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Comment by privateersman | Hacker News Reader

After thinking about it over the years, I don't think social media is as influential as people think. Look at the UK's past election and referendum to see. A bubble of opinion with a huge disconnect from reality.

All I will say is: stay away from these sorts of services if you value your mental health.

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I think on an individual level it is far more influencing than we realize. We are hard wired to entrench or re-consider our stances on things based on the opinions of our circle of friends. If Social media only presents us with opinions that reaffirm our own, that's a very powerful signal.

I am pretty convinced this has a lot to do with the trend towards extreme polarization of politics for example. The echo chamber allows both sides to entrench further, while both fully believe that the majority of people believe as they do.

My argument against you from the same example: Look how uniform young people were in the decision (obviously the people who spend the most time using social media).

Also the same people being exposed daily to the govt approved propaganda through school and university.

A fair observation if you use twitter like the majority of users (at least in the UK). The key to getting a decent bellwether is to actively seek out prominent and active users with differing opinions.

Regarding social medias influence, while it has been hyped up massively, I do believe it is a significant force. Even if just for the fact that the media class use it extensively. I expect it has an impact on their reporting.

I would say that social media policies have less of an effect in countries where people have freedom of speech+association+assembly, and more important in countries where they don't. People will route around damaged platforms, if they have an alternative.

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