Guys, just a debate on your general thoughts on "Social Media"...I look at the GAA Board here and several other similar forum boards and think it can be great to socialise and discuss your team and players/injuries etc and have some banter after a games etc but the bad side of "Social Media" is the Twitters/Facebooks etc where people can generally be nice but there are always people there to put someone down or say terrible things on anything. I don't really do Facebook or Twitter ( i have them on my phone but only for viewing) but the vile stuff people post are insane. Genuinely I have a rule of thumb that you should only post what you would say to someone's face, I know people hide behing their keyboards and act the big lad and majority of the times their actions go unpunished but surely some day it will catch up on them...The main thing though is what do people get out of ripping the middle out of someone on line and do they not think of the friends and family that read and hear these things.
I think the World we live in today has lost it's marbles TBH...the younger ones can't function without their phones. The interaction skills are non existant and they just have a different way of life compared to when i was young...I'm so glad i was young in the 80's
Overall, I think it's negative. Very very negative actually. As you say the stuff that people of all political persuasions post on Twitter/Facebook under anonymous accounts is desperate.
The problem is that the 20% who are the extremists are also the loudest. So everyone else who is primarily a viewer, not a poster, feels they must be an extremist too.
I think the first thing that needs to be done is to take away the anonymity of accounts, but this will of course never happen as memberships would plummet.
* stay as far away from the Twitters of this world as possible. Far too angry, this place is catching up too right enough
* turn the news off too, if its important you'll hear about it
* keep wains involved in team sports ie away from the devices and surrounded by other wains
Have a facebook account but wouldn't use it for posting anything personal - good for keeping up-to-date with things going on in the local GAA club and gym etc. Unfollowed Belfast Live and the likes and any of my 'friends' who were obsessed with humble bragging posts. Stopped watching the news (all negative) and likes of that Nolan Live rubbish a long time ago. Needless to say I feel alot better!
This is the only "social media" I would have (do forums even count?)
Don't have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat etc and I do not miss them.
I've limited twitter use to following sport/scores and that's about it. It's a cesspit otherwise. Use a bit of instagram and TikTok can be entertaining enough. Facebook is the biggest pile of dung.
Only really use FB now to see what's happening on the local running scene, Twitter is poisonous and Instagram is probably the best of a bad bunch.
Use Facebook and here. Have an insta account as well but don't really know how to work it and haven't bothered.
It has its uses. I save any decent family pics to Facebook. It's nice getting the memories coming back up especially now when the kids are growing up. I have a ball of photos on the phone but never look at them, so that's a function I enjoy.
I think social media has its positives and negatives. I think there should be much more education to young people on the power of it and impact it can have. Kids should have to sit a compulsory module on it in year 9. Cover everything in detail, bullying, misinformation, addiction, crime etc. It's too big a tool to let kids on without training. It can literally affect their entire life and the life's of others.
Forums like this are good, because they are well managed.
Others like Twitter are not good as they give a platform to people who are not intellectually capable or deserving. That said I do like to follow Jamie Bryson, Jim Alister, Kate Hoey and RDE just to hear the absolute nonsense and hate that they spew.
Twitter is ok as long as you stay away from certain areas. Most people are decent, I think.
This board is great but one of the trans threads showed how easy it is to get a culture war going.
Quote from: Orior on April 27, 2023, 11:52:34 AM
Forums like this are good, because they are well managed.
Others like Twitter are not good as they give a platform to people who are not intellectually capable or deserving. That said I do like to follow Jamie Bryson, Jim Alister, Kate Hoey and RDE just to hear the absolute nonsense and hate that they spew.
I dont get this at all.
You are correct that they spout nonsense and hate but it is the people following them that gives them the attention they so crave.
If no one followed them they would drift off into obscurity however because they have a lot of followers (majority who seem to disagree with them) the media latch onto them and it gives them a platform to spout their hatred and ensure this place remains a cesspit.
From what i remember about 90% of the replies to Brysons tweets were Nationalists lol.
Quote from: RedHand88 on April 27, 2023, 12:25:41 PM
From what i remember about 90% of the replies to Brysons tweets were Nationalists lol.
