pretty much filtered or unfollowed just about everyone on Facebook because I'm tired of it (whether I agreed with them or not). If it wasn't for some of the computer groups I follow I'd probably never log into FB anymore.

Re:Dropping Out of Social Media by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 09:27 · Score: 1

that Snopes debunked years ago ad nausem
And Snopes being treated as the infallible be-all-end-all of fact checking.
Pretty much use Facebook mostly just for tracking events and party invites these days. That's the main reason I started using it in the first place when people realized that it was much more convenient than sending letter invites, calling/texting dozens of guests, having to check papers and rely on flyers to know what was going on around town, etc.
Re: Dropping Out of Social Media by Tempest_2084 · 2017-02-23 09:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

It's the damn weirdest thing though. My friends never used to be like this, but something about Facebook twisted them. I'm starting to think FB is some sort of curse that was unleashed on humanity by an ancient evil or something.
Re:Dropping Out of Social Media by avandesande · 2017-02-23 09:47 · Score: 1

I just do a monthly 'are they still alive' check and that's it.

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love is just extroverted narcissism
Re:Dropping Out of Social Media by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 10:11 · Score: 1

You're certainly on to something, but I think it's only a subset of a wider problem: that people now think they're "having a conversation" that doesn't stop.
"Conversation" is a thing that's bounded in time and space. It happens between two or more people over a certain mutually agreed time, and (medium permitting) space. During that time, we make some reasonable assumptions - for instance, that The Conversation is the paramount thing on each participant's mind at the time, that everyone involved is at least slightly interested in hearing what we have to contribute (and if not, they can opt out at any time using well established manners and protocols).
But if you extend "conversation" beyond that limited space, those assumptions no longer hold. The people you think you're conversing with - all have other things on their minds, and they have no obligation to pay any special degree of attention to your input. In other words: what happens on social media is not a "conversation". (Or more precisely, at least, it's not governed by the social rules that we generally associate with "conversation".)
The rhetoric of social media (Twitter's slogan is "join the conversation") obscures this difference, and blurs the reasonable expectations of users. That is why people find it so hard to just let go.
Re:Dropping Out of Social Media by thinkwaitfast · 2017-02-23 10:36 · Score: 1

shout their political and social beliefs constantly and non-stop
I know people who watch tv for this exact reason. Following the news on the internet, you usually get a day or two head start about what is going to show up on tv, so you can ask their opinion on something and they'll have no idea. Three days later they'll have a very strong opinion about it and it seems to match what they've been listening to on their news programs. And I've never watched them but those programs are always YELLING. Those people don't seem to have a regular conversational voice.
Re:Dropping Out of Social Media by Sumus+Semper+Una · 2017-02-23 11:03 · Score: 2

I feel like it's not just about politics. I hardly ever log in to Facebook (the only social media application I even have an account on), and even outside of elections or times of political conflict I've felt like a majority of the people who use the service a lot are really just shouting at an uncaring world and hoping for a response. Sometimes it's sharing cute or funny videos/pictures. Sometimes it's sharing intentionally inflammatory comments. They don't act like traditional trolls. They just seem to want someone to give them *some* sort of response that they can respond back to.
Political strife seems to exacerbate whatever the cause of the phenomenon is and (not surprisingly) apparently results in more inflammatory comments than at other times. But the bigger question (at least for me, because I don't personally participate in or understand it) is what is it about social media that prompts people to shout their beliefs and interests to people who did not ask and mostly do not care?
Re: Dropping Out of Social Media by fustakrakich · 2017-02-23 11:52 · Score: 1

ancient evil
AOL

--
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Re:Dropping Out of Social Media by Lodragandraoidh · 2017-02-24 20:09 · Score: 1

...Now it seems that everyone must not only tell you where they stand on issues, but they have to tell you why you're wrong for not taking the same stance. Day after day with the smug condescending memes, fake news pieces from whacked out websites, pointless hoaxes that Snopes debunked years ago ad nausem. After a while it just gets on your nerves and you either join them, drop out, or go insane. ...
What you are describing is really the propaganda battle in a cultural war that the Liberals didn't know existed before Trump was elected into office, and the mainstream Conservatives, while aware, didn't realize how hard it would turn on them and bite them in the butt. This war has been going on a long time: e.g. Powell Memorandum in 1971, and if you count the white nationalism/supremacy part of this - it goes back to colonial times and the advent of slavery. Trump spoke to these people and his win has emboldened them even more than before. They have mastered the tools of social media, and will try to destroy you if you do not align with their world view.

