Dear Weatheraardvark, X-Air, and WeatherCat cautious users of technology,
I can't be sure, but I suspect that lurking in these concerns is a matter that isn't too far removed from PhD research. My PhD was exploring the idea that the processes of how communities form can bring forth new processes of learning. It was based on Heidegger's conception that existence itself was in terms of a web of relationships.
There was another notion of community that wasn't real, but imagined. According to Benedict Anderson in his book Imagined Communities, nationalism is founded on people imagining themselves to be part of a huge community that represents a nation, when a nation is much to vast to be a real community.
My observations of two different Internet communities of Buick enthusiasts suggests to me that these two different conceptions are at work in social networking on the Internet. V-8 Buick is a large "community" of around 30,000 participants. 65GS.com has a few thousand perhaps, but only about 20 regular participants. V-8 Buick is microcosm of social networking. It can be very polite and friendly and it can be the site of savage disputes. In contrast, 65GS.com is always polite and friendly. The reason is truly obvious. It is a small community and we don't want to offend anybody.
Benedict Anderson wanted to understand how nationalism could become a force for good and bad. I think the Internet is once more a place where imagined communities are ultimately leading to as much harm as good. V-8 Buick is "imagined" as a community, but in truth, most members are essentially anonymous. There simply isn't any moral pressure to be a good netizen - and it shows.
I don't think the smart phone or any other technology to access the Internet can be directly faulted as these investors are insinuating. Still, these devices take young people out of real communities were they must face up to their actions the next day, into communities where the harm they do often is never observed by them directly.
It should be self-evident that morality is the medium that allows all of us to get along, yet all too many people take it for granted. It should also be obvious that morality must be learned by young people. Social media is clearly impeding young people from developing a mature moral character. It is a problem that the leaders in Information Technology should confront head-on, instead of turning a blind eye to the matter and hoping that their philanthropy will compensate for what is clearly a defect in their own moral character.
Edouard