Hello from the corner of my living room,
The calendar says Spring; it says it is time for our annual focus on college basketball, even for those who are not sports junkies. And for those with a connection to Iowa, as I both grew up there and attended the University of Iowa for part of my undergraduate degree, the phenomenon that is Iowa Women’s Basketball, even beyond the generational talent of #22, will provide an exciting week or two. However, back to my first sentence, it does not feel spring-like at all. Between snow flurries, nights in the 20s, and winds that seem to permeate even my warmest winter coat, there is an environmental madness that is not all that unusual for North Central Pennsylvania.
Things for the academic year are zooming along, both literally (not something I could once say) and figuratively, and the reality of 6 weeks left is going to register for most very soon. I need to get a couple of very productive days in this week to keep the remainder of the semester manageable. Some of that is dependent on others, and that can complicate matters, but this is where I need to remember what I have control of and what I don’t. There will be group and individual meets this week if the remainder of the semester is to be successful (and I do believe student success is necessary if I am to feel successful). Even then I only have so much I can do. I’ve been reminded of that again in a couple specific cases this semester.
Pushing (while attempting to support) students to reach or stretch beyond what they normally do is the epitome of the double-edged sword. First, because each instance is unique. This is both because of the student, but also because of what is going on in their semester. This semester, both because of the asynchronous online aspect as well as the teach-out requirements, I have, for all practical purposes 14 independent studies, which involve about 35 students. There are 6 groups in a 300 level course and 8 (which are a combination of groups and individuals) in a 400 level course. It is both exciting to see what they do as well as daunting to manage (and not micro-manage) all of it. The next 10 days will be significant, and I need to do some serious work today to support them.
Returning to the uncooperative weather aspect of my initial comments, my furnace, which has been problematic more than once before, is no more cooperative than the weather. However, fortunately people have been kind and attentive in trying to manage it. Today it is 60 and while the sun was out earlier, it is overcast now. I did get some things, which have been on the to-do this for some time, accomplished today, and I have to say I was surprised when Apple actually did some work on my 6 year-old MacBook Pro gratis. Yay!!
One of the things I struggle to understand is how differently the world seems to be daily, the profound and unexpected changes compared to what I remember when I was the age of my current students. It is really not that different, but rather we are simply more instantaneously notified or aware? It is that people, and not just here in the States but globally, are honestly less tolerant of the other? It is that I simply see things from a very different perspective because of age, travel, or my own changing views? Whatever the case, there seems to be a great deal more unexpected, unpredictable, and even unavoidable. However, this madness is not limited to just the month of March. Even in the past three weeks since I began to consider this blog, I am continually astounded by what has become commonplace in terms of dialogue (or lack thereof), in terms of appropriateness (again, or lack thereof) in terms of the give-and-take between individuals from our national conversations from the halls of Congress to the halls of my own building here on campus, and then even in the courtrooms of our country. And I do see a link between what happens on social media, while not being against its usage, and how we seem to believe what we can say there without repercussion has now permeated all aspects of our communal interaction. Professors John Jones and Michael Trice, of the Ohio State University, note that while social media provided a “voice to the voiceless,” it has increasingly become a platform for “disruptive voices, messages, or ideologies” (Social Media Effects: 27Feb2020). Certainly, the need for those who have another voice need to be heard, and that is part of our first amendment protections, but what are the limits, and how is such a limit decided? But certainly without a thoughtful, reasonable dialog, there is a consequence for democracy, and I believe that is clearly evident in what is happening in our country (and beyond).
As a further consequence, I believe we have developed a suspicion that affects all generations, but the support of that suspicion varies by age group. While I am perhaps more idealistic than I should be, I believe that the initial intention of most social media is to develop networks of increased communication, of creating meaningful connections between families, colleagues, or other social groups, when platforms are hijacked for more nefarious purposes, the intention of creating connections across groups, generations, ethnicities, or geographies is lost. The focus changes and the platform becomes villainized. I believe what has happened to X, formerly Twitter, is a strong example of this. I find it hard to believe that Elon Musk can still believe his takeover of Twitter has helped him. Certainly, when you see the volume of information that is shared through social media platforms, there is little doubt there is a democratizing effective, but there is also no avoiding the lack of civility that seems to envelop daily discourse from every corner. The ability of Mr. Musk to decide who can stay or be removed from his platform demonstrates the incredible power that one person has on public discourse, and that should raise incredible concern.
