Do TV and other social media forms erode the fabric of society?

[Maricel Evasco]

Do TV and other social media forms erode the fabric of society?

 

I do believe certain talk shows and reality shows are

damaging influence on young minds. Shows like Jerry

Springer, Jersey Shore, etc desensitizes kids to what

essentially is bad behavior which in turn feeds their

apathy in addressing social concerns- racism, prevalence

of STDs, ambivalence in doing the right thing, etc.

 

I also think these shows demonize our kids, by

their exaggerated portrayal of troubled teens. I am

around teenagers 24/7 (in school and at home). Not

all teenagers act like the Guidos and bimbos of the Jersey Shore.

Many of my students have strong and solid opinions

and can actually think and act properly, but since the Hollywood

mindset is one to glamorize stupidity (Dumb and Dumber-er)

there is more incentive to act dumb than to showcase their

natural intelligence.

[Wendel]

For some reason this argument always reminds me of the beginnings of rock and roll, and how parents were certain it was going to corrupt their children.  Maybe they were right?

[CWO3ROBBIE]

As a non TV watcher I am amazed at how pervasive it is in our society. I would venture to state that at least 80% of the population of the US is watching TV at 8pm on any weekday night.

[Apposite]

I don't think TV and social media erode the public at all but I do think if not monitored when we are young it can create lazy or non-original thinking. TV (and social media) in and of itself is good as it creates a connection to the greater world but it should always be thought of as the public blat and one should know when to stand apart. Curiously, how does one create that kind of independence of thought?

[Snagg]

But, without TV, mobile communications, social networks, Twitter and the like - It is truly doubtful that the social upheavals and democratic swellings currently exploding in the Mideast would have happened - Certainly not as fast and as (relatively) bloodlessly as they have. What used to take years - Sometimes decades, even centuries - happened in a few weeks.

(I worry that the speed and effectiveness with which those events occurred may cast them in a frivolous or inconsequential light. By making them look too quick, too easy, it diminishes the very real sacrifice and pain that many went through to reach those democratic goals, and the stupendousness of the end result itself. Populist revolution as the latest fad sweeping Facebook - NOT a Good Thing. Uprising by social media is one thing, but government by social media would be quite another.)