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Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

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Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#121

Post by aleph_minus_one »

tfgg wrote: post #106
c4mpute wrote: post #12

I think this is an eternal cycle. Maybe related to what has been called "enshittification", but not the same: Users will flock to a platform, make it their own. The platform will grow. Then the advertisers, professionals, and hucksters will swoop in, do their thing, and slowly overshadow the old "normal" users. Then old users will leave, leaving a wasteland of ads and glossy shiny. I'd like to call it "glossification…

What was remarkable is how Facebook's Threads app jumped straight to being full of advertisers and hucksters - they didn't think that maybe the right way to bootstrap a social network would be to make it full of authentic conversations, at least to start with.

> they didn't think that maybe the right way to bootstrap a social network would be to make it full of authentic conversations, at least to start with.

I doubt that any social media platform owner wants authentic conversations - even initially.

Instead of giving arguments, I refer to Paul Graham's essay "What you can't say":

> http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html

If people were really authentic in their conversations, they would be in real trouble quite soon - and the social media platform on which these really authentic conversations are posted would be, too.

So, what social media companies do is enforce some kind of "editorial policy" (moderation) which makes the conversations that don't become censored still feel "somewhat authentic" to many visitors, so that this bluff only gets busted after some time in which the platform's owners can make sufficient money.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#122

Post by morkalork »

romusha wrote: post #45
c4mpute wrote: post #12

I think this is an eternal cycle. Maybe related to what has been called "enshittification", but not the same: Users will flock to a platform, make it their own. The platform will grow. Then the advertisers, professionals, and hucksters will swoop in, do their thing, and slowly overshadow the old "normal" users. Then old users will leave, leaving a wasteland of ads and glossy shiny. I'd like to call it "glossification…

Would this be like gentrification?

Sure. Like how a neighbourhood with low rent, cheap cultural non-corporate restaurants (pho, tacos, gyros), full of students, young professionals, immigrants and all the character those things have is like a young platform. Then because it's a cool place to be, brands move in (hello Starbucks), rent goes up, and the people that made it interesting in the first place are pushed out.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#124

Post by queuebert »

cvhashim04 wrote: post #98
steveBK123 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is also an age/generation thing. FB was cool until your aunt was there. Then IG was cool until the same. TikTok probably well through that cycle. etc.

All the cool kids are on Locket

All the really cool kids never left EFnet.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#125

Post by jonahrd »

matsemann wrote: post #29

I posted a lot on facebook in high school. Had maybe 50 friends there, like my classmates, soccer team etc. Posted at least once a day what I was doing, same did everyone else, and we discussed in during lunch next day. Or I would post a general "going to the soccer field, just join in", and we'll be a group there. Then joining university and getting new groups of friends, it didn't feel relevant to "spam" everyone w…

This makes me wonder if something like Google+ "circles" or the idea of maintaining a finsta could translate into a way to bring back posting on social media.

I think what Google+ got wrong is that connections are a 2-way street, you may not realize your new friend _wants_ the day-to-day updates and soccer game invites, because to you they may just be someone you met at work.

Imagine if you could have a list of feeds to follow, personal, professional, etc. And when adding someone you could follow whichever feeds you wanted, and unfollow certain ones at any point. Some could be private, so you'd have to be approved to follow.

Then I wouldn't feel the need to remove old acquaintances from fb, I would just unfollow their feeds. I would feel comfortable posting stuff related to my job/networking because I know only people following my professional feed would see it. And I'd be comfortable posting personal stuff to my personal feed if it was locked and I was the maintainer of who could follow it.

They could pretty easily implement this in facebook and I could imagine it breathing life back into the platform.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#126

Post by nicbou »

chromakode wrote: post #109
nicbou wrote: post #49

An online community should feel like an online pub. It should have a vibe, some regulars, inside jokes, and a decorum that is somewhat well enforced. They're cosy places where a sense of belonging encourages participation and good behaviour. HN is like that. Small subreddits are like that. Group chats are like that. But now every social media website became like that one pedestrian street with the H&M and the McDonal…

This is often termed a "Third Place" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

It's very similar now that you mention it. It should feel the same and achieve roughly the same goals.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#127

Post by queuebert »

ModernMech wrote: post #114
FrustratedMonky wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes Early Digg was pretty good. Early Reddit had a lot of good help guides and interesting perspectives. Now on HN. And crossing fingers. (Slashdot seemed to go through the cycle, bottom out, and is ok again?)

Slashdot will never be okay again. I go there every so often to check, and it's still a dumpster fire.

And R.I.P. kuro5hin.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#128

Post by nightowl_games »

Social Media started it's down fall ~2008 when the teachers and parents joined facebook.

I remember when facebook was _only_ the fellow kids you knew. There were inside jokes, offensive stuff, lots of pure text posts. It was _way_ different.

Parents and teachers joined, a couple kids got in trouble for what they posted on facebook, and everyone stopped using it freely.

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#129

Post by SoftTalker »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #121
tfgg wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was remarkable is how Facebook's Threads app jumped straight to being full of advertisers and hucksters - they didn't think that maybe the right way to bootstrap a social network would be to make it full of authentic conversations, at least to start with.

> they didn't think that maybe the right way to bootstrap a social network would be to make it full of authentic conversations, at least to start with. I doubt that any social media platform owner wants authentic conversations - even initially. Instead of giving arguments, I refer to Paul Graham's essay "What you can't say": > http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html If people were really authentic in their conversations,…

I had forgotten about that essay. Quite appropos in these times (probably in all times, but there are a few current topics that immediately spring to mind).

Re: Social media decline: Users are shifting to messaging apps and group chats

#130

Post by gumby »

The funny thing for me is that my FB feed is nothing but user-generated -- no glossy productions. While I've tried instagram at the instigation of my partner and the opposite appears to be true.

And twitter, which I've never really liked, is still for me at least small things written by humans.

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