The time's up for social media and the harm it does

ONE OF the most noticeable changes during my lifetime has been the disheartening debasement of public discourse.

- Sir John Hayes MP

The internet, a place for posturing but rarely for genuine discussion and considered debate, must take much of the blame for this transformative decline.

But while the coarsening of the “national conversation” is an obvious example of the harm done by the internet, it is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Beneath lurks a growing crisis of disengagement, depression and decay, facilitated by tech companies that profit from exploiting insecurities, doubts and fears.

The internet is often presented as if it were simply the latest stage of revolution in communication stretching back through the telephone and telegraph to the first postal service. While applications such as email can be seen as part of such a continuum, social media is something wholly new.

Tech companies do not exist to simply facilitate communication; rather, they control and manipulate virtual social interaction in ways that play on innate fears about standing and status.

Increasingly, young people measure their value in terms of how many followers they have and how many “likes” and comments their most recent post attracted.

For a generation of addicts, one ignored post sparks doubts about status and abusive comments which can result in depression, misery and even suicidal thoughts.