Earlier quoted context omitted.
The personal attack isn't necessary to communicate your point.
>They "trust me" >Dumb fucks.
Who amongst us has not said something (well, many things for me at least) when they were 19?
Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
51–60 of 60 posts
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#52So when can we address the elephant in the room and admit plainly that Facebook has net negative value for humanity and if Zuckerberg were a moral agent and not an alien lizard king he would have years ago liquidated the thing and imputed its net assets to the shareholders?
For me, Facebook is unquestionably a net positive value. I get to keep tabs on friends without actively having to reach out. So people don't become strangers over time. I can discover events around me and expand my social circle. I can be start a business with a free web presence and attract customers. The downsides that are mentioned are deteriorating discourse, misinformation, false expectations and social pressure…
What you don't realize is that Facebook lets you keep tabs on friends only they like, let's you discover events only they approve and let's your business get presence only when it aligns with their ideologies. They are not content with enabling connections and are showing every intent to become the political and ideological filter for the world. The real money is when you control information.
There is a lot of evidence coming out in India right now about how they influenced the elections in favour of the current ruling party. A party that has been involved in such shenanigans as demonetisation, Hindu nationalism, anti-Muslim rhetoric, weakening of the judiciary, complete media capture, and an absolutely abysmal management of the covid situation culminating in a 30% drop in GDP. If that is not evidence of net value, I don't know what is.
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#53Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#54Wow some of the contents of this post scare me, I can’t believe we are at the point where Facebook has to remove content that intimidates election officials. I’m scared both because Facebook has this much power and also because of the issues they’re addressing. I wish our democracy was a little more civil. This is also partially facebook’s fault because they definitely have increased polarization through personalizat…
We don't have a democracy. It's a republic. Basically a fake democracy.
The US is a democracy - a representative democracy (as opposed to say 'direct democracy'). It can be a democracy and a republic.
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
We don't have a democracy. It's a republic. Basically a fake democracy.
The US is a democracy - a representative democracy (as opposed to say 'direct democracy'). It can be a democracy and a republic.
if by "the US" you mean "the federal government of the united states of america", than the words you are looking for are "constitutional republic".
if by "the US" you mean "the collection of various states that make up the members of the federal government of the united states of america", than there isn't one single concept that can be applied universally.
different states have different types of governments - some are even commonwealths, not states!
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me, Facebook is unquestionably a net positive value. I get to keep tabs on friends without actively having to reach out. So people don't become strangers over time. I can discover events around me and expand my social circle. I can be start a business with a free web presence and attract customers. The downsides that are mentioned are deteriorating discourse, misinformation, false expectations and social pressure…
Right! And that's really a great point, it can be a positive for individuals. Except that for society it has negative value. This is like opening a mine, extracting all the resources, and leaving behind a poisonous scab on the earth. (Not coincidentally the way I picture MZ.)
I have not seen evidence to quantify its value to society as a positive/negative. Would society have been worse off or better off without Facebook? I believe that is not an answerable question because it is alternate history.
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure what you're referring to. Most Facebook users don't read Zuckerberg's posts, and won't hear much about US politics unless their friends choose to discuss it.
I don't mean just this post. Users are being exposed to policies related to US elections through warnings, limits to how often they can post, limits in messenger, ban of specific content, popup messages etc etc. It's impossible to miss
I admit I'm not exactly a power user, but I've never noticed US election content on Facebook even though I actually am in the US.
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#58So when can we address the elephant in the room and admit plainly that Facebook has net negative value for humanity and if Zuckerberg were a moral agent and not an alien lizard king he would have years ago liquidated the thing and imputed its net assets to the shareholders?
For me, Facebook is unquestionably a net positive value. I get to keep tabs on friends without actively having to reach out. So people don't become strangers over time. I can discover events around me and expand my social circle. I can be start a business with a free web presence and attract customers. The downsides that are mentioned are deteriorating discourse, misinformation, false expectations and social pressure…
User 'potamic' made most of the point I would have made, so I'll address this:
> I get to keep tabs on friends without actively having to reach out. So people don't become strangers over time.
This is a fundamental perversion of the notion of social interaction. It proposes an argument whose form and frame substitutes people and relationships for a passive consumption of images of people and relationships. Instead of people becoming strangers over time (which is normal and healthy), everyone is transformed into simulacra of acquaintances or friends instantly; you are implicitly, automatically estranged from the beginning. Your Facebook-mediated relationships last longer than they would have without Facebook precisely because of its impersonal and inauthentic character which absolves you of the real effort otherwise required to have an authentic relationship.
To use it is to delegate an always-increasing portion of your social existence to the black-box of the Zuckertron, with all of the political, ideological, and economic implications, caveats, and perturbances that come with it. To wit: you've already accepted the argument, and you're here defending it with evidence amounting to 'everyone else plugged into the Borg cube is plugged into the Borg cube, together we all cube the Borg cube'.
Needless to say, I am skeptical that the niche Facebook has carved out for itself as the arbiter of who-and-what-I-see-and-how and who-and-what-sees-me-and-how is likely to work out in my favor.
Recommended reading: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#59Tim Pool recently did a segment with Drew Hernandez detailing the potential that this might be a set up. In their scenario, both political parties will claim victory but the extremely biased mainstream media will "finalize" their narrative while the other will be instantly silenced.
I just recently was introduced to Tim Pool. I don’t think I fully understand his agenda but he for sure has one. This election will certainly be contentious, but this prediction seems designed to inflame and promise that it’s impossible for any actor to be trustworthy and all systems will fail. Which is maybe true, but fear mongering like this is profitable and dangerous.
Re: Zuckerberg: this election is not going to be business as usual
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me, Facebook is unquestionably a net positive value. I get to keep tabs on friends without actively having to reach out. So people don't become strangers over time. I can discover events around me and expand my social circle. I can be start a business with a free web presence and attract customers. The downsides that are mentioned are deteriorating discourse, misinformation, false expectations and social pressure…
User 'potamic' made most of the point I would have made, so I'll address this: > I get to keep tabs on friends without actively having to reach out. So people don't become strangers over time. This is a fundamental perversion of the notion of social interaction. It proposes an argument whose form and frame substitutes people and relationships for a passive consumption of images of people and relationships. Instead of…
What is the notion of social interaction? What do you mean by normal and healthy? I disagree that the scenario you laid out is necessarily true. It is possible though, yes.
I curate my friends list and often prune connections I have drifted away from. The friends I keep on FB are people I want to continue to be friends with. Because people were on my friends list and I saw them online in my periphery, I was more comfortable reaching out to them when I visited their cities after many years. Granted, there are some people who were, and will remain casual acquaintances - but having or not having them in my feed has no effect on me that I can tell.
So I do not think being able to keep tabs is an argument for passive consumption of people. Indeed, it has helped me actively reconnect. I do not agree that using FB is delegating an ever increasing portion of my social existence to the "black-box of the Zuckertron". I do not use FB as a substitute for people I can connect with in person. I also think you are mis-characterizing my argument under the influence of your feelings about FB.