Are Most Social Media Users Stupid?
Cracked has published a funny “research” trying to determine which site has the stupidest commenters on the web which brought me to constantly discussed question:
“Are most people idling at web 2.0 sites stupid?”
Now, I do love social media and people who take time to share the story or opinion, but let’s face it there’s plenty of profound stupidity there which is hard to ignore.
Why do you actually need social media? Most generally people use social media sites for one of the following reasons:
- For business (promoting their sites, researching audience, social media monitoring);
- For keeping in touch with old friends and relatives.
- For pleasure (looking for exciting news and sensation and making new friends).
The users from the 3d category either have plenty of time or just never sleep, they seem to be in the majority and are often not really polite and – well – clever.
Using the classic categorization, these people may fall under one (or all at a time) of the types:
- The 13 Year Old Supposed To Be Doing Homework– BLAH BALH DSLFKJ!!! BRITNEY SPEARS IS UGLY! Yeah, that’s them. Many times also a ‘Hater’ and thrilled at the reactions they can pull out of people with simple text.
- The Moron – You don’t know if they are really as stupid as they sound or just acting stupid.
- The Hater – This person has pent up rage. They probably are either some immature kid or the type of person that has never acted out in real life.
Are they really in majority or are they only the easiest to hear because the chat louder and more frequently than other?
If they are in majority, does it mean social media is mostly dumb?
I’ve been in social media long enough to grow thick skin but I still often get irritated by social media trolls and haters… The only thing to remember here is that he who argues with the stupid is no less stupid himself.
So let’s make social media a smarter place by just ignoring the stupid…
Post image source: buzzfeed
Before it was known as social media, those of us who frequented forums always knew that the worst thing you can do is ‘feed the trolls’.
The behaviour of some people is inexplicable but, as you say, all you can do is ignore them and hope that, with no energy to sustain their ire, they will go away and find someone else to annoy.