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Some notes on influenceering

lcamtuf.substack.com

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Re: Some notes on influenceering

#91

Post by _xiaz »

immibis wrote: post #77
_xiaz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any reason in particular for going with cloudflare pages instead of github pages? The latter has served me well for years, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out

Remember that both of these are giant corporations with your worst interests in mind, and they will demand payment or delete your site as soon as it's convenient for them, so don't rely on them too much.

I'm prepared for that scenario and can migrate to a different host in about an hour. I advise users on github pages don't make use of platform specific features, mostly the default jekyll, for that reason

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#92

Post by gavinhoward »

trust_bt_verify wrote: post #81
gavinhoward wrote: post #48

This is why you must self-host. And use HN for comments. You may think I'm joking, but my pure self-hosted website can get more attention through HN if I put effort into blog posts. I have two blog posts that say the same thing, one with a ragebait tone, and one that is moderate. HN loved the moderate one. I love this site. Anyway, I think he hit on the reason: other platforms give you bad signals for their own benef…

Hacker news seems to love rage bait and may just align with your biases better than other tech sites. This has certainly been my experience, I often find people I agree with more reasonable before any personal reflection.

That may be true, but my biases are towards more professionalism in the industry, and the VC-backed HN community may not like that.

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#93

Post by CM30 »

As a YouTuber and content creator myself, this article rings all too true to me. Lots of good points here for anyone looking to get into this game.

> It’s still a chore!

Yup. People often underestimate the amount of work it takes to run a blog or YouTube channel in general, and how much of that work doesn't involve the content itself. It's no surprise everyone wants to monetise these things; doing them for free can feel like a second unpaid full-time job in of itself.

> There are weirdos on the internet

Unfortunately. Which makes for a deadly combination alongside sudden fame and psychological instability. So much drama can basically be summed up as "assholes discover mentally unstable content creator" or "mentally unstable content creator hits the big time and becomes a worldwide celebrity".

The end result can be an internet car crash that basically destroys any hope of a normal life.

And the more popular you become online, the more likely it is you'll encounter the rare person wanting to make your life a living hell.

> Indifference is the real killer

100%. Being hated sucks, but seeing something you worked so hard on go completely ignored... well, that's arguably even worse. Nothing kills motivation faster than the feeling you're not getting anywhere, and platforms like YouTube and Twitch only rub that aspect in your face even more.

> Follower counts are a lie

Definitely. YouTube is probably the best example, since it seems the majority of users find content via the recommended videos list and home page feed rather than subscriptions now. But just about everywhere is the same, and it only makes it feel worse when only about 1% of your 10,000 followers seem to actually give a toss about your work.

> Money is the root of only some evil

This is an interesting point, though I'm not sure I agree with the example given. Generally I gain followers when I post videos, with the only difference between posting more and less stuff being whether the number grows gradually or slightly more quickly.

Nah, in my opinion, the real root of all evil is that these platforms expect their users to be machines. They expect non stop, consistently posted content on a daily/weekly/hourly basis without fail.

And they also usually don't want you to leave your lane either. If you get popular posting about any one topic (whether a game or series, framework or programming language, sport, band, etc) then they only want you to post about that topic until the day you die.

That's the big problem with content creation and social media right there. And it's the cause of every issue these platforms face.

Why do we get people making meaningless polls about every random topic under the sun? Why has AI generated garbage run rampant? Why is there so much plagiarism from large creators? How have content mills taken over everything?

Because that's how you get things done on the ludicrous schedules expected by these platforms. By giving up your humanity and becoming nothing more than a faceless machine attempting to please the algorithm.

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#94

Post by catlikesshrimp »

glial wrote: post #43
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience on the internet suggests that high-signal information usually has very low memetic fitness. All the good sources of information I've found have been buried away and I've come across them serendipitously. Not particularly surprising though, entertainment is the lowest common denominator so it's much easier for that kind of stuff to spread. High-signal information is the complete opposite: very few people…

> Closer to the minimal amount of information I need It makes me wonder what this 'need' is that can be filled by memetic drivel.

Meme: contagious idea.

It is easy to remember and it produces a positive reaction on the spectator. Quality of information, even veracity, are a second thought.