In some of my recent reading, which is looking both at the consequence of social media on public discourse as well as considering what AI might contribute to this rapidly changing world, I came across the term “slacktivism.” What is it? It is an ability to believe you are making a difference with little honest social interaction or intent to interact. This concept is not surprising to me, as I have considered with some alarm the lack of critical thought or analysis I encounter on a daily basis. I have referred to it as “sound-byte” intellectualism. Much of what I read or hear too often is someone arguing something with little or no support for their contention. Because they heard it somewhere, because they read a headline somewhere, they believe it with no thought or analysis, and then it is shared post-haste. Again, the consequence is not always immediately apparent, but the siloing of opposing positions or opinions only becomes more profound.
I do not feel badly for the Zuckerbergs, the Musks, the Spiegels, or the Chews (and if you do not know a couple of the names, you should) because they use their users for their own profit. Let’s be honest about that. When Facebook was created, it was marketed as a social network, but it was not long afterwards that the term network was changed to utility. While many perhaps did not see that change, I remember speaking about it to my students. What this change in terminology was did was telegraph to the user, generally unbeknownst to most was in the way Facebook both believed their mission and marketing had evolved. Think about it. Utilities (remember Waterworks and Electric Company cards in Monopoly?) are something you need to manage your life. Without utilities, we would not have life as we know it. To claim the title of utility, you are positing that you are something people cannot do without. There is a certain madness in that claim, except we allowed it to happen. We bought into it to the tune of making Zuckerberg worth 171 Billion dollars as of March 2024 (Forbes). Meta as a company is worth 1.24 Trillion dollars as of the same time (Forbes). Now there is both an incredible example of creating wealth, and a complete madness of our complete buy-in to what social media does. When I ask my students where they get their news, almost without exception, it is from social media platforms.
Certainly the ability of apps and our phones to give us instant access to anything anywhere has its perks, but also its consequence. How critically do we read? How carefully do we reflect on not only what we read, but from where it comes? Much like what is happening with our turn to AI, a mentor of mine, with whom I am still fortunate to be in touch, and I have had discussions about the importance of AI. She notes that our use of Artificial Intelligence is only as strong as how critical our questions posed are. And she is correct. We need to learn how to use it, and if we are to harness the democratic ideals of social platforms we need to learn how to use them appropriately. Certainly, Congress has had tough questions for the CEOs, but too often their questions come from their own political bias versus what might be done to make sure the companies do the responsible thing. When I consider the power of media, that is nothing new. Certainly as early as the French Revolution, when the term the Fourth Estate became commonplace, there was recognition of the power. The principles of “liberty”, “equality” and “fraternity” which were written into the constitution in the 20th century were first used in the 17th century. One might argue that these terms were intended with the rise of social media. but perhaps much like the French did in their revolution, we have lost our way. As I finish my last weeks as a person in the classroom on a regular basis, I find myself reflecting on where we are headed. I am concerned about the sort of madness present in every direction. Certainly, we have access to more information that ever before, and I think AI will only create a more seismic explosion of that, but at what cost? As I tell my students, I am not against AI, and I believe it has incredible possibilities and provides outstanding opportunities for good. However, it what we have done with social media is any indication of where we are going, I am concerned. Our government is seldom ahead of the curve on anything, and therefore reactionary. The average person spends little time considering the consequences of what our technology does, we jump on the latest bandwagon, clicking on our acceptance of the terms without even a thought about what we have accepted. On one level, it is simply us doing what we have always done, on the other hand, perhaps we are all mad. I remember the first time I saw this video, I was astounded. I called it Little Red Riding Hood meets Care Bears. Now there is madness.
Thanks as always for reading.
Dr. Martin
thewritingprofessor55 
Dr Martin,
I appreciate your thoughts and perspectives shared in this post. I can definitely relate to the overwhelmed feeling of the world being completely different every day. It can be daunting not knowing what to expect, or what comes next in one’s everyday life. It is especially difficult to go into each day with a fresh and unique perspective, especially when the people making the big decisions in our world do not and tend to stick to their old ways. I hope that with time, younger generations will encourage older leaders to have more of an open mind, and impact the world in a positive way, instead of keeping things the same. I also agree with the idea of generational suspicion. I struggle with this, and find it difficult at times to believe the best and expect the best of certain situations. This can be difficult when viewing political leaders or people on social media, and not knowing their true stance or opinion. Overall, this blog brought up great points to consider and I think readers can truly benefit from it.
