Social media is ruining our lives, we are told. Instead of calling, we text; instead of meeting a friend, we share our most mundane moments on Facebook; instead of having lunch with someone, we post a photo of our meal on Instagram.
Now Anthony Weiner’s added his own case to the litany of complaints about how new technology is ruining everything. In a GQ magazine profile titled, “The Year of Living Carlos Dangerously,” Weiner said he might be the head honcho at City Hall “maybe if the Internet didn’t exist? Like, if I was running in 1955? I’d probably get elected mayor.”
Weiner’s not the only one whose bad behavior has been, ahem, exposed by social media. The kids who trashed the home of former NFL offensive tackle Brian Holloway were caught because they tweeted photos of the damage they had done.
Motorcyclists who smashed Alexian Lien’s car and beat him up have been identified and arrested because they posted much of their escapade on YouTube.
And a Brooklyn rapper’s Instagram post suggesting he was selling weapons helped New York City cops break up a gun-smuggling operation in which they confiscated 250 weapons and arrested 19.
Now there’s a strong argument that the real factor here was less social media than good old-fashioned stupidity. Almost all these people got in trouble because they or their collaborators shared evidence of their bad behavior on the Internet.
But if Anthony Weiner wants to blame new technology for keeping him out of office, all we can say is this: Thank God for social media.