this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the internet is responsible for most of this
I'd have to agree. The internet combined with the capitalist model, anyway. Bourgeois control and mindless pursuit of profit, regardless of the not-directly-monetary benefits of previous methods, was an essential element.
How do we fix it? I seriously think this will remain a problem in a socialist world. What do we do to mitigate atomisation created by people sitting at home on the internet during all the free time they have in-between going to work?
I don't think it's just capitalism at fault here. The internet existing at all will still play this role of removing people's need to go anywhere for social activity. The internet has essentially replaced all social activity people were seeking outside or with meeting up with friends previously.
You're not wrong - The internet is, in some aspects, an inherently atomising and isolating thing, that is also addicting. I do think the pre-corporate internet was a significantly healthier (though also significantly flawed) ecosystem. And I do think the world sans capitalism would return to significantly more local and 'friendly' services, stalls, and public areas that would largely improve the problem.
That being said, further help, initiatives and incentives probably would still need to exist to coax people out of addictive self-isolation. I personally have no idea what that would look like - I can only wish I had meaningful experience and knowledge of how to coalesce people into fun joint activities - but it's an important question that should be answered.
Maybe if we get rid of online services that are paid for solely by advertising or data selling?
This would kill almost all social media services (the big ones anyway) and it would return to a decentralised system of hobbiest-run online communities over time.
I still think this began before social media though.
That'd certainly help massively, I suppose I just bundle that measure up in my idea of moving away from capitalism. I agree there's more to be addressed than just social media (though that's a large part), but it's hard to predict precisely what the internet would become after that measure alone.
I would guess it could take a long time of trial, error, and research into how to best incorporate the internet into our lives without compromising actual quality of life.