Did everything used to be as extremist, hyperbolic and toxic?

MySocalledLoaf · 04/04/2021 11:34

24 hour news and social media existing is changing how we interact. In some cases for the better, in some for the worse.

justanotherneighinparadise · 04/04/2021 11:43

I’m going to assume people thought it but didn’t say it. Now they write it 😬

mustlovegin · 04/04/2021 11:45

YANBU OP

And no, it didn't use to be like this at all (I'm I thinking 5 years ago, not 20)

Original poster

ATieLikeRichardGere · 04/04/2021 11:52

Maybe the pandemic is making it worse because we’ve stopped interacting face to face.

OP posts:

ArmchairTraveller · 04/04/2021 11:55

No it didn’t.
But now there’s a vast audience, anonymity and 24/7/366 access.
I can’t see the situation improving either.

georgarina · 04/04/2021 11:59

The bad behaviour was there but the outrage wasn't.

Culture was extremely toxic but no one complained, or if they did they weren't taken seriously. Also no one talked about mental health or other problems, they were all hidden away.

It can definitely get taken too far and definitely sick of the woke brigade but on the whole it's just challenging the status quo.

LunaNorth · 04/04/2021 12:01

2016 was the tipping point for me. Things seem demonstrably worse since then.

Sexnotgender · 04/04/2021 12:02

No, it’s utterly toxic now. Cancel culture etc. Vile.

itsgettingwierd · 04/04/2021 12:03

I do t think MSM and SM represent the general population.

I have a wide range of friends and colleagues with views at either end of the spectrum. But 95% are pretty in the middle.

What we see though is the extremes of both ends in print over various platforms and people often mistake that for a voice for the millions.

I also feel that sometimes people feel they have to join one of those voices to 'be someone'.

I'm all for being woke but it's going far to far into the extreme now.

GoLightlyontheEarth · 04/04/2021 12:04

It started before Brexit and just got worse and worse. I find it frightening. A family meme et has become really very aggressive and unpleasant with me. Everything is political and there is always an agenda . It’s exhausting.

GoLightlyontheEarth · 04/04/2021 12:04

Member

AcornAutumn · 04/04/2021 12:07

I hear you OP

I was hoping all this would go away

To quote the 1975 from a single issued in 2018

"And we can find out the information
Access all the applications
That are hardening positions based on miscommunication"

I don't think MSM are any better.

I particularly resent the globalisation of issues. North London, North Carolina and Northern Tibet aren't all the same place.

AcornAutumn · 04/04/2021 12:08

@GoLightlyontheEarth

It started before Brexit and just got worse and worse. I find it frightening. A family meme et has become really very aggressive and unpleasant with me. Everything is political and there is always an agenda . It’s exhausting.

I don't discuss politics with anyone who can't keep calm or listen to another POV.

Tbh I try not to discuss it at all.

mustlovegin · 04/04/2021 12:16

I think those who are not in favour of these latest trends need to be more vocal and influential in MSM and SM (through ownership, governance, etc).

Perhaps they have no time as they are busy doing real work/jobs rather than parasiting. But they need to make an effort.

AcornAutumn · 04/04/2021 12:26

@mustlovegin

I think those who are not in favour of these latest trends need to be more vocal and influential in MSM and SM (through ownership, governance, etc).

Perhaps they have no time as they are busy doing real work/jobs rather than parasiting. But they need to make an effort.

I think a lot of us don't use it. MN is my only social media now really.

A 20 something recently told me many people don't mean what they post. I was upset by all the hate directed at lanyard wearers and he was trying to reassure me that I was unlikely to get attacked on the Tube.

I've got 50 year old colleagues who posted #WearADamnMask and they were stupid enough to mean it. I had to explain to them I felt threatened getting on the Tube to work.

I think the best option is to reject it. Sadly I run the work Twitter. You can really see what people are like from the Trends.

A mass rejection of Twitter and Facebook would help, or at least don't use it use it for news or discussing politics.

I am low media, minimal MSM. don't click on any shit. If you need to know something - and often you don't need to know - go to the source.

LucilleTheVampireBat · 04/04/2021 12:30

It's social media that's to blame in my opinion.

