This is basically just describing what social media was 20 years ago. I don't have any problem with that, but social media 20 years ago also had its fair share of issues. Those issues were more...
This is basically just describing what social media was 20 years ago. I don't have any problem with that, but social media 20 years ago also had its fair share of issues. Those issues were more about cyberbullying and God awful page customization though, so probably small potatoes compared to what we're doing now.
The main issue with not just social media, but so much of our world is that organizations have largely been allowed to pursue the profit motive above any other consideration. There's no regulation governing social media in the US besides you have to be over 13, which isn't actually enforced. Beyond that, companies can do whatever they want. As a result they've become paper clip optimizers optimizing solely on engagement, which results in them employing dark patterns like preying on human psychological weaknesses to foster addiction.
I think if this continues to be allowed, the inevitable end result, when the technology allows it is some sort of direct feed into your brain that simulates something like heroin, plus ads. Something that capitalizes every ounce of free time and energy you have while not working to consume advertising and stay on a platform. It's a really dark prospect, and I don't see how anything but extremely drastic, extremely strong government regulation can do anything to stop it.
What Herman is detailing is a nice idea, but as he's noted, it will never take off. Social media is the way it is not just because it's profitable. It's profitable because it's addictive. It's also popular because it's addictive. Offering the majority of people a healthier alternative is no different from offering a heroin addict a set of hiking boots in exchange for his bag of dope. I don't think it's likely to be successful until they truly come to the realization that they want to change themselves, and even then, it would still be hard.
This really crystalizes it. I couldn't agree more. I don't have a ton to add but I'm going to be borrowing your phrasing in the future.
Social media is the way it is not just because it's profitable. It's profitable because it's addictive. It's also popular because it's addictive. Offering the majority of people a healthier alternative is no different from offering a heroin addict a set of hiking boots in exchange for his bag of dope.
This really crystalizes it. I couldn't agree more. I don't have a ton to add but I'm going to be borrowing your phrasing in the future.
Funnily enough I had a similar reaction during the Twitter exodus a few years back, when people tried to leave and decided the algorithm-free Mastodon "just didn't do it for them". They were used...
Offering the majority of people a healthier alternative is no different from offering a heroin addict a set of hiking boots in exchange for his bag of dope.
Funnily enough I had a similar reaction during the Twitter exodus a few years back, when people tried to leave and decided the algorithm-free Mastodon "just didn't do it for them". They were used to high-drama heroin, and a simple chronological feed was like a salad. And Mastodon isn't even that different from Twitter in form or pace. We have no hope of getting people off this shit en masse.
I agree with most of what you've said. But I also see a very healthy community on Mastodon right now. I've been waiting for the right opportunity to get some friends and family to join, in the...
I agree with most of what you've said. But I also see a very healthy community on Mastodon right now. I've been waiting for the right opportunity to get some friends and family to join, in the hopes that we can exist in a little bubble of non-attention-mining social media. Who knows if it will work out? But I do miss having social media that actually connected me to friends and family.
If you actually just want a “platform” to keep in touch with friends and family, that’s called a group chat. Social media is really for communications beyond your immediate friend group.
If you actually just want a “platform” to keep in touch with friends and family, that’s called a group chat.
Social media is really for communications beyond your immediate friend group.
At some point people (not me) became comfortable sharing their private things in public. The most public I've gotten is IRC channels and Discord, but I'm so hardwired to not reveal anything too...
At some point people (not me) became comfortable sharing their private things in public.
The most public I've gotten is IRC channels and Discord, but I'm so hardwired to not reveal anything too personal it comes naturally to me.
Friend chats are still small channels on whatsapp/telegram/signal or discord servers with very limited membership.
I don’t love group chats. I feel like my friend groups barely keep in touch with each other because sharing memes, surface level life events and reaction emojis to those checks some box in our...
I don’t love group chats. I feel like my friend groups barely keep in touch with each other because sharing memes, surface level life events and reaction emojis to those checks some box in our brains instead of taking time to actually talk to each other. But in this age it really might be the best we have left. I do feel like there is an uptick in real life actual keeping in touch but it just might be bias because I’ve been often actually asking people to do X together in person one on one or in a small group.
