In an interview with Prince Harry on BBC radio this week, former president Barack Obama warned that social media could fragment society by allowing people to be “cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases,” Reuters reports.
Obama also encouraged leaders to try to create “common space” on the internet to prevent different groups of people from living in separate realities.
As Reuters reports, this isn’t the first time Obama has expressed concern about the implications of social media. He has warned that social media allows individuals to make quick judgments in place of what should be thoughtful decisions.
“It’s also, by the way, harder to be as obnoxious and cruel in person as people can be anonymously on the Internet,” Obama said on BBC radio. “Meet in the pub … Meet at a place of worship. Meet in a neighborhood and get to know each other.”
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