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#95

Post by 65 »

luu wrote: post #8

> Some of my most popular posts are throwaway quips and memes that went viral on social media. One of my life’s crowning achievements is this: [witty, throwaway, quip tweet]. > In contrast, some of the work I put weeks or months into essentially lost the SEO game and gets nearly zero traffic ... Even though I don’t write for money, there is an immense pressure to produce clickbait — even if simply to add “hey, since…

Same goes for programming projects. My most popular projects are always ones that were very quick to make. If I spend months making an app, it always seems like no one cares. If I spend a few days making an app, people will use it.

Perhaps it instead is the simplicity of the idea that resonates with the most people rather than the complexity of the content. Perhaps this isn't a bad thing, either. After all, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#97

Post by tejtm »

M5x7wI3CmbEem10 wrote: post #42
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience on the internet suggests that high-signal information usually has very low memetic fitness. All the good sources of information I've found have been buried away and I've come across them serendipitously. Not particularly surprising though, entertainment is the lowest common denominator so it's much easier for that kind of stuff to spread. High-signal information is the complete opposite: very few people…

any high-signal sources in particular?

https://search.marginalia.nu/

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#98

Post by gspencley »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #15
luu wrote: post #8

> Some of my most popular posts are throwaway quips and memes that went viral on social media. One of my life’s crowning achievements is this: [witty, throwaway, quip tweet]. > In contrast, some of the work I put weeks or months into essentially lost the SEO game and gets nearly zero traffic ... Even though I don’t write for money, there is an immense pressure to produce clickbait — even if simply to add “hey, since…

My experience on the internet suggests that high-signal information usually has very low memetic fitness. All the good sources of information I've found have been buried away and I've come across them serendipitously. Not particularly surprising though, entertainment is the lowest common denominator so it's much easier for that kind of stuff to spread. High-signal information is the complete opposite: very few people…

> To be fair, most people aren't really looking for super high-signal info anyway.

This is the charitable interpretation. It's not that people are necessarily dumb or that "the algorithm" is trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It's that the vast majority of the time, people are "engaging" with the Internet in order to seek out entertainment in the first place.

The world wide web began its life as the promise of unlimited information at our fingertips. But most people who need to engage in "serious" academic research on a topic are going directly to specialized sources for that information that they are already familiar with and trust. Even on the Internet, websites like StackOverflow come to mind when it comes to software development. But more often than not I'm going back to text books, be it for algorithms or design patterns or what have you.

When I'm taking time to engage with the web, even here right now on Hacker News, it's because I'm taking a break. I'm not engaged in any specific productive endeavour at the moment. I'm looking to fill my time and unwind until I'm back to work and chores.

I used to think about this when I considered why there is so much hate and outrage on social media. My theory is that people are on social media because they're on a break, or they just got home, or they just got their kids to sleep and all they want to do is look at cute cat gifs or watch TikTok videos or whatever. Then the news feed shoves a bunch of stuff in their face that they disagree with or find contrarian, because they're most likely to engage with it, and the fact that they're tired and not in the mood to have a well reasoned conversation goes a long way towards triggering that outburst.

It's a cliche truism to say that the algorithms are giving people want they want. I think what people want most of the time is entertainment and "easy reading/watching." And so there is far more of that than anything else.

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#99

Post by baby »

immibis wrote: post #77
_xiaz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any reason in particular for going with cloudflare pages instead of github pages? The latter has served me well for years, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out

Remember that both of these are giant corporations with your worst interests in mind, and they will demand payment or delete your site as soon as it's convenient for them, so don't rely on them too much.

Who cares? You can easily switch to a different provider

Re: Some notes on influenceering

#100

Post by baby »

_xiaz wrote: post #67
baby wrote: post #32

> #1: It’s still a chore just use a static site if you can. I think I’m also stuck with an old stack and don’t have the time to move to a static site and I’ve been paying the price for years. All my new stuff is static, pushed on github, deployed by cloudflare pages. Worst was when a linux upgrade deleted a bunch of user content, fortunately I had set up backups! But spent the entire night fixing things. Now I do sta…

Any reason in particular for going with cloudflare pages instead of github pages? The latter has served me well for years, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out

Custom domains for free
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