Software engineer and entrepreneur Ryan Moulton recently sparked discussion on social media by asserting that "Every moral panic about new media is correct," albeit overstating immediate negativity and underestimating adjustment. In a tweet, Moulton contended that while the initial alarm might be exaggerated, the underlying premise of profound societal change often proves true, citing historical examples of technological displacement. His commentary highlights a long-standing debate about the transformative power of emerging technologies.
"Every moral panic about new media is correct, from literacy on down. They overstate how bad it is, and underestimate the adjustment, but literacy did kill memorization. Recorded music did kill making music together. TV did kill socialization, then social media killed it more."
Moulton's argument aligns with observations in media studies and sociology, where new technologies like the printing press, radio, and television have historically faced anxieties regarding their impact on traditional practices and social structures. These concerns, often labeled as moral panics, frequently highlight genuine shifts in human behavior and societal norms, even if the initial fears are sensationalized. The core idea is that new media fundamentally alters existing paradigms.
The tech commentator specifically pointed to literacy's role in diminishing memorization and recorded music's effect on communal music-making as historical precedents. He extended this to television's impact on socialization, concluding that "social media killed it more." Research on social media's influence on contemporary society supports this, indicating that while it offers connectivity, it also contributes to changes in face-to-face interaction patterns and potentially impacts mental well-being and the depth of relationships.
Moulton's background in computer science and entrepreneurship lends weight to his observations on technology's societal interplay. His tweet serves as a reminder that technological advancements, while bringing progress and new forms of interaction, often come at the cost of older practices, necessitating ongoing societal adaptation and critical examination of their long-term effects. The discussion underscores the continuous evolution of human interaction in the face of rapid technological change.