Dr. Martin,
The calandar does indeed say it is spring, but it feels like we are going on our fourth winter. March might be madness for some, but it feels like April is the month of chaos for me. We are now a quarter of the way through a new year, and that is surprising to me; it feels like we just started and yet it has been so long. You make some great points in your blog post from time flying by to how things have changed with technology. Reading the blog made me sit back and ponder for a while.
It seems as if the end of the semester is so close, yet also so far away. There is so much that needs to be done, from group projects to final papers, and just finishing out the last chapters of the courses. On top of that April is a busy month for me personally with having an extra weekend for work (Block Party) and having the PI this month.
I think our world especially here in the United States is an aware of what is happening or does not care about it. I think that global affairs have become a topic that if it does not directly involve the group of people, they do not want to deal with it. We have so much information given to us daily, and we don’t know how to sort it out. We are more connected, yet do not utilizes the connections to benefit from them.
I think that people are afraid to start conversations, as they are unsure how others will react and if they will respond in the “correct” way. We are unaware of how we can use the resources we have to create a better conversation, as we have let technology take over doing that. We constantly have information being provided to us, and we do not have time to process it all, let alone have a conversation about it.
The music video is a good example of how our world is with technology. We go and we think we have the best thing, until we find out we do not and then get the best thing. Once that thing is no longer the best it becomes nothing for us. We use the information we get from social media and the filter it has to cloud our view on the world. We need to be careful how we proceed because at some point it will not happen and how will we respond.
-Morgan
Hi Dr. Martin,
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree that it has yet to feel like spring and it is not uncommon for Pennsylvania weather to be a bit bipolar. As a student, I feel this academic year has been flying by very quickly. It is hard to believe there is only five week of classes left for this semester. I appreciate all the work you have put into helping your students improve our skills and expand our knowledge.
-Cassidy
Dr. Martin,
I find your perspective on social media quite interesting. I spent a very long time avoiding social media, but as consequence I was constantly missing out on information. I feel that so many social media apps have started to copy each other, that they feel like different versions of the same app. I find it so interesting that as people push and bring awareness to tolerance and acceptance of people, it seems that people push back just as hard to not be tolerant. This goes in so many different directions, too. I have had arguments with people because they could not fathom that they could behave the way they advocated against.
People do not fact-check their information very frequently and will share things in a heartbeat on social media. I have ended up reading comments sections of people having a strong opinion on something, but instead of doing their research to make a meaningful comment, they just spew rage into the comments. It feels so weird and foreign to me, since I always try to have information before making an opinion (especially a strong one) on a situation.
The rise of AI is for sure a complex topic. I don’t think it is going away by any means, and part of our world is going to be getting used to how to use it – and using it effectively. In the art world, there is a battle of real person artists and AI art/artists. Usually, the battle is of copyright infringement, as AI is fed artwork online, and rarely is copyright taken into consideration. Websites (such as DeviantArt) have even gone through updates to give permission to use uploaded pieces for AI. The user has to then manually turn off that setting. However, AI can be used positively for an artist. It can be used as a starting point, to create a layout or get an idea on paper before refining it. However, AI should be disclosed when used, as it is a resource.
You mention our government is reactionary, and I feel the same. Recently, as of March 13, 2024, the European Union passed an act regulating AI (Link to an article describing the act). The part that really jumped out to me was the rules about Transparency – any artificial or manipulated image, audio, or video content (“deepfakes”) must be clearly disclosed as such. This is a huge movement to me, since so many people have been hurt or are in danger because of deepfakes. I went to a talk at the Deaf Expo in Harrisburg last October where a man in United States Cybersecurity talked about how AI is becoming incredibly dangerous. I wish our government was focusing on these potential dangers and addressing them.
Dr. Martin,
There are so many important points you mentioned in your post. In the very beginning, you mentioned that this semester is quickly coming to a close, whether students realize it or not. Looking at my calendar for April, I have so much work and events to do, it’s ridiculous. It feels like I don’t have enough hours in the day to do everything that I need to do, let alone what I want to do. From work and classes to homework and projects, there is not enough time for all of it. I felt like this semester was a lot more work and stress than last year. I remember last spring, sitting out and reading on the quad because it was warm (another difference from this semester) and being able to take nice walks around campus.
It is also hard to believe that I am almost halfway through my college career. It feels like only yesterday I was unpacking things in my freshman dorm. This time next year I have to be thinking about and planning my practicum for my senior year spring. It is hard to fathom. In two years I’ll be getting ready for graduation. Then after that, I’m out in the “real world”. It’s hard to believe any of it.
