Skip to content

Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

USA Today asks (in all seriousness): Has social media gone too far?

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Today’s front-page headline on the paper version of USA Today: Has social media gone too far?

n

Seriously? That’s the headline?

n

When a drunk driver runs over someone, do we blame the car? When an abusive spouse knifes his or her significant other, do we blame the knife? When an arsonist burns down a house, do we blame the match? When a robber shoots a victim, do we blame the gun?

n

The Internet is not like weapons or illegal drugs, which arguably are inherently dangerous. It’s more like a car or an ice pick: a useful tool that also can be misused, just like any other.

n

So we can put blame where it should be – squarely on the offender – or we can be stupid about this. We can address the core issue – education and parenting – or we can blame the tool. In each case, I vote for the former. How about you?

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related

A person is lying down in the dark and looking at a smartphone held above their face.

Potato chips or heroin? The debate on social media and mental health

What are we supposed to do when experts look at the same data yet reach starkly different conclusions?

A robotic hand and a human hand reach towards each other against a dark background.

13.8

Humanity needs an ethical upgrade to keep up with new technologies

The preservation and celebration of life, and not greed, should be our primary decision-making value.

Gertrude Bell, a formidable traveller, archaeologist and diplomat, defied the action fallacy by challenging conventional wisdom and achieving remarkable success in her endeavors.

The “action fallacy” tells us that the most effective leaders are unseen

We rightly celebrate Winston Churchill as one of the world’s greatest leaders — but for all the wrong reasons.

a group of people standing in front of a car.

America’s health food movement is based on a cult

The Source Family, a radical 1970s utopian commune, still impacts what we eat today.

The lasting anguish of moral injury

Psychologists are finding that moral code violations can leave an enduring mark — and may require new types of therapy.

Up Next

Be a courageous edublogger

Miguel Guhlin had an awesome post yesterday about being a courageous edublogger. Here are a couple of quotes: I have found that discussing some topics usually ruffle feathers of those […]