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Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

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Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#151

Post by octoluke »

quaintdev wrote: post #14

The whole problem with social media is the feed. Remove that feed and replace it with something that is not the mechanism to keep users captive and most of the issues with social media are solved. One of the ways to achieve that is to make people at the center of app. The user chooses avatar from multiple avatars on main screen and view their updates. Once they have viewed someone's update they can go back do it for…

This is actually almost exactly what Snapchat stories - now also on Instagram and Facebook - achieve. You can click through your friend’s updates, reply as you want, and when you’ve seen everyone you’re out of content until someone posts again. I kinda like using these apps in this way, because it’s still cool to see what people are up to, usually more genuine, and harder to get sucked down the scroll.

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#152

Post by jonjacky »

Buttons840 wrote: post #78
yazboo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a difference of degree not kind. The constant audiovisual stimulus running through the internet is much more powerful than any of those things, and more widely available. Cable TV was close. It was always on in the room, but you had to be in the room, and you had to negotiate with your cohabitants over what to have on, or else you could go somewhere and be bored. There are no constraints anymore, with exceptions…

Computers with social media are so extremely reactive. Literally within half a second I can react to my boredom and find new content. I've noticed myself beginning to read a sentence, get bored half-way through, switch tabs, look over the new recommendations, do it again 30 seconds later. Never bored, and yet never really entertained or satisfied.

> Never bored, and yet never really entertained or satisfied.

"Nobody is bored, everything is boring." -- K-Punk

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#153

Post by disqard »

rrgok wrote: post #101

I could not even being to read the article. The title was enough. Now we are trying to be productive even in boredom. Let us suck the life out of everything. While we are at, just invent something that let us work when we are asleep. I know I'm being hard, but I can't help feeling nauseated by this mindset of "reaping" something out of everything and everywhere.

How dare you go against the grain of maximizing productivity? Are you a slacker, a freeloader, a (clutches "Fountainhead" close) second-hander?

On a non-sarcastic note, I recommend Derek Thompson's "Workism" -- it might resonate with you:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-w...

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#154

Post by 40amxn40 »

wholinator2 wrote: post #146
40amxn40 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. We should not forget that social media creates this cozy safe place for everyone, so even if you personally realize that, your friends and acquaintances may not. In my own experience, since around 2010 and with the rise of social media and streaming services -especially after covid- people are more inclined to spend time at home instead of hanging out or doing stuff "in real life"

I think it also has to do with the wider socioeconomic situation. (Most) people make less disposable money on the whole than they did before. Sure, the minimum wage might increase but rent and food and insurance is going up faster! And the restaurants and mall stores (when they exist at all) and theme parks certainly aren't cheap. You could go walk a park every day but that's just tiring. There are people working the…

[dead]

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#155

Post by kinjba11 »

mayankkaizen wrote: post #141
donky_oaty wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is browsing and commenting on Hacker News not considered social media use though?

I am bugged by this question too. I've stopped reading newspapers 8 years ago. Closed FB account 7 years ago. Never been on IG or Tiktok. Never watched more than 2 YouTube Videos in a month. Twitter? 10 minutes in every three days and I only read tweets about STEM topics. Heck, I don't even join WhatsApp groups. Reddit and HN is what I browse. I very rarely post on Reddit and stay away from all political posts. The a…

I concur very much. HN is the only social media I use these days, after cutting reddit and others nearly a decade ago. I have had to set up blockers for the comments section, to limit my time, as I end up spending far too much time here. Even so, did I really need to spend the last few hours learning about corner-locked land, southwest's canceled flights, new rust features, wifi DFS, anecdotes about electric vehicles in winter, etc?

On the flip side, without HN, my life would be totally different. I likely would not have pursued the much higher paying job I have now. My enthusiasm for technology and software would not be as high, seeing the many ways tech is used here. I would not be aware of meditation, notion, chatgpt, ml, postgres, cloud, rust go, wait but why, the inner platform effect, and so much else. For better or worse, HN shapes my outlook on the world. Is knowing all this worth the time spent, or is seeking knowledge simply addictive? I don't know.

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#156

Post by Sakos »

411111111111111 wrote: post #32
highspeedbus wrote: post #27

There's a brazillian song called Tédio (Boredom) that was popular in the 80's. It talks about not withstanding boredom inside home, while life goes on out there. It's curious how the depicted feeling is so unrelatable today. I think boredom is a real force that pushes ourselves to the edge, to hopefully make a change in life, like going out to see real people. Social media creates this cozy, safe place to keep your m…

But why do people blame social media for that? Every entertainment is equally at fault, wherever it's fictions, movies, tv series, comics/webtoons, games etc

I intentionally avoid things like TikTok because I've experienced how incessantly and constantly addictive it is. But then again, I'll also avoid particularly long TV series, games without definitive ends, etc. I think TikTok et al are unique because you're "doing something" but the effort expended to get that next hit is extremely minimal. Even though I can sink hours into Factorio, it's challenging and exhausting. I might be able to binge a TV series, but eventually I'll want to do something. TikTok hits a perfect blend of "doing" and "experiencing" that makes it endlessly addictive.

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#157

Post by nehal3m »

AlbertCory wrote: post #91

Funny to read this today. Last night I got sick of TV, sick of all the interwebs' distractions, and just sat there with eyes closed, letting my mind wander. Finally I remembered I wanted to read Fathers and Sons (Turgenev). Here's a great question: why am I here and not reading that? BRB.

How was it?

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#158

Post by AlbertCory »

nehal3m wrote: post #157
AlbertCory wrote: post #91

Funny to read this today. Last night I got sick of TV, sick of all the interwebs' distractions, and just sat there with eyes closed, letting my mind wander. Finally I remembered I wanted to read Fathers and Sons (Turgenev). Here's a great question: why am I here and not reading that? BRB.

How was it?

Halfway through, but it's excellent. Like Anna Karenina, it's not difficult reading at all.

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#159

Post by myth2018 »

donky_oaty wrote: post #95
myth2018 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm so grateful for having abandoned social networks. My main motivator were the fights over political weaponization of COVID-19, but then I went on and abandoned youtube and news as well. Now, I'm halfway with my first book, found a new hobby and developed my previous ones, rediscovered programming for fun, am learning a new foreign language, found a new job with very good compensation, lost 10 kg and became a bette…

Is browsing and commenting on Hacker News not considered social media use though?

It's not algorithmically curated, and I don't spend too much time here anyway

Re: Social media may prevent users from reaping creative rewards of profound boredom

#160

Post by hattori31 »

highspeedbus wrote: post #27

There's a brazillian song called Tédio (Boredom) that was popular in the 80's. It talks about not withstanding boredom inside home, while life goes on out there. It's curious how the depicted feeling is so unrelatable today. I think boredom is a real force that pushes ourselves to the edge, to hopefully make a change in life, like going out to see real people. Social media creates this cozy, safe place to keep your m…

I remember this feeling well. If I heard birds chirping or children playing I was very upset that I wasn't outside experiencing life.
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