Exactly - which is giving him the media attention he needs to survive & remain relevant.
Baffling
I use twitter a reasonable amount and all those ones are blocked. They crave attention and don't even believe half of what they write. They are not good for society at all and the less people who follow and reply to them the better for all of us.
Quote from: Taylor on April 27, 2023, 12:08:36 PM
Quote from: Orior on April 27, 2023, 11:52:34 AM
Forums like this are good, because they are well managed.
Others like Twitter are not good as they give a platform to people who are not intellectually capable or deserving. That said I do like to follow Jamie Bryson, Jim Alister, Kate Hoey and RDE just to hear the absolute nonsense and hate that they spew.
I dont get this at all.
You are correct that they spout nonsense and hate but it is the people following them that gives them the attention they so crave.
If no one followed them they would drift off into obscurity however because they have a lot of followers (majority who seem to disagree with them) the media latch onto them and it gives them a platform to spout their hatred and ensure this place remains a cesspit.
Same, Bryson, Hoey etc invited into your life, being a daily part of your life, that is madness if you ask me.
Things I don't understand about 6-county Twitter.
1. What sense of fulfilment / enjoyment / value can any single person get from replying to every last thing they read with a whataboutery Tweet?
2. Why is there an endless supply of people in the wee six who invested in this pursuit?
Agreed. Your life will be a better place when you don't have to view that bigotry and bile . (and self promotion looking for attention).
This board is my main online venue for discussion. I'm on FB but rarely post there, only view or read - my wife does all the family stuff. Same with Instagram.
Have never had a Twitter account. Only time I really use it is if I need to track a Donegal game.
The bad: I just saw a warning from Police about people sharing inappropriate images from todays crash on the A5 where 3 more people lost their lives.
My young lad came home from school and was fit to tell me someone had been decapitated.
Gaaboard when it originally came along was such a breath of fresh air. It was great to get local opinions for local lads who knew the game in their area, who went to games and knew exactly what was going on, on the ground.
Before this we were left to an array of bluffers in the national media who hopped in and out with no real knowledge of anyone other than their own county and the strong teams. Sadly this forum is no longer as strong as it used to be. But still a better place to go to than a Spillane, O'Rourke or a Brolly column.
Forums like this remind me of the internet as it was in the 1990s. It was a different vibe back then, still new and experimental. There was a novelty feeling of posting something on a web page and seeing it up there for all the world to see. The Virtual Irish Pub was my first experience of it. Good times. Plenty of slagging, but some of it was mean-spirited though. I remember being shocked the first time someone said something nasty to me online, but I suppose it's one of these things you get used to.
Use Twitter daily as my customised newsfeed - I never post, just read. The single best thing about it: if you don't like what someone is saying then unfollow/block them; don't like a certain topic, then mute it. Honestly the people who get the most annoyed about twitter are the ones who go searching through replies for things to be annoyed about. Had a facebook account but deleted it a few years ago as my relatives are boring.
I like Twitter and social media in general because you can get news and current affairs from different sources rather than relying on the British media. You can also instantly mute or block accounts you don't like. Also great for score updates from club matches if you're sweating on an accumulator
My FB feed has improved since I've left groups that weren't very good, or blocked people that were annoying. The comments under any Irish Times posting can be depressing, so I sometimes go in and do some mass blocking of negative nellies who complain about everything no matter how positive it is. I definitely block the racists, but not before reporting them and earning them a few days in FB jail.
Check Facebook but never post. Twitter can be as good bad as you let it. If you seek out shite you'll find your fill. I use it for the things I'm interested in and that way my blood pressure remains low. Infrequent user of Insta. Not sure who is on it other than posers.
The only way to stop majority if t is a real name on the accounts and it having to ve virified before account is set up...I know that would never happen but in theory that would be the end of any bull sh1t...
Twitter and Tik Tok (If you can count it) only social media I use.. Twitter mostly just for Sport, can't be arsed with politics on it so have anyone and everyone who's a mouth piece in the Wee 6 muted or blocked. Better for your sanity if you do that.
