Is social media good for humanity, or bad? The answer is: neither!
Since the invention of Writing several thousand years ago, nascent communication technologies have consistently resulted in social upheaval. For as long as it has taken humanity to become accustomed to each such invention, they have been interpreted with the utmost of suspicions. But in each case we as a people have eventually become acclimated to them.
A good example is the printing press. No one thinks twice about picking up a newspaper and reading its headlines. No one thinks newspapers are neat or edgy. And no one views newspapers as being inherently immoral or deleterious to society.
And yet, for thousands of years there were no such things as newspapers. And when human civilization was finally introduced to them, they were viewed with resentment by many, and blamed for a myriad of society's ills.
Such is the story for most other such social advancements throughout history: The telegraph, photography, radio, the telephone, television, and most recently, the Internet. All were greeted by a hesitant world, and endured years if not decades of mistrust, but were eventually accepted, and today are common place.
Social Media is no different. We are still measuring its influence, and understanding its power. And to us it appears intimidating, if not frightening, as we explore both its abilities and its applications.
But generations to come will in all likelihood accept it as normal, and will see it in the same way that we now see history's other inventions: as a tool, whether for good or for ill, but without any inherent moral implications of its own.
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