--

Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain

Hard wired by GeekWithAKnife · 2017-02-23 09:11 · Score: 5, Insightful

Humans spot risk, oddities in recognisable patterns and are far more likely to remember negative events because they are hard wired to do so.

As hunter-gatherers (you know, in the time before writing and the invention of religion) we'd either learn to spot danger and do what we can to avoid it or have decreased chances of survival...fast forward 100(?) thousands years or so and the information revolution gave us access to numerous sources of negativity and percieved risk. Once upon a time to find a heretic you had to travel! -now you can speak with a blasphemer in under 10 seconds just go to a forum or heck, skype them!

Some people are unable to detach, disassociate or become desensitised. Often the stress is not even about real threats just amplified mass fear of awful weather, cheating in their favourite sport, injustice of what they consider their basic rights etc.

Basically like all humans, people suffer from the human condition. Humans are irrational. They are more concerned with controlling borders than traffic accidents despite traffic being the proven killer. They are more worried about terrorists than the flu and yet one kils hundreds of times more. Humans are scared their children might develop diametrically opposed beliefs if they associate with certain other kids but turn a blind eye to the negative imapcts of their own beliefs because they seldom scrutinize it...the list goes on.

Americans are not crazy but they are being driven crazy by a political system that preys on fear. News network that compete to report the latest disaster. Corporations that research their insecurities about their body and sell them shit they do not need.

Actually this happens everywhere...somehow this more pronounced in the US for reasons I'll let others suggest.

--
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.

Re:Hard wired by swillden · 2017-02-24 02:21 · Score: 1

As hunter-gatherers (you know, in the time before writing and the invention of religion)
Before writing, yes. I strongly suspect that religion existed even then. All of the hunter-gatherer societies that survived to historical times had religions, often quite sophisticated ones.

--
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Re:Hard wired by GeekWithAKnife · 2017-02-24 02:52 · Score: 1

While some religions or forms of them existed before writing there was still a time when the imaginary concept of the flying spaghetti monster was too complex or useless to be thunk!

--
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
Re:Hard wired by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 07:22 · Score: 1

Bravo and tipping of the proverbial hat to a scholar!
It's excellent to see that some people still understand that Humans aren't this magical thing that has power no other animal does, while at the same time being able to change "the world" in any way, at any time they want without repercussions.
I admire your intellect; a large part of all "we" have left.

Re:I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 09:14 · Score: 1

I've never used Facebook. I don't understand why people want to.

Re:social media is modern society by DontBeAMoran · 2017-02-23 09:16 · Score: 2

Isn't the comments section of Slashdot a form of social media?

--
#DeleteFacebook

Delete your account before traveling by jfdavis668 · 2017-02-23 09:24 · Score: 1

Step 1: Delete your social media account. Step 2: Travel. Step 3: ????. Step 4: Profit

Re:Delete your account before traveling by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 07:18 · Score: 1

Step 1: Delete your social media account. Step 2: Travel. Step 3: ????. Step 4: Profit
Pssst... 3 is collection of underpants. Don't share that inside info.

Re:Our Democracy is worth a little mental health by ColdWetDog · 2017-02-23 09:30 · Score: 1

Looks like our first case of insanity has checked in.

What? Commander Taco is back?

Where?

--
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!

Re:social media is modern society by ColdWetDog · 2017-02-23 09:31 · Score: 1

No, this is unsocial media.

--
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!

I cut off FB a month ago. It's been a good month. by enjar · 2017-02-23 09:34 · Score: 3, Interesting

I had my wife log me out of Facebook and change the password. She knows it if I ever want to get back in. It's been a month and it's been generally great. I ended up with time for stuff I "never had time for" -- Crosswords, books, movies, 8+ hours of sleep, time with the kids, home projects, etc. I'm more focused at work and sleep better. This makes me less grumpy, impresses my boss and also makes me eat better and get in regular workouts. The elimination of FB has made it easier to have a virtuous cycle that feeds on itself rather than an endless stream of crappy memes and political crap that doesn't really help my life in any appreciable way. If I ever choose to return to FB I'm going to cull the friends list tremendously, I expect it to drop precipitously to maybe 15-20 people, generally family and friends I legitimately want to keep up with.

Social Media IS? by xantonin · 2017-02-23 09:43 · Score: 1

I know there are differences in British English VS American English, but I was pretty sure since social media is not an entity and it is a reference to something, that the correct usage would be "Social Media is driving Americans insane" - especially given the article is about Americans.