Don't be on it as much as I used to be, COVID/Lockdowns was on it a lot, maybe at night before bed see what's happened that day - Has fell by the wayside past year with being back in the office and getting out & about with the other half and wee one. Feel better for not being on it too
Quote from: Mourne Red on April 28, 2023, 03:50:09 PM
Twitter and Tik Tok (If you can count it) only social media I use.. Twitter mostly just for Sport, can't be arsed with politics on it so have anyone and everyone who's a mouth piece in the Wee 6 muted or blocked. Better for your sanity if you do that.
Don't be on it as much as I used to be, COVID/Lockdowns was on it a lot, maybe at night before bed see what's happened that day - Has fell by the wayside past year with being back in the office and getting out & about with the other half and wee one. Feel better for not being on it too
Exactly this - instead of giving them oxygen, which people who reply seem oblivious to
Don't use twitter, tik tok.Instagram. Nosey at new feed on Fb but don't post. Leave my ranting to here. Miss Ole, Fearon rants, ended up with us getting Bomber Destro and his aliases since. On here fine, but the American politics section, it's impossible to have a decent conversation. Better it just been closed.
Facebook is a mad house if you want to engage in any news or politics. But if you use it as a community noticeboard and share some nice family bits it's garnd.
Twitter is great for news and sport, but if you are an activist you will see it described as a 'hellsite'. A lot of the time people are arguing with bots. There are some awful # trending at times and then you look at the tweets and they are thousands of people using it saying how awful it is said # is tredning - they are making it trend but don't have the cop to see it.
TikTok is for the kids and there are some very funny creators in fairness.
One place for social media is here, very rarely post on FB I just don't have the time or inclination to have any others
Quote from: Captain Scarlet on April 30, 2023, 11:25:27 AM
Facebook is a mad house if you want to engage in any news or politics. But if you use it as a community noticeboard and share some nice family bits it's garnd.
Twitter is great for news and sport, but if you are an activist you will see it described as a 'hellsite'. A lot of the time people are arguing with bots. There are some awful # trending at times and then you look at the tweets and they are thousands of people using it saying how awful it is said # is tredning - they are making it trend but don't have the cop to see it.
TikTok is for the kids and there are some very funny creators in fairness.
Plenty of people in their 40s and 50s on it too trying to be funny...they aren't!
I forgot about tiktok. Don't knock it, it's brilliant. The algorithm is really good. If you're into DIY it will show you DIY. If you like lorries and tractors it will show you that. If you like comedy you'll get that. Its main downfall is how addictive it is!
I was late to the party with Twitter, and originally was looking at match updates, mainly, and then parody accounts and funnier stuff, but I suppose I overdid it following Brexit and DUP stuff, so the algorithm has Jamie and Sour Jim as my first port of call each time!!
I can see how toxic it can be, yet at the same time how compelling and even addictive it can be. One thing that bugs me is the way the algorithms can reinforce perceptions by creating a virtual echo chamber, or maybe I've got it wrong.
I used to post a good bit on Facebook, mostly to try and be half-stupid to half-funny to be some way light-hearted as well as going through mental health stuff because I would have a good lot of past pupils as friends, so the idea would be that if they could see me muddling through and I'd be available anytime for a chat or whatever. I think over time there's less and less from people on Facebook, and I've dropped off myself, maybe just because it feels like it's run it's course, and insta and tiktok have taken over, and that's a step too far for me.
One thing I've noticed the last few years with the young crews in school, kids don't watch TV anymore, tiktok has completely taken over. Between that and music, I think that's the biggest difference with teaching 20 years ago, or when I was in school. Then, you were identified by groupings- Man Utd v Liverpool, Rock vs Dance, G'n'R vs Bon Jovi, etc. I know I'm ancient in the eyes of the kids in school, but I just can't find any common reference points anymore. Tiktok has become a culture in itself, and I sometimes wonder if kids are missing out on the kind of tribal bonds I mentioned earlier.
since musk took over hes been trying to shove politics down peoples throats