Dr. Martin,
Constantantly waking up to rain or flurries, the weather in Bloomsburg always seems to be windy or rainy but, always cold. In the first paragraph of your blog, you add “… winds that seem to permeate even my warmest winter coat,” it seems that no matter how big your coat is or how much you prepare for the cold you will always feel cold. It feels unusual to have such few sunny days and it is already April. With March passing the NCAA college basketball games are getting increasingly fun to watch. Watching the Iowa Womens College Basketball team compete against LSU Women’s team was exciting. It was amazing to see how good of a three-point shooter Caitlyn Clark is, she is as you describe a “generational talent.”
You mention many good points in your blog post including “Someone arguing something … because they heard it somewhere, because they read a headline somewhere, they believe it with no thought or analysis.” As you said later in your blog, we should ask: How critically do we read? How carefully do we reflect on not only what we read, but where it comes from? With people looking to push information on social media we need to be critical in what information we retain from social media apps.
Sean Leland
Dr. Martin,
This semester has flown by as I have been unbelievably busy. I feel as though I have finally stretched myself just a little bit too thin as I have been continually burnt out throughout the semester. The weather has been anything but helpful in the painful task of boosting my mood. There is a good day and then the next 5 days are gray and rainy and just generally sad. I remember freshman year thinking my ASLPI (ASL Proficient interview) was ages away and just today I took it and passed that milestone. It is crazy just how quickly time flies and hopefully two years from now I will be out in the world and on to bigger and better things. For now, I am just trying to take it day by day and keep moving forward. There is no time like the present.
I appreciate your perspective of the ever growing bounds of social media and technology. Personally, I have never been a fan of extensive social media use. I think it is great if used as a tool for communication and social networking, but for those that spend every waking moment online just for small bits of gratification puzzle me. There have been times I have fallen victim to comparisons of myself with those I see online as I am sure many others have. In my experience all of those times infected my mind like poison. As for AI I have a lot of feelings regarding chat gpt and different platforms that utilize AI as I fear it may become more popular than actual human expression in various art forms. On the other hand, I do think if humanity can find a way to use it as a tool and not rely on it, AI may some day be as useful as a calculator.
Thank you for your insight!
Dr. Martin,
The calendar certainly does say spring, and, at the time of this comment, it is starting to seem like it, day by day. Here at the Mansfield campus, it has rained almost everyday this week. While the rain is definitely an improvement to snow, it sucks to have a wet backpack when I get to class (I need to invest in an umbrella). While on the topic of spring, it has always been the case for me that the spring semester seems to fly by. Perhaps it is because I am more conditioned to school when I come back from winter break rather than summer break, making it easier to get back into the flow of things. But also, with the spring semester, I find myself unmotivated due to the prospect and longing for summer break.
On the topic of people and the things they say, online and in real life, I find that people are very opinionated and always feel the need to share their opinion. While everyone has their own opinions, sometimes it is not necessary to voice them. The internet, with the ability to post opinions without percussions, has, unfortunately, reinforced this. There, of course, is a line to when it is important to share opinions and when not to, but maybe this only exists when I don’t agree with someone’s opinion and when they decided to share it; however, this is probably the case with things regarding freedom of speech. This is also why no one should have a say on what people can and cannot say, as nobody could possibly be perfectly impartial to decide where to draw the line for freedom of speech, obviously except for the speech that incites violence, verbally assaults, or incites wrongful panic.
While I may find certain things people say annoying and wrong, others may not, sometimes it is good to see and hear opinions that I do not agree with, and this goes for everyone. I remember from an Intro to Philosophy class I took my first semester of college that an argument for freedom of speech is that we need the opinions of others to check the “correctness” of our own opinions. In essence, we need the opinions of Neo-Nazis, or other groups of the same liking, to know that we should not share their opinions. I think social media, despite allowing people access to countless opinions, breaks this. For example, TikTok has their algorithms to find content that is relevant to you, to display on the “For You” page. When this is applied to political opinions and to the “leftness” or “rightness” of ideas, people are only shown content that displays the opinions of what TikTok’s algorithm determines a person agrees with, causing them to go down a “rabbit hole” of opinions relating to only that side of the spectrum. How can you know where you actually stand if you are only shown the ideas of the left or the right? This is also something that applies to conspiracy theories. From personal experience, it seems that if I give the slightest attention to a conspiracy theory video on TikTok my “For You” page floods with conspiracy theories of the same topic.