Re:I cut off FB a month ago. It's been a good mont by Anonymous Coward · 2017-02-23 10:03 · Score: 1, Insightful

do your self a favor, delete your account permanently, 15-20 people is not that many to keep up with using any other means of personal communication with the added bonus of said personal communication making the friendship stronger through the gesture of putting effort into such a relationship.

Even if you cull your friends list, you are still subjecting yourself to the algorithms of facebook which when pressed for content to deliver you grabs from ads and sensationalist news stories. Do not subject your self back into a system that is meant to draw you in and get you to further expand your friends list and or social media presence.

The only way to win such a game is not to play. considering that you have started to see the rewards of not playing the game, Why would you ever go back?

As if I needed a reason by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2017-02-23 10:04 · Score: 2

As if I needed a reason not to have any (anti-)social media accounts.

Thanks, but I like my craziness and and insanity to be of my own making, all mine as it were.

--
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...

Re:I cut off FB a month ago. It's been a good mont by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2017-02-23 10:13 · Score: 3, Insightful

Wow, it's an interesting exercise to replace "FB" with "Heroin" in your post. It still makes sense. Maybe it's time to haul up Zuckerbock in front of a Congressional Committee, Big Tobacco style, and have him claim that FB is not addictive. Or maybe a class action suit for promoting a product that damages the health of the general public.

Unfortunately, just like with Heroin, making it illegal would not stop folks from abusing it until it causes their deaths.

Well, at least the death of their sanity. And, as with Heroin addicts, FB addicts are most of the time somebody else's problem.

--
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!

Re:I cut off FB a month ago. It's been a good mont by enjar · 2017-02-23 10:30 · Score: 1

It's more akin to when I gave up on a lot of television than drug addiction. I made a decision that I was assigning too high a priority (and subsequently spending too much time on) something that was delivering low value for my leisure time, and I was missing out on other activities that could deliver more enjoyment and pleasure than Facebook was giving me. My wife changing the password creates a barrier to entry that's high enough that I'll go find something else to do rather than trying to get the password or do the password reset thing.

For instance, for me to watch television today I have ridiculously high standards. If a show gets boring, I drop it. I give a new show at most three episodes, if it hasn't hooked me by then, it's not worth it. With so many other ways to pass the time and only so much time, I'd rather play a well made video game for an hour than spend that same hour watching lackluster television. Or I'd prefer to watch a good movie I just haven't had time to see but that I've heard was well worth watching. Not to mention books, crosswords, etc. There are plenty of great leisure options out there, why waste time you'll never get back on mediocre entertainment?

FIFY by avandesande · 2017-02-23 10:46 · Score: 1

"Insane people over-use social media sites"

--
love is just extroverted narcissism

Americans are insane? by buss_error · 2017-02-23 11:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

Er, how is that news? Look at what happened November 8th, 2016 for insanity index. Forecast; High.

Chance of dunderheads: 100%
Protectionism, Xenophobia, and nut job anti-consumerism regulations to be expected for the next two years.
Sticking busybody noses into random vaginas guaranteed.
Skyhigh medical bills and health insurance: Paid for by lobbyists that stand to gain.
Hilarity, hypocrisy and hysteria: delivered.
Global shunning: On the way.

--
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

Re:Americans are insane? by A_Non_Moose · 2017-02-26 08:16 · Score: 1

Oh, my God...really?
I've avoided anything political for years because I'm sick of the BS all around...BUT could not resist and just hit the back button.
Here is why:

Er, how is that news? Look at what happened November 8th, 2016 for insanity index. Forecast; High.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2016/countymaprb1024.png
Rod Serling voice: Imagine if you will you live in a red'ish area and have been pushed around by your "betters" in blue for 8 years.
A "Republican" president is elected in what was (as Micheal Moore said) was the biggest FU to both sides and it would feel good.
Well, it did feel good and I laughed heartily and long with many chuckles for the past 35+ days.
I wish I could find the meme like http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2016/countymaprb1024.png where it said
"The blue areas want a civil war to oust President Trump, but the red areas own 95% of the guns. How's that gonna work out?"

Chance of dunderheads: 100%
Agreed, but before Nov 9, 2016. Then it changed.

Protectionism, Xenophobia, and nut job anti-consumerism regulations to be expected for the next two years.

