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

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131–140 of 378 posts

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

#131
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't know how to use twitter but you know how to use mastodon? Aren't they basically the same thing?

There is a bit of nuance in how these two are different and I'd say Mastodon feels more like early Twitter or early Facebook. On the consume side, that means your home feed has no algorithm. Practically, it means you only see what you want and you only see it linearly. You never wonder "why am I seeing this and how do I make it go away?" (e.g. Elon constantly in my feed for some reason) Content can only enter your ho…

I also found that Elon was always in my feed even though I don't follow him, so I blocked him and now he's gone.

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

#132

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.

I remember when this happened. It felt like everybody's parents joined at the same time almost overnight

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

#133
post #35

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?)

Most niche subreddits are still good. Just avoid big/default subs and anything related to politics and culture wars. That's what disappointed me when I tried reddit alternatives. Politics and culture wars were there too, but niche subs were nowhere to be found. They don't seem to understand what made reddit worse in the first place. So I went back to reddit.

A niche sub equivalent succeeding on, say, Lemmy would either require the existing reddit sub to close and migrate there or for the Lemmy active user count to grow to the point where a critical mass of users interested in that niche want to discuss it there. There needs to be some way on Lemmy to promote those forums as well. A couple of niche forums I'm subscribed to are gaining a little traction, but I only found out they existed when they were mentioned on the reddit subs they're based on.

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

#134
Still relevant today...

-Post on 4Chan from a few years ago. I cleaned it up a little (removed retarded and autist).

The crux of Social media....

The need for attention, validation, to fit in, and be seen fitting it. Its encourages the worst traits of old internet forums. The upvote/downvote system is a compounding factor on all of this because it gives direct feedback. Violating the group think is instantly punished. Conforming to the group think is instantly rewarded. They are thereby programmed to attempt to appease the group constantly. They live for the rush of validation and dopamine when the upvotes start ticking.This shit becomes such a powerful feedback loop that they really have grasp on reality at all.

I've had the misfortune of talking to some IRL hardcore "social media people" face to face. They're socially inept in an entirely unique way. They're capable of basic social graces that an actual crazy/freak isn't, but they still lack critical self awareness. They don't know how to differentiate between the internet b.s and real life b.s. They're gullible and will believe anything from another person who is even half way agreeable to them. Its tragic. They're virtually lobotomized. Genuine NPCs.

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

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not advertisers that keeps users from posting. Plenty of people doom scroll on Facebook and instagram. ads hasn’t scared users away all that much. It’s that the platforms have been invaded by professionals coupled with an expanded “suggested for you” posts with a little bit of platforms pushing users to grow their graphs endlessly. This creates a combination where posting isn’t really for your friends, it’s for…

>It’s that the platforms have been invaded by professionals coupled with an expanded “suggested for you” posts with a little bit of platforms pushing users to grow their graphs endlessly. It really shows the hubris and lack of humanity in social media platforms. Instead of letting people naturally figure out who they want to talk to and hear from, social media empowers randos to butt in on private interactions, by de…

[deleted]

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

#136

A few years ago I heard an interesting description of social behaviour on a radio program interviewing a sociologist. They compared human social interaction to the way an actor can be on stage or back stage, and would behave very differently in the two situations, even though we wouldn't consider it dishonesty. Likewise, it's completely normal that a food service worker interacting with customers would behave very di…

The trust of a small, private group goes a long way, but I also wonder whether we've internalized the idea that things you say on the internet can last a long time. Even if the UI claims to be ephemeral, someone in your close group can screenshot what you posted and distribute it anonymously.

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

#137
post #61
post #7

I wonder whether Google+ and its Circles would have seen better success if it was launched now.

If Gmail was launched today would you bother?

In its current form, it would look pretty pathetic compared to other offerings. But that's because they haven't had to innovate due to their virtual monopoly status. If they launched a new Gmail with modern tech and design, however, it could be pretty attractive.

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

#139
post #110

0. It's been 15 years and I still don't know how to use Twitter. 1. Most of my online social interactions come from people interacting with my work (writing, code, drawings) through: - my say hi calls ( https://sonnet.io/posts/hi ) - Mastodon Quality > quantity ("the Internet is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is.", i.e. small niches are big enough) Not every company nee…

Our personal websites are so similar! ( https://nicolasbouliane.com ) I thought "wow that font is beautiful" then realised that it was also EB Garamond. The art really brings it together. I wish I sketched as often or as well as you do. Potato.horse is a work of art. How do you syndicate to Instagram and Twitter? I'd love to do something similar. I like your art and the way you chose to present it. I also met a lot o…

I also love it and am interested in hearing more about how you approach syndication!

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

#140
post #35

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?)

Most niche subreddits are still good. Just avoid big/default subs and anything related to politics and culture wars. That's what disappointed me when I tried reddit alternatives. Politics and culture wars were there too, but niche subs were nowhere to be found. They don't seem to understand what made reddit worse in the first place. So I went back to reddit.

The problem I have with Reddit is every subreddit seems filled with amateurs posting the same starter questions daily, never looking at the feed to see these questions have been asked and answered daily.
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