Social Media: Tonic or Toxic?

In politics, as in all aspects of 21st century life in Wales, social media continues to play an ever-growing role, for good or ill. It has undeniable positive benefits such as tackling loneliness, allowing people and ideas to communicate and connect across the planet, and providing a platform for individuals and groups to platform issues or causes they are passionate or concerned about. However, it also comes with notable concerns about mental health, distribution of dis-and mis-information, and creation of avenues for toxicity and hate to reach right into people's homes. It has delivered many positives, transcending geographical boundaries, allowing people to communicate and connect with others worldwide. Empowering individuals by educating them, raising awareness, and providing a platform for voices and in many cases successful business developments.  With governments across the union currently trying to legislate to address some of the negative concerns about social media, we are joined by two experts to discuss the world of social media. Our guests:Jessica Davies is a TV and radio presenter and well-known campaigner and advocate for online safety: https://twitter.com/_JessicaDaviesProfessor Matthew Williams is Director of Cardiff University's HateLab, author of the Science of Hate, and a Professor of Criminology at the university: https://hatelab.net/Buy Matt's Book! : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Hate-prejudice-becomes-hate/dp/0571357075 As always, you can find the latest from us @hiraethpod on most social media, including Twitter/X here: https://twitter.com/HiraethPod We hope you find this podcast interesting and useful. Please do send feedback, it's always great to hear what our audience thinks. Thank you for listening to the podcast. If you have enjoyed it, please leave us a nice rating or comment on your podcast app or on YouTube and, if you are able to do so, please consider supporting our work from just £3/month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/hiraethpod