Secured boarders and deporting illegals, visa overstays and countries that sponsor terror, Xenophobic only as it relates to those that want to hurt/kill is usually called common sense.
Anti-consumerism? Not wanting to buy a product that anyone paying attention would have (and DID) tell you was a P.O.S not even meant to help?
Johnathan Gruber...look him up.

Sticking busybody noses into random vaginas guaranteed.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!
Something like this, eh? https://patriotpost.us/cartoons/24498/
Or the Bill Clinton school of humidors?
Or sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, unless it is stuck in an intern.

Skyhigh medical bills and health insurance: Paid for by lobbyists that stand to gain.

Oh, so you are aware of what Obamacare was all about when the Democrats rammed it through on a PartyLine vote on Christmas Eve. Good for you!! You finally understand or just tripped over the truth.
R.R quote: https://patriotpost.us/memes/47509/

Hilarity, hypocrisy and hysteria: delivered.

I think you meant: Hillary-ity, hypocrisy and hysteria: delivered. (NOOOOOOTTTT).

Global shunning: On the way.

America! F*ck Yea!!! (tongue firmly in cheek w/ smug sarcasm as a bonus)
Trying to make the EU like the USA is working about as well as the reverse.
Then again, most people don't recall the point of the Statue of Liberty. (Hint: Not to make the US more like France, but quite the reverse).
'moose. (American, Veteran and currently residing in one of the two solid red states)
(aside: Mr. Moore was right...once...dang that felt gooood)

--
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
Re:Americans are insane? by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 07:28 · Score: 1

When you say "shunning", are you referring to the Global Shunning of America, or America's Shunning of the Global Complex? Cuz, ya know, both are going to happen.

apparently also a decrease in using proper grammar by citylivin · 2017-02-23 11:40 · Score: 2

"Social media IS driving americans insane"

FFS!

--
As a potential lottery winner, I totally support tax cuts for the wealthy

Devolving of social norms by Pascoea · 2017-02-23 11:40 · Score: 1

At first, for a brief moment in time, comments on Yahoo's news articles were reasonably civil. But they devolved from "intelligent" conversations in a big hurry because you could say whatever you wanted to with no social consequences because things were anonymous. Then Facebook came along, and at briefly brought a little of that civility back because your friends and family were going to see what you would post. But lately it seems as though even that barrier is being broken because people are realizing that their family and peers tend to share similar beliefs, and are not putting people in check when norms are violated. Filters are being removed, people are becoming nasty, minds are being closed to outside opinion. I fear that this mindset will be expanding further and further into meatspace. And given our recent selection of Commander in Chief, I feel that this mindset is making it into the real world fast.

Quick way to quit Facebook by werepants · 2017-02-23 11:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

I was getting annoyed about Facebook and finding that I was spending time on it and not really finding it worthwhile, but the monkey-brain habit was already ingrained so I kept going back. I honestly stopped the habit completely with just a couple steps:

1. Uninstall the Facebook app
2. If I ever end up opening Facebook in the browser, log out completely when I'm done, and don't save the password or username

Turns out that when I have to go through several steps (open browser, navigate to Facebook, type in username, type in password) it's disruptive enough to the mindless "Check Facebook" routine I had developed that it killed it entirely. I went from checking it 5-6 times a day to checking it once or twice a month, and life is much better.

Re:Quick way to quit Facebook by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 07:49 · Score: 1

