"The Culture of Contempt" on social media

[LifeIn]

This recent talk by Bishop Barron has a lot to say about what goes on in all sorts of social media - Facebook, Twitter, chat rooms, and discussion forums.

 

[Whateverman]

I saw this video was 37+ minutes long, and honestly, almost decided to ignore it; the thread subject interested me, but listening to someone talk about it for the better part of an hour turned me off.

I'm typing this as I watch, which so far I'm only about 4 minutes into. He's already said some interesting stuff, things I can agree or otherwise sympathize with. I had good luck the last time I took a leap of faith and watched an introspective Christian video, so I'm giving this one a shot. I'll follow up with further comments in a bit...

 

[Whateverman]

I typed the following up as I watched the rest:

Three sections:
- what is the phenomenon?
- where does it come from?
- what do we do about it?

As for "Where it comes from", I agree that the anonymity of the internet fuels a lot of the negativity of online discussion. I've been saying for decades now that the internet is like rush-hour traffic on jet fuel; the anonymity of being hidden in a car makes some people act like complete jerks, if not outright dangerously. The internet is the same in this respect.

Not sure I agree with him about media consumers being manipulated. His examples include the addictive nature of online devices (aka. smart phones), social media algorithms throwing filtered content at a person, the need to find a scapegoat for issues you feel angry about, etc.

It's true that these things exist and are occurring. However, I don't think it's correct to label most of them "manipulation". Any moderately self-aware person can bypass or otherwise defang the addictive nature of the medium. For example, I personally dislike being fed ideas I agree with; this includes stuff that sells negative emotions, like anger or even sadness. I don't want to bathe in stuff that fails to challenge me. It's fun for short periods of time, sure, but I get tired of it quickly. This tends to throw off social media algorithms (re. Facebook, Youtube, etc) which direct things I've demonstrated an interest in at me.

I think he gives decent advice at the end of this. And like the other Christian videos I've watched and liked, he presents content that can apply just as much to people of other religions or no religion at all. Yes, some of that advice gets "Catholicky" near the end, but I don't find it particularly offensive or disagreeable.

Great video.

 

[Yakuda]

I typed the following up as I watched the rest:

Three sections:
- what is the phenomenon?
- where does it come from?
- what do we do about it?

As for "Where it comes from", I agree that the anonymity of the internet fuels a lot of the negativity of online discussion. I've been saying for decades now that the internet is like rush-hour traffic on jet fuel; the anonymity of being hidden in a car makes some people act like complete jerks, if not outright dangerously. The internet is the same in this respect.

Not sure I agree with him about media consumers being manipulated. His examples include the addictive nature of online devices (aka. smart phones), social media algorithms throwing filtered content at a person, the need to find a scapegoat for issues you feel angry about, etc.

It's true that these things exist and are occurring. However, I don't think it's correct to label most of them "manipulation". Any moderately self-aware person can bypass or otherwise defang the addictive nature of the medium. For example, I personally dislike being fed ideas I agree with; this includes stuff that sells negative emotions, like anger or even sadness. I don't want to bathe in stuff that fails to challenge me. It's fun for short periods of time, sure, but I get tired of it quickly. This tends to throw off social media algorithms (re. Facebook, Youtube, etc) which direct things I've demonstrated an interest in at me.

I think he gives decent advice at the end of this. And like the other Christian videos I've watched and liked, he presents content that can apply just as much to people of other religions or no religion at all. Yes, some of that advice gets "Catholicky" near the end, but I don't find it particularly offensive or disagreeable.

Great video.

Well thank God you do t find it offensive or disagreeable otherwise we'd have to take it down right?

 

[Whateverman]

This recent talk by Bishop Barron has a lot to say about what goes on in all sorts of social media - Facebook, Twitter, chat rooms, and discussion forums.

I apologize, but it was more than a little funny to me that your thread would attract the very (kind of) person the Bishop talked about.

 

[Furion]

This recent talk by Bishop Barron has a lot to say about what goes on in all sorts of social media - Facebook, Twitter, chat rooms, and discussion forums.

Ten minutes was all I could take.

The online aspect is new, but what men do is old, same old man, same old arrogance, same old irreverence.

People now have the ability to show others what is in their heart. It's not pretty eh?