Robby Soave's new book Tech Panic, Why We Shouldn't Fear Facebook and The Future challenges the traditional wisdom that social media poses a unique threat to Americas youth.
Soave states in Episode 488 that there has been too much panic about social media. This is a lot of hyperbole.
According to him, the current social media furor is similar to the way politicians spoke about Doom and Mortal Kombat in the 1990s. He says that video games don't promote violence and they don't turn young men into school shooters. It makes me wonder if we will look back on this moral panic in the same way 10-20 years from now.
Many have been written about the Google and Facebook algorithms, which Soave claims recalls previous panics over subliminal advertising. He says that he likes the fact that he gets ads for Dungeons & Dragons merchandise on Facebook rather than car commercials. I see ads for cars when I watch TV. I'm not planning to buy a car. It's not relevant to me. I wish I could quickly skip through them. Facebook shows me things that I may actually like. It's a great thing.
Technology companies are being criticized by politicians from all political stripes, including Senator Josh Hawley and Donald Trump. Senator Elizabeth Warren and President Biden have also called for new regulations. Soave believes it would be a mistake for politicians to have too much control over America's most innovative industries. Perhaps for many people they think, "Well, if everybody in government wants it, then that is right." But I believe the reverse. If everyone wants it, it's definitely bad.
You can listen to Robby Soave's complete interview on Episode 488 of Geeks Guide to the Galaxy. You can also see highlights of the conversation below.
Robby Soave:
I'm currently [dungeon mastering] two different groups and I'm playing in a third. However, that one ended and I believe theyre going to rapture me into a new group. There is a lot of overlap among my worlds and characters. It's great fun because my primary group is libertarian. The other group is a little further to the left. One thing I noticed is that the one that is further to the left likes combat and killing everyone they meet, while the libertarians prefer to talk and exchange ideas in all situations. They won't engage in combat if they can.
Robby Soave discusses cancel culture
I've written many times about cancel culture. People are subject to criticism or attack for writing something insensitive or offensive. But they didn't kill anyone. It is very strange, especially for progressive leftists who believe in criminal justice reform. The idea that people who have been incarcerated previously should be able live normal lives and should be able get work again. You don't need to ask about their prison status. We can forgive them. This is something I agree with. But if someone said something racist when they were 15 years old, and you found the tweet they sent, shouldn't they be allowed to work again? This is absurd.
Robby Soave speaks out about the media
My book's villain is The New York Times and the mainstream media. You can look back at history and see that every invention, especially in communication, was panicked about. But, it makes sense from the perspective of an industry, since many of these technologies were viewed by The New York Times as a competitor.
Robby Soave in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley's culture has been somewhat hostile to innovation and has caused people to leave California. I brought this up because it was important to not repeat the same thing nationally. It is so utterly reprehensible to hear the anti-tech rhetoric from Congress. Right now, they treat social media like Big Tobacco. We've heard it over and over. Big Tobacco has already killed millions, and even the most serious allegations against Instagram, nobody believes it killed hundreds. It's a laughable comparison. This knee-jerk antitech sentiment from lawmakers and policymakers does not serve the country well. It does not serve society well and it does not promote innovation.
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