--- title: Don't Blame Technology For Fear Of The New description: Every decade or so, a new technology appears in the market and people are scared because they don’t understand it. image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/shutterstock_519894901.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/dont-blame-technology-for-fear-of-the-new#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Don't Blame Technology For Fear Of The New May 17th, 2017 2 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![shutterstock_519894901.jpg](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_519894901.jpg?width=1000&height=667&name=shutterstock_519894901.jpg) Fake news is the fault of Facebook! Uber drivers are dangerous! Oh the horror! We’re yet again going through a paranoid cycle where people who should know better are blaming technology for what humans do with it. Uber is the safest way to travel because there is a record of exactly when and where a driver meets a passenger and where the passenger is taken. Sign me up for that! Getting into a Yellow Cab on some random street corner at night is scary. Nobody knows you got into that cab. The idea that Uber technology is bad and the cars are unsafe is absolute nonsense. Yet there are a bunch of stories saying so.  Every decade it seems a new technology appears in the market that people are scared of because they don’t understand it. For example, those who don’t know how to monitor Facebook and other social networks for information of value blame the networks for what’s published.  Yet there are so many negative stories about “fake news” on Facebook and the “dark side” such as the *New York Times Magazine* cover story a few weeks ago titled [Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/magazine/can-facebook-fix-its-own-worst-bug.html) In it, Farhad Manjoo wrote about whether one of the most powerful tools for connection in human history is capable of adapting to the world it created. ## Fear of Technology I’ve personally witnessed several rounds of this paranoia. I’m old enough to remember the hand-wringing over personal computers entering the workplace in the late 1980s. There were tons of stories about how “email might expose a corporation to its secrets being revealed to the outside world”.  The result was to clamp down on email at work. At a company I worked for, email was only for employees of director level and above because it was too scary for everyone. The Web and blogging were frightening in the 2000s when people worried about using the public Internet and all of its (gasp!) "unverified information". Heck, our great grandparents likely [fretted about that new fangled telephone!](https://www.webinknow.com/2010/11/ban_social_media_at_work.html) ## Technology isn’t the problem People seem to be getting their collective knickers in a twist about technology again today. But it’s not technology. It’s us. Mike Sweet, CEO of Credo Education [said in his letter to the editor](http://www.credoeducation.com/facebooks-bug-is-ours-to-fix/) replying to the Facebook story that “the ideal solution to Facebook’s News Feed problem rests squarely upon our own collective shoulders. The infrastructure to fix what’s broken lies not in Facebook’s News Feed team, but in our educational system: When we teach people to be smart news consumers, the algorithm of any one social-media app becomes secondary to the truth itself. Empowering individuals amid this global web to discern fact from fiction is a stronger bulwark against viral misinformation.” And this from Mike's company on ["Fake News"](http://www.credoeducation.com/following-the-money-trail/). [![New Call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/413105/e5b62938-97f3-40a1-9bc9-f10843b48ec1.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/413105/e5b62938-97f3-40a1-9bc9-f10843b48ec1) [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Worst Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/worst-practices) [ Facebook ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/facebook) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pirated%20books.jpg?width=1500&height=1000&name=Pirated%20books.jpg) ### Move Fast and Steal Things: Meta Pirated 53 of My Books and Stories to Train Their AI March 26th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/move-fast-and-steal-things-meta-pirated-53-of-my-books-and-stories-to-train-their-ai) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Toyota%20website.jpg?width=1253&height=822&name=Toyota%20website.jpg) ### Automaker Website Frustrations Push Buyers Elsewhere December 10th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/automaker-website-frustrations-push-buyers-elsewhere) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Do%20not%20play%20Yamaha.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=Do%20not%20play%20Yamaha.jpg) ### Please Do Not Play Without Permission November 12th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/please-do-not-play-without-permission) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Teen%20and%20Young%20Adult%20AI.jpg?width=1338&height=886&name=Teen%20and%20Young%20Adult%20AI.jpg) ### Generative AI Not Understood By Young People… Educators Are To Blame July 9th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/generative-ai-not-understood-by-young-people-educators-are-to-blame) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Crush%20Apple%20video.jpg?width=1500&height=845&name=Crush%20Apple%20video.jpg) ### Apple’s Soul Crushing, Creator Destroying Metaphor for what AI is Doing to Society May 8th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/apples-soul-crushing-creator-destroying-metaphor-for-what-ai-is-doing-to-society) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_126631127.jpg?width=1500&height=999&name=shutterstock_126631127.jpg) ### Customer Testimonials Are Not Effective Storytelling March 26th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/customer-testimonials-are-not-effective-storytelling) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/we%20annoy%20our%20clients.jpg?width=1000&height=670&name=we%20annoy%20our%20clients.jpg) ### We Annoy Our Customers March 5th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/we-annoy-our-customers) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_272153462%20copy.jpg?width=1000&height=628&name=shutterstock_272153462%20copy.jpg) ### Legal Caution vs. PR Clarity: University Presidents' Legal Advisors Muddled Congressional Testimonies December 19th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/legal-caution-vs.-pr-clarity-university-presidents-legal-advisors-muddled-congressional-testimonies-on-antisemitism) [![Man holding a tablet computer with tip options](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_2328873613.jpg?width=1500&height=1000&name=shutterstock_2328873613.jpg) ### Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should October 19th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/just-because-you-can-doesnt-mean-you-should) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/max%20logo%20win.jpg?width=925&height=621&name=max%20logo%20win.jpg) ### Max Mayhem: Warner Bros. 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