I also think we have a generation of kids who have never been told no and are now loud, entitled, think they are right about everything!

Potpourriandpennysweets · 04/04/2021 12:31

Social media is encouraging people to become more and more polarised. It's like the opposite of normal socialisation, which makes people soften their views and become more centrist. It's like the magnets are going the other way. Why try to conform to social norms when you can find a group in which social extremes are accepted?

Steptoeshorse1965 · 04/04/2021 12:34

@ATieLikeRichardGere

Maybe I’ve got false nostalgia for a time that never existed, but it feels to me like narratives in public discourse are incredibly extreme and toxic these days. When I open up the news or social media it seems like everyone is constantly fuming and insulting one another, with a substantial dose of mutual cancellation and usually accompanied by advocating some extreme ideologies. Am I imagining this? What’s happening?

I don't think the nostalgia was false, there has never been a time when folks get so worked up about things, not always the things they should either, as there is now. So many different things, the expectation and instant gratification culture of today is much to blame. People have swapped values for material and financial gain, the young seem to think everything is theirs by right, and any form of hardship or time spent in acquisition, is wrong and unfair. People are drip fed "Lifestyle" From all angles, like some kind of religion, constantly being reminded about "Status" Or lack of assumed S. Such a lot of vexed and unhappy people today it seems, but most just don't know how well off they are.

AcornAutumn · 04/04/2021 12:43

Steptoe worked about nothing IMHO.

Most "news" isn't news, it's much ado.

Pumperthepumper · 04/04/2021 12:47

I think there’s a real push to pick a side these days, and to defend it to the death. I think it’s a result of social media in that everyone hears of every single transgression and is fuelled by other people being able to easily air their opinion of it. So a few years ago you probably wouldn’t have known about author’s feelings towards trans people, for example, because why would you?

I’m only using this as an example because one of the Woman’s Prize shortlisted authors has been given a lot of grief for signing a letter in support of JK Rowling, and it just seems so over the top.

SinisterBumFacedCat · 04/04/2021 12:49

@LucilleTheVampireBat

It's social media that's to blame in my opinion.

I also think we have a generation of kids who have never been told no and are now loud, entitled, think they are right about everything!

Tbf EVERY younger generation gets told that. My generation were always being put down by older generations. I now see my generation sharing ageist posts on Facebook and I wonder why they forgot what it is like to be on the receiving end of it.

I personally believe most people are fairly moderate but there are now very vocal minorities with extreme views who have a much larger range and are able to reach millions rather than in the 90’s they would have been ranting in the pub and mainly ignored. People who wouldn’t normally get dragged into it now do and maybe find a community and get a sense of belonging.

Social media and 24 hour news have put people in a constant state of alert. It’s not natural or healthy. I’m not saying social media isn’t a positive force for many, but a lot of humans aren’t ready for it.

AndreaMarteau · 04/04/2021 12:56

I agree OP. I blame social media. Everyone has opinion and whatever that opinion is, they're in the right and they now have a platform and they're going to use it. They have a 'you're either with us or against' mentality and it's not a right or left issue because both sides are as bad as each other. There's no nuance either.

I also agree it's got much, much worse lately, probably because most people are stuck inside so this is the only thing to focus on.

BothLeftAndRightAreDelusional · 04/04/2021 13:10

Anyone rigidly arguing their side without considering (and never accepting) different options, ideas and argument is as bad as the other. There's always been a divide but it's more visible now due to social media/internet access.

PerspicaciousGreen · 04/04/2021 13:16

People have always been like this, it's just that now anyone can post anything for free on a worldwide forum instantly and anyone else can read it and post their opinion on it.

Before, you'd have to physically turn up at the WI coffee morning to hear everyone talking shit about each other and giving their nonsense opinions on stuff they know nothing about.

Look up Victorian murder reporting - the sensationalist tabloid made up crap of their day.

Human beings don't change.

lanbro · 04/04/2021 13:23

I think it's steadily got worse in recent years with the last 12 months being awful...people have had nothing much to do but sit on their phone. They seem to forget real people are behind a profile and say things they wouldn't dream of saying in real life. They like to jump on bandwagons but then promptly forget what they were preaching and do the opposite. It's disgusting, toxic and I've unfriended many in the last 12 months