Comments on: Does Social Media Accelerate the Spread of Dangerous Ideas?

By: Reading Assignment « Spring 2010 Graphic Design Seminar

Reading Assignment « Spring 2010 Graphic Design Seminar — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:19:27 +0000

[...] Does Social Media Accelerate the Spread of Dangerous Ideas? by Dan Zarella [...]

By: Everybody’s doing it: meme spreadage and social search | Erica Glasier: Oversocialized!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:07:31 +0000

[...] marketer Dan Zarella recently posited that bad memes spread faster in this era of wired social networks. The current glut of [...]

By: Laura Clarke

Laura Clarke — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:45:18 +0000

Interesting post Dan. Sure, viruses and bad ideas/ memes start in dense populations... but so do the really good ideas!

Silicon Valley was the place where silicon tech really happened. Was this a virus that needed containing??

London, with its 8 million plus population, is a hub of activity for all kinds of technological advances, new ideas, cultural happenings and revolutions... as are many other big cities around the world.

I guess I'm suggesting every yin has a yang, and vice versa... No?

By: lauraclarke

lauraclarke — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:45:18 +0000

By: danzarrella

danzarrella — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:48:24 +0000

I believe the development of more and more contagious memes is a technological pursuit and it is that pursuit that will determine if more good or bad comes from social media. Which side develops the most infectious ideas.

By: edwardboches

edwardboches — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:27:03 +0000

Dan,
Thoughtful post. A couple of reactions. One, on a positive note at least it's all public and there to be found, in many ways making alert sociologists, educators, sm aware able to call this stuff out, as you have. It's really no different than how any group wanting to build a following has used whatever media of the day was available. Let's face it, there were plenty of cults recruiting successfully long before all this stuff was mainstream. On the other hand, there seems to be more positive stuff going on. Look at the green avatar for example. Or Twestival. Or all the cancer fund raising. So sure, things are easier for the dangerous, as you call it, memes, but hopefully they're visible enough for thoughtful people to know what's going on. And at the same time, likely to be outnumbered by the good stuff.

By: jnewman1

jnewman1 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:59:48 +0000

I like this blog! It stands out from all the others in this search criteria! I know a great blog when I see it. Thanks for the great information on the subject. The web needs more blogs like this one. Thanks again, and Happy Halloween!
Tech Blog

By: cocreatr

cocreatr — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:47:40 +0000

Dan, it is easy to agree about social media accelerating the spread of dangerous ideas, and so I do. Yet, just the same social media do accelerate the spread of wholesome helpful ideas, too, would you agree?

Somehow this article rings distant bells of a justification for propaganda or "some ideas are better suppressed, for the sake of society". Who is to decide that, without being called a four letter word like [censored]?

What if this article itself represents a dangerous idea?

Books are not ideas. Words are not the things they label. http://bit.ly/NWIMsymbols (via @spinhead)

BTW, this popup before I can read what you want to say is plain annoying:
"Get the blog sent to your inbox by entering your email address. Enter your email address below: No Thanks"

Disclosure: I grew up in post-Nazi Germany. I trust you cannot fool all the people all the time. I am convinced we get what we keep focusing our attention on.

By: wordwrite

wordwrite — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:20:02 +0000

Dan, great post. The examples you cite are indeed troubling. Another one of the most interesting (and unpredicted) areas of inquiry for Twitter use has been in public interaction with government and politics. I believe your readers will be interested in my blog on this topic which focuses on the Constitutional and free speech issues in the arrest of two anarchists charged with using Twitter to mobilize anti-police activity during the recent G-20 summit in Pittsburgh:
http://www.wordwritepr.com/blogstorytelling/?p=41

Paul Furiga, CEO WordWrite Communications

By: keif

keif — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:02:59 +0000

I don't consider this new – the idea of “the teeming masses are idiots” isn't new, and the internet being used to push political/social agendas has just made it easier, and now sites like Facebook/Myspace make it easier to create “groups” of people with similar ideologies (or easy to install forum software, blog platforms, etc. etc.)

Conspiracy theories existed and propagated before – without the internet or social media, and remained because the only people finding that information were seeking that information out. Social Media and the Internet make it exponentially easier to stumble upon accidentally (or through unintended means) that also make it easier to *educate yourself* and also *prove wrong*. Saying it quickly perpetuates and gets out and is exploited is due to the idioicy of people letting it happen – much like the people that retweet links without reading them, or make comments based on headlines and not article content.

Celebrity deaths? Stock prices drop because of a tweet? This just shows how much weight people put in rumors over facts – nothing has changed, much the same way propaganda spreads through feeding on paranoia and false information. The teeming masses as a whole are stupid mobs – it's up to the individuals to strike back and spread the truth to counter lies (or dig for facts – much like the “Michael Jackson is dead” before it was confirmed – people took a gossip hound's word as fact without waiting for verification, PEOPLE love gossip, as a person, I do not and I research anything I see as dubious).

(btw – lose the overlay on page load, that's annoying as hell)

By: ericpursh

ericpursh — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:33:27 +0000

Great post, Dan.
I agree with Brett, and would add that it has already lead to "public danger" in the instances of high-school level harassment. A lot of times what's needed is simply common sense, something we can all use a good dose of as we peruse the Internet.

However, I'd also hasten to add that every technological leap has had the same "dangerous" potential and came with the same caveats --- from the printing press to radio to television to the Internet, and now Web 2.0/3.0/mobile.

Trouble now is, access is easier and cheaper, and news spreads even faster, in multiple media forms. We need more snopes.coms!

By: Brett Borders

Brett Borders — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:08:49 +0000

Dan, I think it is definitely a hotbed to spread dangerous memes that would never be allowed to flow freely in polite, face-to-face society. Once place where you can kind find unsavory + dangerous ideas is Reddit, which – if you dig deep enough – is hot bed of antisemitism, “The US Government Perpretrated 9/11,” radical Islamist propaganda, unfounded rumors, propaganda sites and conspiracy theories.