Michael Prescott wants to ban social media

Michael Prescott has decided social media are a bad thing. Not only that, but such a bad thing that they should be banned:
http://michaelprescott.typepad.com/micha...media.html

I'm not at all a fan of social media, but I am a liberal and I have to wonder quite how far-reaching this proposed ban on people talking to one another would be. I have to wonder even more that Michael Prescott's aversion to social media isn't so strong that he can bring himself to give up Facebook, even though he thinks it's a good idea to ban it altogether!

Does 'social media' include blogging?

More and more, people seem to want to stop others doing things they personally dislike, and they seem to think they have a right to do so if they're able to. Actually, I had assumed that was partly because of the influence of social media. I suppose it may be in this case, as Michael Prescott is still a user.

It's hard not to agree with Prescott in many respects and if social media were banned, people  might finally put away their smart phones and discover that there is a world out there full of wonderful things  but then who else would I discuss my weirdness with?  It would become a very lonely world!

I believe social media is on balance a good thing. Yes there's bad stuff but it allows people to communicate who would otherwise be very lonely. If I didn't have a forum like this to discuss my psi interest, I'd be quite isolated. To anyone who's felt isolated or a minority (whether that's being homosexual, being highly sensitive, questioning their religion, questioning the political beliefs of their family, or anything else) the internet is a godsend.

Yes there are trolls and echo chambers. That's unfortunate, but it's far outweighed by the ability it gives people separated geographically to network and share ideas.

Usenet wasn't hell, it was great, he must have joined it later... heck you could chat to J Michael Straczynski after an episode of Babylon 5 on Usenet... what more could anyone want! Lol... You got to mix with all sorts of people you'd never get to talk to in real life...

Yes, that reminds me of times when I could chat directly with well known quantum physicists like Henry Stapp and Fred Alan Wolf. As a complete layman with absolutely no background in science it was incredible to be able to hold a conversation about mind in relation to QM without the condescension you might expect on social media. However, I'm not sure that board was actually Usenet though; I'm going back probably 20 - 25 years.