I agree with your observation of people jumping on technology bandwagons. When AI started to blow up over the past year, I noticed a lot of students using them in my programming classes. I am not one of the students that hopped on the bandwagon and, to be honest, I thought it was dumb. I felt that using the AI to code for me, even a single line, hindered my learning, as I was not the one doing the coding and, hence, was not learning the language. I have started to use it a little more now. I use it when I am stuck on my Abstract Algebra class, which is very theoretical math, and, as of right now, the AI cannot handle it. Most of the responses to the prompts are wrong; however, pointing out its mistakes often allows me to become unstuck and learn. So, for now, I use it as something to bounce my ideas off of.
Dr. Martin,
March Madness indeed! That is certainly how things are feeling as we enter the latter end of the semester. I know you’re incredibly busy and so am I, things have been hectic and I’m trying and struggling to stay afloat. But you know me, I just can’t give up on things.
Your mention of the principles of “liberty”, “equality” and “fraternity” got me thinking about the principles of “life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness” as mentioned in our Declaration. Lately, these concepts and the American dream have begun to feel like a farce to me, frankly, and I believe we have “lost our way.” I’ve talked about this with a few people and I’m still turning the idea over in my mind, like a roast.
The idea that Americans are free to “pursue happiness” feels like a joke to me, because I personally know so many who struggle needlessly with the most basic of survival needs. And how on earth can anyone be “free” to pursue happiness when he is enslaved to his work for the purposes of survival? We may somewhat subvert this by choosing jobs that we love, and yet if they don’t enable our survival then we’re really stuck. I know people who are only financially secure today because they abandoned their house, people who stay living with a loveless partner because they can’t afford moving out, people whose house was put up for sale without their knowledge, because they had to miss one too many mortgage payments. The government bails out billion-dollar banks who then offer no mercy and no grace to their own struggling customers. What sort of liberty is this? Where millions and billions go to funding other people’s wars, while we struggle to pay for our own healthcare? It’s insanity, how far we are from the reality of making our own happiness. We are so utterly complacent in our own misery that it hinders us from holding this government accountable to its most basic expressed values.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, as always!
Hannah S
The author talks about the weather during the spring where he is. He talks about how his furnace is giving him problems. He discusses his classes he is managing, how he is excited but managing them can be a hard task sometimes. Our world keeps shifting and none of us are ready for it which makes people less understanding with each other and its not just in March. These social medias have given people who wouldn’t have a voice a platform but he can allows other with not so great ideas also a platform. He also talks about how he read an article and learn a new term called slacktivism which means to believe that you are doing something good but with little actual work put in and how he has seen it in real life. The then discusses how Facebook was originally a network but was changed. They then talk about how apps are beneficial but it has its problems. He discussed how we don’t read what is actually there, and how AI is only as good as we make it but we need to learn how to use it for good. He is concerned at where the world is going and how we just accept conditions without actually reading them and how maybe everyone is just crazy and we have accepted that.
The purpose is how he is worried about how things keep changing and not for the better. There are many things that are getting better but many things that are getting worse and worse. He shares how he feels about all of it and hopes that someone else feels like that.
I think that this addressed anyone who might feel like they are crazy for their views that technology may not be great in the long run and how it is affecting us in different ways. Those ways may or may not be good. I’ll be honest i kinda feel the same as I have seen it first hand. I have younger cousins and see how technology has affected them makes me very scared. They had ipads basically from the time they could walk and now with their school the are given laptops in elementary school. They are shown TV that is marketed for children but in reality it is something that their age should be watching. These technologies have taken over their lives and they have become “Ipad Kids”. “Ipad Kids” absolutely terrify me because of how they were raised. The ipad is the only interaction they have and the parents don’t actually raise the child which makes me angry. I know that if I have children I will not be giving them any kind of technology until they are much older like how I was raised. They don’t need to know about our changing world, good or bad, until they are much older at a level they can understand.
In regards to your mention of social media, I think the large change happened with the rise of the everything-machine we have in our pockets. Social media, if only viewable on a computer, on wifi, with pictures that we took earlier in the day or week, would be a lot tamer I think. This is for a variety of reasons. If we can view it anywhere at anytime of day, the demand for content is greatly increased, and our getting used to, which many would call an addiction, grows. On the other hand, if we view it only on a computer lets say, we would be much more mindful, viewing our friends and family, but maybe not as much junk like trends, garbage politics, and conspiracies. On the flip side of this we consider that with the ability to check all forms of media any time and any where, we also have the ability to produce that content any time, anywhere. With a camera with infinite memory, any cell service as common as the air, we can never leave this tether, and we get pulled in all the deeper and for longer.
