Obama Talks Social Media Dangers With Prince Harry In 1st Post-WH Interview

Prince Harry interviews former President Barack Obama for BBC Radio 4, broadcast Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.
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Former President Barack Obama would like to see people in leadership find ways for the public to “recreate common space” on the Internet, he said in his first interview since leaving the White House, broadcast Wednesday.

While the former president did not once mention his successor President Donald Trump by name, he pointedly remarked on the importance of using the internet and social media to unite rather than divide, a tactic Trump is known to ignore, with his near-daily Twitter rants against the media, individuals and even members of his own administration.

“One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities,” he said in the interview with BBC’s Radio 4 Today, which was guest edited by Prince Harry Charles Albert David. “They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases. … The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a Balkanization of society and allows ways of finding common ground.”

In the lukewarm 40-minute interview, which was recorded in September, Obama fielded questions about everything from his new foundation to whether he prefers boxers over briefs (he didn’t answer that question).

The former president said he felt a sense of “completion” when he left the White House in January.

“That was mixed with all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward. But overall there was a serenity there, more than I would have expected,” he said.

Watch the full interview below:

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for jep07 jep07 says:

    “They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases…. "

    …he won’t say “FOX” but there’s the whole truth.

  2. While the former President did not once mention his successor President Donald Trump by name, he pointedly remarked on the importance of using the internet and social media to unite rather than divide, a tactic Trump is known to ignore

    It seems the reason Obama does not mention Trump may very well be that he is not talking about him in the first place but rather about a major problem that is ripping society apart. Obama, sometimes much to the frustration of so many, continues to focus on the long game and the big picture rather than the particular and the petty.

  3. “One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities,”

    …and they can connect with and confirm their uninformed stupidity with other ridiculously moronic idiots.

  4. While the former President did not once mention his successor President Donald Trump by name, he pointedly remarked on the importance of using the internet and social media to unite rather than divide, a tactic Trump is known to ignore, evidenced by his near-daily Twitter rants against the media, individuals and even members of his own administration.

    I think you mean to say "Trump actively works against."

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