Does the internet inform or amplify problems?

[Deleted]

I often ask myself - are "things" really worse today than in the past or do we just hear about it more now?

My most recent example is my community. We have a homeowners facebook group for people in our HOA. You would think by the posts that we are inundated with murders and rapists.  There are calls for us paying to become a gated community, spending $100k+ on monitored security cameras, 24/7 guards, etc. 

What I see happening in my community is the standard stuff.  We have the "kids stuff" of skateboarding, making out, saying rude things, etc.  We have the real, but non-violent crimes, of vehicle theft.  I wouldn't say any of these things are happening at a higher rate than other neighborhoods in the city.  The difference is every incident becomes a major conversation on facebook and many seem convinced that we need to spend $$$ to address these problems.  I think our rate of crime is small, but everyone knows about every incident thanks to facebook.  Every little thing is amplified. 

THANKFULLY the rules that HOAs must live under protect us from the mob implementing expensive things.  Both gates and security cameras would be a capital expense greater than 5% of our operating budget - requiring a 50% approval vote of all home owners.  It is almost impossible to get 50% to vote period and getting 50% approval is nearly impossible.

[raeoflyte]

I think we just hear about it more and perception is everything.

[Peace Of Mind]

I do think the media and FB, etc. being what it is makes it seem like there is more crime than there really is.  That's why they say ignorance is bliss.  Too much info. shared across the world can get scary if you allow it.

I don't know how it is in your state/county but here if you have a gated community you are also responsible for the roads, etc.  And many gated communities here still have about the same amount of crime than non gated communities.  I've lived in both and there are pros and cons for each. 

There was a group of men going around to the higher end communities in our county busting through the front door or finding unlocked back sliders robbing people in broad daylight.  They beat a poor little dog in our neighborhood and they had to put him down it was so bad.  Another neighborhood that got hit had a teen home sleeping when they came in.   But they didn't hurt him.  They just tied him up if I remember correctly.  We put in our own surveillance cameras around our house.  We also had vandalism and minor crime at our community center and our HOA added cameras there.  Our community is way too big to install gates but nobody seems to even want them.  I think we'd have chosen a gated community (our last one was) if we wanted them. 

[Sum Dum Gai]

We have the same issue on our neighborhood watch Facebook page.  Even something stupid like a dog getting out of somebody's yard turns into a rant about the rampant crime.  This is the sleepiest little town I've ever lived in, but if you read the comments section of the newspaper or NWFB page you'd think it was a war zone.

[Deleted]

Aug 11, 2013 14:10:26 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

I do think the media and FB, etc. being what it is makes it seem like there is more crime than there really is.  That's why they say ignorance is bliss.  Too much info. shared across the world can get scary if you allow it.

I don't know how it is in your state/county but here if you have a gated community you are also responsible for the roads, etc.  And many gated communities here still have about the same amount of crime than non gated communities.  I've lived in both and there are pros and cons for each. 

There was a group of men going around to the higher end communities in our county busting through the front door or finding unlocked back sliders robbing people in broad daylight.  They beat a poor little dog in our neighborhood and they had to put him down it was so bad.  Another neighborhood that got hit had a teen home sleeping when they came in.   But they didn't hurt him.  They just tied him up if I remember correctly.  We put in our own surveillance cameras around our house.  We also had vandalism and minor crime at our community center and our HOA added cameras there.  Our community is way too big to install gates but nobody seems to even want them.  I think we'd have chosen a gated community (our last one was) if we wanted them. 

Some think that the city will buy off on us having gates between the hours of 9pm and 6am. The rest of the time they would be open. We have a public park up here, so we couldn't cut off public access during park hours..

I hate the gate idea. I've been fighting it.

[toomuchreality]

Even from a personal view, I think the internet /facebook can both be informative and cause more problems.
I think a lot of people get caught up in stuff they see posted, without even realizing the impact it's having (or could have) in their day to day lives.
It's so easy to respond without really thinking, and without hearing the other side. Often times the view is very one sided because of this, which only perpetuates the problem.

I left facebook because I didn't like hearing about things there, or the way they were presented there. It wasn't helpful to my mental health, or to my relationships with others. I don't go back and look, or ask others, out of curiosity either. That would defeat the purpose.

