One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor.

                   

The Great Eye Wreathed in Flame  

Is social media good or evil? We have all heard horror stories about doing, stalking and harassment. We also have seen the worst of humanity being presented online. When considering if social media is harmful, the usual suspects of privacy and degeneracy come to mind. 

We all know social media is not private. It is a marketing tool to be sold to Coca-Cola or the highest bidder. Mentions of safety nets and privacy policies are laughable when we all can see how much Facebook betrayed our trust. Sure, the burden of proof would be on the positive statement, but commonsense and wisdom would inform us that that would be the rule rather than the exception. With TikTok going bye-bye, we can now rely on Threads to "protect" the easily offended and keep its eye on possible "threats." Maybe they misspelled their own name... 

Argument ad populum is a logical fallacy. Basing the truth on the opinion of the masses is, although quite democratic, a horrible fallacy. The danger of social media is that epistemology may become corrupted. The truth may become what most people think, a mere emergent epistemic artifact based on the masses' baseline will rather than exclusive virtue. For example, a subscription website that rewards creators for their artifacts is a great idea. But human degeneracy turned into OnlyFans. 

Like everything else, social media galvanizes social processes. If a society is virtuous, it will increase and spread its merit. And if a society is vile, it will also increase its sins. Perhaps the infamous problems with social media are a reflection of ourselves rather than an endogenous part of Web 2.0.