Suw – apologies if I seemed overly critical of your not discussing the 'deeper points' – I really am very impressed by the detail of your post – detail that is so often missing in blog posts.

I fear that we are probably in furious agreement on most of this.

The issue is an important one in my mind and I credit Carr (despite the shocking inaccuracies) for bringing it to light again, even if, as you point out, this is hardly a new debate.

If Carr's fundamental point is that social media is corrupting humanity (I don't think it is btw – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/11/paul-carr-...) then he is wrong. The issue that I find much more interesting is the effect that all this instant non-fact-checked news we receive from citizen journalists is having on society and professional journalism.

I don't have the answers, but am enjoying the debate!

Suw – apologies if I seemed overly critical of your not discussing the 'deeper points' – I really am very impressed by the detail of your post – detail that is so often missing in blog posts.

I fear that we are probably in furious agreement on most of this.

The issue is an important one in my mind and I credit Carr (despite the shocking inaccuracies) for bringing it to light again, even if, as you point out, this is hardly a new debate.

If Carr's fundamental point is that social media is corrupting humanity (I don't think it is btw – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/11/paul-carr-...) then he is wrong. The issue that I find much more interesting is the effect that all this instant non-fact-checked news we receive from citizen journalists is having on society and professional journalism.

I don't have the answers, but am enjoying the debate!

However, I would say that the discussion around citizen journalism has been going on for the best part of the last decade. It started in earnest after 9/11 in the US, after 7/7 in the UK, then again after the Buncefield petrol depot fire, the Virginia Tech shootings, the Burmese protests, the Iranian elections. Carr is not only late to the party, he's also arrived without a bottle of wine and didn't bring dessert – he just doesn't add anything new, nor does he provide any additional or useful insight.

Eb is right – Carr's idea that social media is corrupting humanity in some way is fallacious, relying mainly on the “slippery slope fallacy”. It's also an argument that has been made throughout history, every time someone comes up with a new idea. As is so often quoted, Plato bemoaned the invention of writing, but it hasn't done us too badly!

An assessment of how we put our humanity before our ego will differ from one person to the next as we don't all have the same moral compass pointing in the direction.

I think having the tools around is a good thing because it allows us to know what humanity is really like warts and all.