Topic 8:
Social media is pointless
Social media provides little more than an ability to either look at what "friends" or even real friends think about some pointless bit of cultural flotsam that happens to be the current cultural meme.Or as a means of expressing ones-self in an egotistical fashion to explain how either fantastic, trendy, or otherwise superior they are to anyone else who might (or might not) be interested. I have no doubt that scientists, technologists and a few other gists find the ability to share comments, information and “data” in real time very useful, but to the rest of society it seems rather pointless. Information technology gives humanity the ability to share vital information, it allows people to reconnect through separation and tragedy, but social media, as it currently exists is full of pointless marketing and mundane chatter. We also have a generation who are now defining themselves through how many “friends” they have, or if they are “trending” and who are also experiencing the trauma of bullying, not to mention the continued exploitation and subjugation of women with the trend for teenage girls to post inappropriate images of themselves on social networking sites. Social media is yet another expression of a consumerists society who’s values are shallow, exploitative and vain.