To take a look at your comments on lack of critical thinking, I’d like to comment on one of the most glaring occurrences of this. Essentially every human in America today takes this situation as given. The social media, the iphone, etc. Nobody notices that there is a stop, a stop that makes one sound crazy for suggesting it. We can delete social media, we can delete these media. Refuse to buy into the story they tell. Moreover, we can refuse the smartphone as a constant. We can leave it at home, or buy a flip phone for less than one iphone screen repair.
I’ve had a flip phone for about a month and a half (though cheating by using an iphone every now and then) and it makes me realize that reality is no longer the default. Until about 10 seconds ago in human history reality was the default, every where, every day. This is no longer the case, and I worry about it.
Dr. Martin,
I agree that it doesn’t feel like spring at all. I feel like last year around this time it was much warmer.
I also do think that changes happen more frequently because of the internet and our ability to quickly spread information. Because we can spread it so quickly we are more likely to spread misinformation first, and then have to revert our information the next day. I believe social media has a bigger role now in politics than national news corporations nowadays. And social media will only become more influential when younger generations become older.
Grace D’Agostino
Dr. Martin,
After reading your blog, it helped me understand myself better. Like you said in this blog, pushing a student to do their best and achieve the most is a double sworded edge. It is hard for me to push myself because I rather do what is expected or just what is due for assignments and classes.
After being an ASL major, I had to go out of my comfort zone and do more than classes. I had to sign all the time. I had to attend Deaf events and sign with Deaf people which can be very frightening and it can be very difficult. I had trouble with this because it is a double sworded edge, either I stay comfortable and do what is needed and nothing more or I achieve the best and get out of my comfort zone in order to succeed. I chose to step out to succeed better!
_ Anna Tekeyan
Dr. Martin,
I agree with all of the things you have mentioned within this post. Even myself, who has grown up in a generation surrounded by technology and social media, is beginning to develop concern as to where things are heading now, and will continue to in the near future. If I am to be honest, AI scares me. Moreover, sometimes I feel as if I cannot even comprehend how or what it is capable of doing. Despite its benefits, I try to shy away from it. The increasing reliance of technology over recent years concerns me, and I feel as though we are not required to utilize our own personal intelligence anymore because technology just does everything for us. It is shocking to me regarding how much has changed and developed over the recent years, and I cannot even begin to imagine what is to come. Despite how cool technology can be, sometimes I wonder when it will get pushed just a little too far to where the effects are detrimental and potentially dangerous. Although I am sometimes a little worried, only time will truly tell. As always, I enjoy reading your posts as they allow me to contemplate numerous things myself.
Thank you,
Savannah Bortner
Dr. Martin,
I agree this weather here is making it not feel like spring at all. The school year is also flying by and making me a bit overwhelmed if I do say so myself. I feel as if I have so much to do in such a little amount of time. I grew up here in PA and the weather is always a bit back and forth like this it stinks because I want the sun out at all times, I’m ready for summer. I agree with what you said about pushing students to do there best but sometimes its hared because you just want to get the work done. I know this is hard to say but at some points I’d rather get the work don’t and submitted then doing it super prefect. Having the time to get it all done feels impossible. It will all work out in the end and we are almost finished, a few more weeks then summer time!
Dr. Martin,
I agree very much with your take on social media. To add to what you were talking about though one of the biggest issues is not necessarily people reading critically. A large issue with social media is people using it to prove or further their partisan views. Social media has become a huge outlet for political propaganda. Through outlets like X, Instagram, and TikTok people use very clickbait titles and intros to capture the attention of users and get them to listen to or read their cause. As a result, the divide in our nation has only grown larger. That is because of these political posts, which oftentimes speak more opinions or mud-slinging rather than facts that reflect what is happening in the nation. As a result, there is more distrust and hate in our nation than anything else, people seem to nowadays align themselves more with their political party as opposed to the nation they are citizens of.
It is also unfortunate that those who control these social media platforms do not do more to stop the spread of false or hateful information. Instead, these posts get the most views which sparks more comments as arguments commence in the comments and more posts get made to refute or back the original. It truly is a shame because for all the bad that social media has there is a lot of good that can come from it as well, it just needs to be used more appropriately.
As always I enjoyed reading and responding to you blog.
-Tenneson Scott