There hasn’t been good press on social media in recent years. They are accused, in particular, of fomenting political confrontation and reducing debate. public to a series of anathemas. They would also go a long way towards increasing the narcissism of their users and lowering their self-esteem.
BUT fatigue emotional experiences of social media users
A new study adds to this critique. Retransmitted by our colleagues from Forbes, hosted by United Way of National Capital Area. This leads to an unexpected conclusion, as 57% of Americans say that misinformation on these platforms has negatively impacted their empathy levels. Thus, a large number of Internet users report a certain amount of exhaustion. The researchers note that this happens when “a person regularly spends most of son energy – emotional, physical, mental – to care for others, to the point of feeling exhausted. As quoted by our colleagues, Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group gives a symbolic example of a well-known conspiracy theory: “QAnon, for example, creates an army of people who deeply believe in lies and aggressively fight to make their improbable truths credible.” The latter continues and quite strongly attacks Facebook and its competitors in particular: “Facebook and other services that deliberately allow such bad behavior to maximize short-term income and profits become an existential risk for race a person who will probably end badly for us and for companies like Facebook. Forbes also cites other experts who are pushing for a more positive role for social media to serve as a model for online interactions. The Covid pandemic has really fostered constructive relationships between people who didn’t know each other, with particular solidarity between neighborhood members who have organized themselves in Facebook groups and emotional support for single people.
