I was there at the birth of the interwebs, also a very early adopter. Still, I never considered it to be a force multiplier for stupidity in the way things worked out. I went the other way, believing that it would harness humanity’s genius.
It also puts everyone on a level platform. A doctor that has been practicing for 20 years speaking about medical issues is placed right next to Joe Bob that keeps getting fired from every gas station in town, who also has his own thoughts on medical issues.
It’s both, really. It amplifies everything, both good and bad. There are a lot of amazing things that have come about because of the Internet, as well as a lot of awful shit. It’s easy to overlook the good stuff and only see the shit.
I was there at the birth of the interwebs, also a very early adopter. Still, I never considered it to be a force multiplier for stupidity in the way things worked out. I went the other way, believing that it would harness humanity’s genius.
I tend to be wrong a lot.
Letting all the village idiots get together and create echo chambers to support their idiocy was a bit of mistake, in hindsight.
It also puts everyone on a level platform. A doctor that has been practicing for 20 years speaking about medical issues is placed right next to Joe Bob that keeps getting fired from every gas station in town, who also has his own thoughts on medical issues.
I too was there, but it wasn’t until the antivaxxers started on Livejournal that I realized how backwards things could get, that was 2006 or so.
The internet was fine until social media happened.
It’s both, really. It amplifies everything, both good and bad. There are a lot of amazing things that have come about because of the Internet, as well as a lot of awful shit. It’s easy to overlook the good stuff and only see the shit.