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Is social media ruining the world?

Dramatic political polarization. Rising anxiety and depression. An uptick in teen suicide rates. Misinformation that spreads like wildfire.

The common denominator of all these phenomena is that they’re fueled in part by our seemingly innocuous participation in digital social networking. But how can simple acts like sharing photos and articles, reading the news, and connecting with friends have such destructive consequences?

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Oliver T. Hellriegel at Glocal: Inside Social Media
Image by New Media Center via Flickr

As some of you already know, I have recently been to a conference in Skopje, Macedonia. The conference “Glocal: Inside Social Media” was hosted by the New York University Skopje and had a great line-up of practitioners as well as academics. Here is a short summary from the offcial blog on my presentation:

“Social media is people having conversations and interactions,” underlined Oliver in his presentation, clarifying that it’s not about a group of individuals broadcasting as a company, which would not mean ‘social’ anymore. “It’s about people having conversations, people having to listen, and not only to speak. Communication has changed.” Read more