[motherto2]

Totally amplified.  People get the scare in them and then you've lit the torch.  Every community is going to have the petty stuff.  We do.  A couple of months ago I went for a walk with the pup before his groom appointment.  As I walked out of my driveway I noticed my neighbor's mail box was pulled out of the ground and laying on the side of the road.  My little garden flag attached to the mailbox post was thrown down the hill a ways.  First thought - school must be out.  We have things like people breaking into cars, but they are generally the ones left unlocked.  Mail and packages taken.  But a gate isn't going to stop things like that.  If people want to be up to mischief, a gate isn't going to keep them out.  And if it's opened to the public during the day, what good will that do.  We have 24/7 roaming guards during the "summertime" months.  What are they usually doing?  Hanging around the lake with the teenage/early twenties boys.  They wouldn't be of any help to anyone in my opinion.

[muttleynfelix]

Absolutely amplified.  My grandma watches Fox News 24/7.  She thinks the world is no longer safe.  Well, I wonder why Grandma.  You watch a tv station that has to report everything just to fill the hours.  Several years ago she told me that it was not safe for her to drive to her sister's house (2hrs away down a rural state highway, but not so rural that there is no traffic) because there were so many people out there who would attack an old woman traveling on her own.  

[mmhmm]

It isn't the internet doing the amplifying, IMO.  It's the individual doing the amplifying.  The internet can be informative, if that's what you really want it to be.  There's much to be learned, if that's what you want to do.  If, however, you want to find something to get alarmed about, or up-in-arms about, you can do that, too.  It's up to each of us how we use the internet.

[Malarky]

I think it definitely amplifies.

Look at how many people are afraid to let their kids outside because of the perceived danger.  

This despite that crime statistics being down. 

Plus now I know all sorts of useless crap that wouldn't be using up my brain cells if not for the internet.

[Deleted]

Someone 60 years ago might have written their newspaper complaining about TV news doing the same thing. Or 200 years ago about newspapers doing the same thing..

I think part of the difference were these news organizations were "filters" or censors of some of the crazier stuff.  The internet has few censors.

[toomuchreality]

Aug 12, 2013 23:12:27 GMT -5 @mmc said:

Someone 60 years ago might have written their newspaper complaining about TV news doing the same thing. Or 200 years ago about newspapers doing the same thing..

I think part of the difference were these news organizations were "filters" or censors of some of the crazier stuff.  The internet has few censors.

Wow! I'd have sworn it was just last month when I was complaining about all of that stuff!

[Virgil Showlion]

Does the internet inform or amplify problems?

Yes.

[greeniis10]

I think it's the "herd mentality" regardless of whether utilizing social media or the internet or not.  My neighborhood does not have a Facebook page (thankfully!) but they all text each other regularly.  I've opted out of the loop; DH is "in" as he's retired and has more time to deal with all the trival issues. 

I'm all for watching out for each other and our properties, but all it takes is ONE person to mention something negative and someone else has to add to it and then it sprials out of control.  We do have a row of apartment buildings one block over, so the neighbors whose backyards are against those lots do have more issues such as noise, theft, trash, stray animals, etc. but you knew those were there when you bought the house!

Sunday afternoon apparently there were 2 people taking pictures of houses on our block (I was at the gym and unaware) and immediately everyone was assuming the worst and talking about needing to move as the neighborhood is going downhill!  Sheesh.  Overreact much?  I prefer to find out WHY something is happening first before jumping to conclusions. 

[Bob Ross]

The internet lets you know that there are f%&ked up people out there, and there sure seems to be a lot of them. Or maybe it's just that the f%&ked up people are the ones who are talking the most?

Anyways, I'm off to make YouTube comments.

[movingforward]

Sensationalized media drives me bat shit crazy.  Not only do we hear a story 1-2 times now but 24/7 media has made it so we get to hear about it 10 times a day for weeks at a time (which tends to bring out the looney tunes because, you know, they want to BE news).  Also, now we get to have even more news updates running along the bottom of the screen which, to my knowledge, we didn't have before 9/11.  Let's also not forget that everyone has an agenda these days.  It is not about reporting the facts but about reporting what they WANT to report, leaving out arbitrary information to swing the news in whatever political arena they wish to support and/or make look bad.  It is all a bit much for me. 

As for FB and other social media, I agree with mmhmm, it is the individual doing the amplifying.