Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

washingtonmonthly.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 123 posts

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#71

Post by underwater »

eadmund wrote: post #49

> When citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, most observers were stunned. The polls had predicted a victory for the “Remain” campaign. And common sense made it hard to believe that Britons would do something so obviously contrary to their self-interest. Y'know, I suspect that Leave voters thought leaving was in their self-interest — or at the very least that voting 'Leave' sen…

> The sad fact of the matter is that Mrs. Clinton was easily the worst candidate that the Democrats have put forward in a generation — she makes Mondale, Dukakis & Kerry look charismatic!

I saw this sentiment floating around Reddit a lot amongst disenfranchised Democrats supporters. It sounds exactly like the type of meme the article is discussing. Does being charismatic actually matter? It makes sense to make this a talking point if the candidate you want to win has no political experience but is a great showman.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#72

Post by foobarbecue »

eadmund wrote: post #69
foobarbecue wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mrs. Clinton was ... [not charismatic] I've never understood this line; she always seemed charismatic to me. I'm curious -- can you name a female politician you consider charismatic?

> I'm curious -- can you name a female politician you consider charismatic? I hate to say it, but the first example which leaps to mind is Mrs. Palin. There's no there there (as anyone who watched her vice-presidential debate performance would know) but she was, at the time, quite charismatic. Senator Gillibrand might count, but I've not seen her speak often enough to have an opinion. Certainly with someone like Baro…

What do you think of Elisabeth Warren?

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#73

Post by dionidium »

eadmund wrote: post #49

> When citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, most observers were stunned. The polls had predicted a victory for the “Remain” campaign. And common sense made it hard to believe that Britons would do something so obviously contrary to their self-interest. Y'know, I suspect that Leave voters thought leaving was in their self-interest — or at the very least that voting 'Leave' sen…

"Y'know, I suspect that Leave voters thought leaving was in their self-interest — or at the very least that voting 'Leave' send a message which was in their self-interest."

The trope about rubes voting against their interests is easily my least favorite of this political season.

1. First of all, when a group of people consistently vote in a way that surprises you, perhaps it's time to update your understanding of the world, instead of assuming -- over and over -- that theirs is broken. At the very least, one might admit that they don't actually know much about those interests.

2. An inability to understand why somebody might vote against their most immediate economic interests isn't something to be proud of. There is an enormous gap here and it's increasingly a gap in a belief in the transcendent. Yes, for a lot of rural American voters the transcendent is god, but it's more than just that. Are there or are there not ideals worth dying for? It shouldn't be so surprising to the left that some people actually behave as though there are.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#74

Post by thegasman »

The author justifies his desire to regulate facebook with election outcomes he finds personally unpalatable. (u mad, bro?)

Yes, visceral content has high engagement. But is this really new information?

How can you recommend content regulation without exacerbating the problem?

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#75

Post by Inostranetz »

underwater wrote: post #71
eadmund wrote: post #49

> When citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, most observers were stunned. The polls had predicted a victory for the “Remain” campaign. And common sense made it hard to believe that Britons would do something so obviously contrary to their self-interest. Y'know, I suspect that Leave voters thought leaving was in their self-interest — or at the very least that voting 'Leave' sen…

> The sad fact of the matter is that Mrs. Clinton was easily the worst candidate that the Democrats have put forward in a generation — she makes Mondale, Dukakis & Kerry look charismatic! I saw this sentiment floating around Reddit a lot amongst disenfranchised Democrats supporters. It sounds exactly like the type of meme the article is discussing. Does being charismatic actually matter? It makes sense to make this a…

Easy answer, yes.

Charisma has been attributable to popular opinion since we figured out how to talk to one another.

If you still think charisma doesnt matter, pick up a history book.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#76

Post by 659087 »

ram_rar wrote: post #44

Its been 1.5yrs since, I had uninstalled FB app from my phone due to battery usage and havent used it since. Most of my friends are on WhatsApp and we have groups for each occasion like roadtrips/ bdays etc. I follow few on my friends on Instagram, which I occasionally see before making my next travel plans. Its feels more appropriate to share in the right context, unlike FB which feels like a public restroom.

> WhatsApp

> Instagram

You're still using and supporting Facebook services, then.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#77

Post by simsla »

pipio21 wrote: post #29

It is obvious for reading just a few lines of this article that the author is extremely biased in support of Clinton and Democrats and he only cares about media manipulation when he loses. If media manipulation in his side it doesn't matter. I am not American and from my point of view Democrats totally own media attention in the US. They own the artists and famous people space, they own most important TVs and newspap…

If you'd read the article, you would know that it is not about election meddling, but about the susceptibility of social media to social engineering, because of specific underlying technology (filter bubbles) and current policy (outdated).

You making this out to be about Democrats vs Republicans is a pretty cheap move, and detracts from those real (hopefully non-partisan) issues.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#78

Post by eadmund »

foobarbecue wrote: post #72
eadmund wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm curious -- can you name a female politician you consider charismatic? I hate to say it, but the first example which leaps to mind is Mrs. Palin. There's no there there (as anyone who watched her vice-presidential debate performance would know) but she was, at the time, quite charismatic. Senator Gillibrand might count, but I've not seen her speak often enough to have an opinion. Certainly with someone like Baro…

What do you think of Elisabeth Warren?

I think that Sen. Warren had more charisma before she entered politics (this is probably true of Mrs. Palin, too). There's certainly a strong group of people for whom she has quite a bit of charisma today, but I don't think that they're a terribly large electorate (although they are probably disproportionately represented in the media, which will certainly help her).

She's certainly smart, but that's not the same as charisma.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#79

Post by Yetanfou »

Don't use Facebook or any of their properties like Instagram, Whatsapp, etc. Just as important, tell others not to use Facebook (et al). Tell your children not to use Instagram and Whatsapp (they won't care about Facebook as that is 'for older people'). When someone proposes using Facebook to plan something point out that Facebook is not the right venue for such activities, use email instead. If your neighbourhood wants to start a 'Whatsapp group' tell them to use an alternative (Telegram comes to mind). If your local council wants to communicate through Facebook just tell them to quit doing so as they have no business pushing their constituents towards any commercial entity, let alone towards Facebook. Just steer anyone and everyone away from Facebook (and similar companies for that matter but Facebook is the one to kick to the curb first). Don't be a zealot and bring up this subject when there is no call for it but don't be shy to voice your opinion when it is warranted. Make sure to be able to answer questions as to why Facebook should be shunned.

Yes, you do run the risk of being seen as a Don Quichote who probably even uses Linux but so be it.

Re: How to Fix Facebook Before It Fixes Us

#80

Post by ram_rar »

659087 wrote: post #76
ram_rar wrote: post #44

Its been 1.5yrs since, I had uninstalled FB app from my phone due to battery usage and havent used it since. Most of my friends are on WhatsApp and we have groups for each occasion like roadtrips/ bdays etc. I follow few on my friends on Instagram, which I occasionally see before making my next travel plans. Its feels more appropriate to share in the right context, unlike FB which feels like a public restroom.

> WhatsApp > Instagram You're still using and supporting Facebook services, then.

Those 2 services are a lot better than Facebook newsfeed, which is basically a pile of garbage!
Post reply on HN