It does seem like social media is shifting more towards that kind of communication: Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram etc.. Might be the deluge of AI slop, or the danger of seeing assassination footage...
It does seem like social media is shifting more towards that kind of communication: Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram etc.. Might be the deluge of AI slop, or the danger of seeing assassination footage while scrolling twitter, or the public social platforms enshittifying sooner, or other reasons I can't think of.
I've been thinking about what would make a civil, humane social media site, instead of the hellscape that I actively avoid these days. As usual, Herman expresses it better than I ever could.
I've been thinking about what would make a civil, humane social media site, instead of the hellscape that I actively avoid these days. As usual, Herman expresses it better than I ever could.
This is basically just describing what social media was 20 years ago. I don't have any problem with that, but social media 20 years ago also had its fair share of issues. Those issues were more about cyberbullying and God awful page customization though, so probably small potatoes compared to what we're doing now.
The main issue with not just social media, but so much of our world is that organizations have largely been allowed to pursue the profit motive above any other consideration. There's no regulation governing social media in the US besides you have to be over 13, which isn't actually enforced. Beyond that, companies can do whatever they want. As a result they've become paper clip optimizers optimizing solely on engagement, which results in them employing dark patterns like preying on human psychological weaknesses to foster addiction.
I think if this continues to be allowed, the inevitable end result, when the technology allows it is some sort of direct feed into your brain that simulates something like heroin, plus ads. Something that capitalizes every ounce of free time and energy you have while not working to consume advertising and stay on a platform. It's a really dark prospect, and I don't see how anything but extremely drastic, extremely strong government regulation can do anything to stop it.
What Herman is detailing is a nice idea, but as he's noted, it will never take off. Social media is the way it is not just because it's profitable. It's profitable because it's addictive. It's also popular because it's addictive. Offering the majority of people a healthier alternative is no different from offering a heroin addict a set of hiking boots in exchange for his bag of dope. I don't think it's likely to be successful until they truly come to the realization that they want to change themselves, and even then, it would still be hard.
This really crystalizes it. I couldn't agree more. I don't have a ton to add but I'm going to be borrowing your phrasing in the future.
Funnily enough I had a similar reaction during the Twitter exodus a few years back, when people tried to leave and decided the algorithm-free Mastodon "just didn't do it for them". They were used to high-drama heroin, and a simple chronological feed was like a salad. And Mastodon isn't even that different from Twitter in form or pace. We have no hope of getting people off this shit en masse.
I agree with most of what you've said. But I also see a very healthy community on Mastodon right now. I've been waiting for the right opportunity to get some friends and family to join, in the hopes that we can exist in a little bubble of non-attention-mining social media. Who knows if it will work out? But I do miss having social media that actually connected me to friends and family.
If you actually just want a “platform” to keep in touch with friends and family, that’s called a group chat.
Social media is really for communications beyond your immediate friend group.
At some point people (not me) became comfortable sharing their private things in public.
The most public I've gotten is IRC channels and Discord, but I'm so hardwired to not reveal anything too personal it comes naturally to me.
Friend chats are still small channels on whatsapp/telegram/signal or discord servers with very limited membership.
Chat is real-time though, which can be stressful.
I don’t love group chats. I feel like my friend groups barely keep in touch with each other because sharing memes, surface level life events and reaction emojis to those checks some box in our brains instead of taking time to actually talk to each other. But in this age it really might be the best we have left. I do feel like there is an uptick in real life actual keeping in touch but it just might be bias because I’ve been often actually asking people to do X together in person one on one or in a small group.
It does seem like social media is shifting more towards that kind of communication: Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram etc.. Might be the deluge of AI slop, or the danger of seeing assassination footage while scrolling twitter, or the public social platforms enshittifying sooner, or other reasons I can't think of.
I've been thinking about what would make a civil, humane social media site, instead of the hellscape that I actively avoid these days. As usual, Herman expresses it better than I ever could.