The rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, showed this week in a public event his perplexity at the world in which he lived: “I can't understand many things that happen around me. How can lies, hunger, the extreme right not be scary..."
The perplexity of this wise man is surely shared by thousands of citizens around the world who witness, for example, a pre-war situation in which the world finds itself with the crisis in Gaza or the war in Ukraine or, in a more In particular, the climate of political confrontation that exists in Spain. Perhaps the harmful influence that rampant misinformation has on social networks could help to understand all this perplexity. Our society had developed through a system where the media had a monopoly on information and transmitted what was happening, with more or less skill, and taking into account that, of course, there were also black sheep who were dedicated to crude handling. But the rules of the game were clear. The explosion of social networks and screen addiction has completely changed the information ecosystem. Just one fact: the prestigious The New York Times has nearly 10 million subscribers around the world. Donald Trump's X account has 87.3 million followers on the planet. Is it easier now for you to understand why the Republican leader can win the elections again this coming November?
In our today's edition we warn of the exponential increase in the number of children and adolescents taking anxiolytics or antidepressants. More than 20,000 Catalan minors are being treated for mental disorders. Specialists have no doubt that the influence of networks and the uncontrolled use of mobile phones are some of the causes of this situation.
As always, the fault is not with technology, but with the misuse that is made of it, from the excessive dependence on likes to the case made of misinformation and manipulation that runs unchecked on the networks. The club of the perplexed will become increasingly numerous.
