Social Media: Faster Way to Spread Evil and Good

Alex Byers @ Politico makes an interesting case that "social media was the kerosene that turned fire in Ferguson into a national blaze." Why?  Because “social networks like Twitter highlight tensions in the moment rather than calm them ... On the ground, social networks have been a key part of how protesters have organized and established a support system. It’s also given a digital megaphone to those who have taken a leading role in the demonstrations…”

Added to ISIL’s video of journalist James Foley’s beheading and Jihadists' successful use of new media to organize globally, it’s a reminder that technology has merely given us a newer, more rapid communications system which, like communications systems of old, can be used to spread evil as well as good.  The question is whether its great speed will diminish, rather than strengthen, our individual and collective capacity for critical thought and problem solving.

See #Ferguson: Social Media More Spark Than Solution