Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made some interesting comments this week, warning the views of people - particularly young people - can be distorted through social media if they have a lack of knowledge about history. "It worries me that people get their understanding of history of social media without ever touching any of the real facts " ... "If we can find a way of getting better education, a better understanding about what is going on we'll all be in a much better place than we are now." It's a valid point that history should be taught objectively and not through the probably bias lens of another. Though avoiding this completely isn't possible, since humans write the history books, it's exacerbated through social media. The consequences can be dangerous - see the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia. Her point is to ensure social media isn't the only place people learn about things happening in the world. Given most people with access to the internet also have access to the entirety of human history, the solution isn't access to information. It's to encourage people to access information through non-media platforms. How to do so is less clear., perhaps a government initiative (probably many approaches required). Hence my idea is not yet fully fleshed out and I will return to this site when it is. But for now the idea is that we realise the risks of social media with regards to conflicts in the world. *Though this idea discusses the risks of social media in this context, I acknowledge that there are many positives to having social media in times like these!