I was getting annoyed about Facebook and finding that I was spending time on it and not really finding it worthwhile, but the monkey-brain habit was already ingrained so I kept going back. I honestly stopped the habit completely with just a couple steps:
1. Uninstall the Facebook app
2. If I ever end up opening Facebook in the browser, log out completely when I'm done, and don't save the password or username
Turns out that when I have to go through several steps (open browser, navigate to Facebook, type in username, type in password) it's disruptive enough to the mindless "Check Facebook" routine I had developed that it killed it entirely. I went from checking it 5-6 times a day to checking it once or twice a month, and life is much better.
I expected to get back on FB to meet old friends / acquaintances from HS (maybe more). I goofed around and tried to get into "that thing" for a while and eventually found my best friend (ha) from the time. He had dreams of becoming a pilot. Turns out he actually DID. He was a passenger plane pilot and got to fly all around the globe. It was cool seeing pictures and reading short stories (he seemed to stay away from the constantly show a new female and alcohol in every picture). Anyhow, I talked to him for a while and he did the whole "HEY BRO!!!! Man we haven't talked in forever. When I'm in Cincy next, I'll get ahold of you and we can hang out!"
I waited and waited. I eventually saw that he came back and met up with "girls he knew here". Pictures, quick stories about going to bar x and hop z... Then he was gone again. No mention of me, no email, no phone or SMS contact, nothing. I waited a while longer (let's say over a year, no joke). He was coming into town for xmas with the family. I mentioned that we should hang out while he's in town and he responded with, "Yeah. We should! I'll call ya as soon as I get a chance and we'll do stuff."
Nothing. I prompted him for info as to when he was departing the area the day after xmas but got no response. I saw pictures from above the upper level cirrus clouds posted to his FB account on the flight he was piloting somewhere to continue work.
Repeat same things for another year - nothing but, "Yeah! I can't wait to see you! It's been so long and there's a lot we need to catch up on, bro!"
After getting dodged another year, I literally said, out loud, "What in the fuck am I wasting my time on this stupid site for?"
I deleted my account (which, of course it says it will keep inactive and ready to re-engagement for 6 months). I haven't touched it since.
I created a twitter account to get in contact with a female friend (messed around with, heh) from the past and got nothing but ignored and blocked. Deleted that account.
I have been perfectly fine without it. There are some places that reference "news" or a "story" or "pictures" or "[insert name of information here]" that are on FB, but you can't see it unless you log in first. Never did; just searched Google for the same information and found it and references to it. I have not had one single session of any "social media" crap since. My life is just fine. Sure, I miss out on the latest "meme viral joke thing" or "stupid picture or video of dumb shit that over 100,000,000 viewers have watched". I see other people at work and a relative (on xmas visit she comes into town) who are doing "that thing" where they need to constantly respond to something, laugh at something that no one else has a clue about, or post on their own and verbally indicate to "their friends" with a little chortle that there's something for them to group together and laugh about if they all just pull out their phones and go to the FB thing.
Then, I looked at how much time people spend on it every day. It's more time than I've spent writing this comment, multiplied by at least 3.
I still get by just fine without it or any desire for it. I must be a sick person who needs mental help or the latest antidepressant medication (whatever it is these days). LOL!
Re:Quick way to quit Facebook by werepants · 2017-02-27 08:02 · Score: 1

Yeah, it used to be the case that Facebook provided a fair bit of social utility - you could see what family and friends were up to, congratulate people on the new job or new baby, find out about cool things going on in the neighborhood, etc. While that was about 80% of the usage a few years ago, I think that's down to
At the end of the day, if you gut the product's functionality and make it actively disregard the user's preferences, I'm done using it. No thanks.

Well, not necessarily by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2017-02-23 11:57 · Score: 1

"So those of you who think it's somehow pleasant to work from home on a Saturday afternoon, you're actually fooling yourself."

No, not necessarily. Some of us would prefer this to going into an office.

What about if I work from home on a Tuesday or Friday afternoon, am I still "fooling myself"? Because I think I know what I prefer.

--
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...

Not just americans ... by Qbertino · 2017-02-23 12:21 · Score: 3, Interesting

I've got two spoof accounts on Facebook, one for work - we're an agency selling Social Media Marketing among other things,so it's more or less expected of me - and one I established roughly 7 years ago when i started social dancing and constantly meeting people who asked me if I was on Facebook. I looked at Twitter a few months after it came out, thought "wtf?" after 3 minutes and have used it since maybe 4 times or so. No inroads at all with instagram, whatscrap and other data hogs.

Long story short, even though I'm your Type A 80ies computerkid who has never had less than 5 email accounts in the last 2 decades and who was on Fidonet back in the day posting every day, I see a significant difference between me and many many other people. Today *I* am the one who's more away from electronic media than the average - a thing quite unthinkable back in the 90ies. Even though I haven't changed my habits that much.

Facebook I consider particularly evil, as it is a funnel of constant superficial vanity-induced anti-social behaviour that, as far as I can tell, has a significant impact on the general social skills of people growing up with it. Facebook here being a synonym for anything "social" media these days. A fascinating look into someone from this social media native generation is Essena O'Neills account on why she quit her life as an instagram "professional". Yes, you can shake your head in disbelief about the naivity and the obviousness of what she finally realised, but don't forget: these are people who grew up with this - they never knew anyhting else - which makes her account ever more honest, poignant and impressive.

Conclusion:
I see the signs left, right and center: Social media has a significant negative impact on the general publics mental health. To put it in other words: FB is not a social network, it's basically a global mental illness.

My 2 cents.

