Social Media and the Rise of Stupidity

Is social media making us, as a species, dumber?  A 2014 article in Time Magazine (click here) suggests exactly that, but it's a little misleading--I know; that's shocking, right?  The article cites a study that simply examined how students learn, which concluded that humans have a tendency to copy from each other, or copy from social media.  Scott McGreal, a research psychologist, dispels the Time article (click here) and provides data on some other habits of social media users.  

Using social media might not make you stupid, but it will certainly expose you to those that are.  I believe that social media simply gives stupid people a larger venue to amuse us.  We've probably all seen examples of people asking for advice on social media; my neighborhood's Facebook page comes to mind.  I've even seen people asking for advice on legal issues via social media; why not just look up the law yourself?  I doubt that, "Some guy on Facebook said..." will hold up in court.

Social media doesn't make people stupid, but stupid people use social media.  Seek your information from reputable sources, don't believe everything you read on the internet, and apply more rigorous intellectual standards to what people are posting.