Here is an interesting downside to social media noted by Suzanne Moore in The Guardian today:
It seems to me that something quite disturbing is happening here that we are seeing more and more of, especially on social media and that is connection without empathy. There is now, on every level, unprecedented access to the lives of others but there is also something vicarious in this access. "I can feel your pain without going through it myself,” says the empathetic person. "I can feel your pain and speak for you,” says the psychopath.