Barack Obama Feels Social Media Is Dividing People, Not Bringing Us Together
He shared how social media and the internet has allowed people to become more isolated in their views and opinions, regardless of the fact they¡¯re true or not.
With COVID-19 locking all of us indoors, we have turned to the internet to be our constant source of entertainment. Whether it is using video conferencing to stay connected or a show to binge on, on our preferred streaming platform.
And another place people love spending their time is on social media, looking at funny memes or sharing posts that they feel should be heard by everyone.
Reuters
And while social media has been all kinds of fun in some cases, it has caused severe damage, socially. This is something former US President Barack Obama also spoke about at Signal -- the developer conference organised by Twilio.
Reported first by Fortune, Obama shared how social media and the internet has allowed people to become more isolated in their views and opinions, regardless of the fact they¡¯re true or not.
He said, ¡°With the proliferation of the Internet and Facebook, people have gotten even more stuck in their own narrow biases. One of the things we¡¯re going to have to figure out is how do we rediscover some common culture when you¡¯ve got a bazillion websites and 100 channels?¡±
He spoke about how people need to differentiate between their beliefs and facts, ¡°Everyone wants to believe what they want to believe. You¡¯re entitled to your own opinions, but you¡¯re not entitled to your own facts.¡±
While social media did contribute to a lot of bad things, Obama did agree to the fact that it has enabled the people of the nation to be more informed than before. He did highlight the fact that if social media is used in an appropriate manner, it could be a crucial tool to keep people informed while creating a lesser divide than today.
Reuters
He added, ¡°The virtual world works best when it translates into action and activity and conversation and face-to-face interactions in the real world. That forces you to see people in their complexity. I continue to believe the Internet and social media are hugely powerful tools to build communities across boundaries and borders. But I think it¡¯s very important for us to break down the wall where we think there¡¯s a virtual world and a real world.¡±