Humans are social animals. The need to connect is a primal drive. Even our most basic needs, such as food and safety, have always been accomplished by humans as a group. We weren’t equipped to conquer the world with fangs and claws, so we got a prefrontal cortex that gave us cooperation and attachment. There are a lot of myths about social media that reflect two fundamental things. The first is the fearassociated with new technologies. The second is the implicit assumption that the old way of doing things is the "right" way and the news ways are morally superior. It's easy to see how both of those points of view happen. It's also pretty clear that these types of cognitive bias don't form a very good basis for evaluating the new tools. Myth 1: Social media are destroying our social skills and replacing offline relationships Research shows that social media have enhanced relationships. Obvious benefactors are shut-ins and … [Read more...]
