You Can’t Just Solve the ‘Fake News’ Problem by Getting Rid of Social Media

We have to think about why people are so angry in the first place

Philippe Donn, Pexels

Last week, The Atlantic published “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid” by Jon Haidt, the NYU professor and author of The Coddling of the American Mind.

Haidt has perfected the art of “Get Off of My Lawn-ism,” or finding ways to rationalize and codify the idea that things used to be perfect until [shaking fist] kids came and messed everything up. The market for Get Off My Lawn-ism is huge. What old white guy doesn’t miss the days when you used to be able to get away with not taking anyone’s feelings into consideration? What percentage of Boomers (and beyond) think that the internet is ruining all the things?

I agree with most of Haidt’s essay; here’s its overall point:

Social scientists have identified at least three major forces that collectively bind together successful democracies: social capital (extensive social networks with high levels of trust), strong institutions, and shared stories. Social media has weakened all three. To see how, we must understand how social media changed over time — and especially in the several years following 2009.