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Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

nytimes.com

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Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#121

Post by qvrjuec »

fullshark wrote: post #70
Alex3917 wrote: post #7

We might be at a local maximum, but we're nowhere near the peak. What we're seeing is an end of the race to the bottom. What's happened is that most of the major social networks only hire and promote people who make decisions primarily based on analytics. As a result these sites no longer have any real communities or organic content, and have been completely hollowed out by math-friendly refrigerator magnet junkfood.…

Ironic this is here given Snap supposedly lost users with a redesign independent/at odds with such techniques.

It wasn't at odds with those techniques. The redesign was meant to force the users to view sponsored stories by sacrificing the usability of the app to view their friends stories. To look at the redesign as some kind of improvement for the users is totally wrong, IMO.

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#122

Post by rqs »

drb91 wrote: post #20
Alex3917 wrote: post #7

We might be at a local maximum, but we're nowhere near the peak. What we're seeing is an end of the race to the bottom. What's happened is that most of the major social networks only hire and promote people who make decisions primarily based on analytics. As a result these sites no longer have any real communities or organic content, and have been completely hollowed out by math-friendly refrigerator magnet junkfood.…

> with new technologies are going to come novel and compelling forms of social interaction. What, Web 3.0 will come with booze? While I am entertained by social media, I can't remember the last time I actually interacted with anyone in a substantive way. I'd much rather hit the bar and admit to myself that social media isn't very social.

> What, Web 3.0 will come with booze?

Off topic but, you know what, maybe it eventually will. Just like in the movie Ready Player One, nothing says it couldn't be done.

Maybe the reduce of physical interaction between people are not caused by social medias, maybe just because people don't want to spend time and energy (or, lazy) on those physical interactions.

If meet with friends face to face cost 2 bars of power, and interact with them on social media cost 1 bar, I think many people will rather to save 1 bar, so they can do more tings (like, take a nap).

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#123

Post by shawn »

lsalvatore wrote: post #108
tomrod wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good artists create. Great artists steal.

Love the quote, but it wasn't referring to ROM-hacking Pokemon Blue and passing it off as your own game.

Ah, a small correction: I'd never pass someone else's work off as my own. The idea is more along the lines of "Look at this silly hat I put on Picachu. Won't you give me a few cents so I can keep dressing up Pokemon as space marines?"

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#124

Post by [deleted] »

leon_sbt wrote: post #92
ravenstine wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We seem to be on the same wavelength. I might be giving up a viable idea here, but for a while I've been thinking about a sort of hybrid between Meetup and online multiplayer matchmaking where groups of people can meet up and do stuff without the need for an actual organizer. Here's how I envision it: - A user joins and provides a materials used to perform a background check. - People with accounts sign in and are au…

I think we are on the same page. Don't worry about QR codes, it kills the vibe of an "organic" meeting. Just do it via GPS. I wouldn't worry about liability, look at the physical contact Tinder is promoting :) I think the rating should be on the group overall, and not on an individual level. Negative individual ratings should only be done with consensus, if everyone says Bob was a bully. Then Bob's a bully. But if on…

[deleted]

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#125

Post by robjan »

King-Aaron wrote: post #40
mtw wrote: post #32

Everyone's moved to WhatsApp and IG these days. If you know asians, WeChat is also very strong. People are just moving on.

I found it interesting when visiting south-east asia that many government style posters - such as reporting vandalism or unclean bathrooms - all had a WeChat number to contact as opposed to any sort of traditional telephone number.

Which countries in SE Asia? Most of them don't have a particularly strong WeChat penetration.

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#126

Post by Karrot_Kream »

na85 wrote: post #84
Alex3917 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Web 1.0 lets individuals create and express ideas > Web 2.0 lets groups create and express ideas > Web 3.0 lets societies create and express ideas It's blockchain. Blockchain is what gets us from web 2.0 to web 3.0. The technology is almost here, and after another few years of basic R&D the stuff we're going to be able to start building is going to transform society in ways that are barely even imaginable today.

Name some problem that blockchain solves that isn't already solved, other than "make illicit financial transactions". I'll wait.

Escrow.

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#127

Post by Karrot_Kream »

shawn wrote: post #68
Alex3917 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it takes new users hours or days to join an old blockchain The main reason for decentralization is to prevent collusion. But the risk of collusion decreases very quickly even with relatively limited amounts of decentralization. E.g. a consortium of even 10 independent banks would be much less likely to steal your money than Wells Fargo alone. So while there will always be some use cases where power users will want…

Yes! This is an important point, and I completely agree that decentralization is the main driving force here, not necessarily blockchains. Blockchains are a nice fallback mechanism to enforce trust, but Bittorrent proves that you can have happy ecosystems that work just fine without it. The corollary is that I'm most interested in services that are focusing on decentralization, not merely trying to be a general purpo…

You can already put ROMs on IPFS, and if you use a JS Emulator and point it at a ROM in IPFS, well there you go.

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#128

Post by quotemstr »

florabuzzword wrote: post #118
Alex3917 wrote: post #7

We might be at a local maximum, but we're nowhere near the peak. What we're seeing is an end of the race to the bottom. What's happened is that most of the major social networks only hire and promote people who make decisions primarily based on analytics. As a result these sites no longer have any real communities or organic content, and have been completely hollowed out by math-friendly refrigerator magnet junkfood.…

I bailed at the advent of forced non-chronological timelines. I would have been less insulted if Facebook hired someone to spit in my face. Easily the scummiest design decision I have ever whitnessed. Actively manipulating the structural representation of time in a communication platform is begging for chaos. Yes, of course I know the time stamps are still presented. That is not my point. Communication is sensitive;…

Chronological is just one ordering. Why are you so attached to it? Why must deviating from this one specific ranking approach lead to "chaos"?

Algorithmic ranking is not evil. A tiny minority of people rail against algorithmic ranking, but the vast majority, as demonstrated by their engagement, prefer the algorithmic model. Should we let this tiny vocal minority dictate policy, data be damned?

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#129

Post by tomerico »

mygo wrote: post #113
danepowell wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like an example of Goodhart's Law: "When a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric." Optimizing for something as abstruse as "engagement" seems like a great way to completely ignore everything that actually makes social networks compelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law

they’re just optimizing for the wrong metric. If the metric was “user satisfaction” they could target it day and night and nobody would be complaining.

Any metric can be abused if you try to optimize it at all costs. You can easily increase average user satisfaction by reducing the usage by less satisfied users, it doesn't mean you improved things.

Re: Snap’s Drop in Active Users Could Signal a Social Media Peak

#130

Post by toomanybeersies »

florabuzzword wrote: post #118
Alex3917 wrote: post #7

We might be at a local maximum, but we're nowhere near the peak. What we're seeing is an end of the race to the bottom. What's happened is that most of the major social networks only hire and promote people who make decisions primarily based on analytics. As a result these sites no longer have any real communities or organic content, and have been completely hollowed out by math-friendly refrigerator magnet junkfood.…

I bailed at the advent of forced non-chronological timelines. I would have been less insulted if Facebook hired someone to spit in my face. Easily the scummiest design decision I have ever whitnessed. Actively manipulating the structural representation of time in a communication platform is begging for chaos. Yes, of course I know the time stamps are still presented. That is not my point. Communication is sensitive;…

Your Facebook newsfeed is not a communication platform. It's arguable if it ever was, but it certainly isn't now.
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