--
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca

Re:Not just americans ... by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 08:07 · Score: 1

We're in the same operation. I'm IT, tend to distance myself from electronics, etc. Your story basically dead-on.
What I have to share with you is something I've shared before on here - a day at the mall and a shaking head, reaffirming my belief that this social media crap (especially the younger generation) is absolute garbage and creates a lack of social development.....
I went to the mall one day with a friend who uses FB, Twitter, all that shit, but doesn't impart any of it on me or even talk about it. That's cool of him to do. Anyhow, we're walking in the mall and see one of those center depressions where there is a semi-circle sofa with steps leading down to it for people to "relax" or something. Hell if I know what you call it. There are roughly 10 teens sitting on this semi-circle couch. Every single one of them has their head bent down and from a distance looks like they've lost consciousness. At a closer distance, they are all doing shit on their "who's got the coolest-style case" smartphones. I asked my buddy to stop for a minute for observation... This is what I saw:
Not a single one of them looked at another or talked to another. They were all using FaceBook mobile app. About twice a minute, you'd hear two of them snort (mini-low energy-laugh snort) as an indication there was some sort of mental trigger action going down. I'm assuming two would be looking at the same post or something on FB or laughing at the post of another. We stood there for over 10 minutes and eventually walked away because a head did not come up once. The same activity just continued, almost like something you'd expect in "The Real World in The Matrix Trilogy", but ya know, not encased or in liquid. Just stares at the phone, constant hand motions on the phone, occasional dual-snorting, maybe a leg twitch, and long periods of silence while finger-swiping. I told my buddy we needed to leave because this was getting to the point of scary from my generation X/Y crossover era development and observation. Bud agreed and we slowly walked away, still looking back to see if a head would raise or one of them would blow their nose or scratch an itch. Nothing. ...And that's all I got ta say about that.

In other news... by SoftwareArtist · 2017-02-23 12:42 · Score: 1

Tech reporting has gotten more negative than it used to be. I mean really, could you ask for a clearer example? We just elected a totally insane president who wants to build more nukes and denounces the press as the enemy of the people. So obviously we should blame social media for people being more stressed???

--
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."

Social media by RightwingNutjob · 2017-02-23 13:40 · Score: 1

IS a collective noun. If msmash worked a real job at a real publisher, he she or it would have been let go for stubborn refusal to conform to orthographic standards.

Re:Social media by freeze128 · 2017-02-23 19:15 · Score: 1

There are 3 types of cups: Larges, Medium, and Smalls."

Timely Oblig... by ginoledesma · 2017-02-23 16:43 · Score: 1

Phone - https://xkcd.com/1802/

Re:I cut off FB a month ago. It's been a good mont by freeze128 · 2017-02-23 19:12 · Score: 1

I never really understood the allure of heroin. My friends kept urging me... "You gotta try it" they would say. I finally caved in and bought some, but I just couldn't commit to injecting. With no real reward for my effort, I just deemed that it was a huge waste of my time, and disposed of what I had. I have been free and clear of it since, and I couldn't feel better.

FACEBOOK. I meant Facebook, not heroin.

Re:apparently also a decrease in using proper gram by freeze128 · 2017-02-23 19:14 · Score: 1

THANK YOU! That grammar mistake was DRIVING ME INSANE!

Well At Least its not Cats by tmjva · 2017-02-24 06:35 · Score: 1

Per the other story today.

--
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/
BT

Re:apparently also a decrease in using proper gram by Sumus+Semper+Una · 2017-02-24 07:28 · Score: 1

"Social media IS driving americans insane"

FFS!

"Media" is the plural form of "medium." I'll admit that the common vernacular has been to treat "media" as a singular noun, but if you use the "proper grammar" argument then "are" was the correct word for the headline to use.

Re:I cut off FB a month ago. It's been a good mont by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 07:26 · Score: 1

Damnit, you're giving me more reason to think about the (joking but probably would work) plan of getting FB cut off for 6 hours and seeing the horrible response and ultimate feeling of helplessness and inability to function that people would demonstrate. Make it 12 and we're getting near danger level. Leave it cut off for over 24 and it would be the ultimate equivalent of doomsday fear. The. World. Is. Ending.

I copyright this, so no one is allowed to go make a movie out of it. :)

Re:apparently also a decrease in using proper gram by poofmeisterp · 2017-02-27 07:29 · Score: 1

THANK YOU! That grammar mistake was DRIVING ME INSANE!

I hear ya. I can't stand spelling or grammar errors in anythings anymore.

*snort* I had to.

Slashdot Mirror

Social Media Are Driving Americans Insane (bloomberg.com)

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