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I get the opposite reaction. I talk to people I'd never talk to otherwise. It doesn't hurt that I unfriend people I don't like talking to that much. The problem is that Facebook is a constant communication. When you interact with people after talking to them on Facebook, there's less to talk about, because it's already been said. If you consider Facebook to be a part of interaction, as I do, the net conversation swells; if not, it shrinks. > I'm actually convinced that this global obsession with social networks could lead to more wars than peace -- the current generation of Internet trolls seem like a mere precursor of what's to come. People really take this virtual shit seriously -- doesn't that seem just the slightest bit scary, when coupled with natural youthful aggression? Yes and no. The good thing about the Internet is that to take it seriously, you have to make the choice yourself. It's not like a war, in which nationalism can sweep a lot of good people into doing bad things. Rather, it's a bunch of smaller, decentralized, isolated incidents, and I like that. The more isolationist (not isolated) the world is, the healthier it is. If a thousand nutjobs kill a thousand people over Internet bullshit, that's a lot healthier than that thousand nutjobs congregating over political/religious/economic bullshit and attempting to kill a lot more. There'll be more incidents, in other words, but each one will be vastly less harmful. |