I deleted my social media accounts • Hacker News Board

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#171

Post by angoragoats » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 2:39 AM UTC

incoming1211 wrote: post #156

angoragoats wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s odd how so many people have developed the attitude of “censorship bad” without thinking about the consequences of removing it or whether “censorship” on private, profit-driven, opaque-algorithm-powered social media should even be considered bad.

Because censorship isn't about censoring false information, its about silencing voices you disagree with. It's exactly why Trump got into power, because people feel like they are not being heard and the left is trampling all over them, despite the fact the left is the one spreading misinformation far more than the right.

[citation needed real bad]

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#172

Post by penjelly » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:12 AM UTC

Don't agree with author, but related to the desire to delete social media... I've noticed Instagram has been adding more features to bait time from users. A new one being, if you wait long enough on a given reel, it'll suggest you posts your follows liked (or commented on) in the top right corner. This is super creepy and I imagine could be easily gamed by stalkers. These types of features that try to engage me even deeper have made me consider actually removing IG altogether like I deleted Facebook a long time ago

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#173

Post by jjulius » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:14 AM UTC

jjulius wrote: post #159

insane_dreamer wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there are a several key aspects of HN that are very different than social media networks, and that's why it's in a different category

One of my biggest gripes with the social media you and I have quit is that it has strongly encouraged flippant, black-and-white responses like the one you're responding to. Nuance, by and large, has been removed from public discourse. Edit: Just speaking for me, HN is next. Doubt I'll stick 'round much longer.

Shit, maybe now's as good a time as any. Let's see if I can keep this response at the top of my comment history! :D

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#174

Post by onemoresoop » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:16 AM UTC

Social media has become a river of trash(and for me that’s what advertising and peddling to sell stuff is) that if you spend effort on you can find some good gems. But the effort spent is not worth the gems. It’s more or less rescuing fully undigested peanuts in turds.

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#175

Post by dehrmann » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:17 AM UTC

jjulius wrote: post #159

insane_dreamer wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there are a several key aspects of HN that are very different than social media networks, and that's why it's in a different category

One of my biggest gripes with the social media you and I have quit is that it has strongly encouraged flippant, black-and-white responses like the one you're responding to. Nuance, by and large, has been removed from public discourse. Edit: Just speaking for me, HN is next. Doubt I'll stick 'round much longer.

It went weirdly assumed that HN is somehow different. I don't believe in social media addiction, but addicts are known for lying to themselves and making excuses. If you're quitting social media because you don't think it's healthy, you need to look at any social media you're still on really closely.

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#176

Post by Deprogrammer9 » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:18 AM UTC

qwertytyyuu wrote: post #32

Does hacker news count as social media?

absolutely hacker news is social media..

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#177

Post by yakshaving_jgt » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:19 AM UTC

llm_nerd wrote: post #134

nindalf wrote: post #38

This advice to quit social media is always a hit on HN. When I was 10 years younger I read the same thing on HN, was thoroughly convinced and quit social media. I even followed the advice of trying to stay in touch by email. Sure. Turns out that a lot of people I knew posted huge life updates that I completely missed out on. I asked them why they didn’t tell me and they were confused. They said the posted it on socia…

Lots of other replies already so apologies for adding to the clutter, but this sort of message always appears and it feels super dated. Like, 2003-era sentiment about the Facebook heyday. Facebook is like a ghost town now from the "social" and family perspective. I imagine some circles might be strong on it, but from every time this comes up it's clear that the vast majority of normal people have largely abandoned it…

Facebook didn’t exist in 2003.

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#178

Post by add-sub-mul-div » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:26 AM UTC

jwr wrote: post #75

I'm puzzled as to why people rage about Twitter and Facebook going down the drain, and then switch to new services like Bluesky or Threads and try to convince everyone to do the same. I mean, why on earth would you expect anything different this time from yet another "social" thing made and run by a corporate entity? I moved to Mastodon, which at least has the benefit of not being owned by a corporation, which will p…

Because Bluesky isn't being run by a piece of shit, and if that changes in the future then I'll just leave.

I got good years out of Twitter before it sucked, I have no regrets about getting in early on it.

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#179

Post by JALTU » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:29 AM UTC

nindalf wrote: post #38

This advice to quit social media is always a hit on HN. When I was 10 years younger I read the same thing on HN, was thoroughly convinced and quit social media. I even followed the advice of trying to stay in touch by email. Sure. Turns out that a lot of people I knew posted huge life updates that I completely missed out on. I asked them why they didn’t tell me and they were confused. They said the posted it on socia…

Me too! It's okay, you can't do everything and people "should" appreciate others who don't do social.

Re: I deleted my social media accounts

#180

Post by insane_dreamer » Mon, Jan 13, 2025, 3:32 AM UTC

dehrmann wrote: post #175

jjulius wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my biggest gripes with the social media you and I have quit is that it has strongly encouraged flippant, black-and-white responses like the one you're responding to. Nuance, by and large, has been removed from public discourse. Edit: Just speaking for me, HN is next. Doubt I'll stick 'round much longer.

It went weirdly assumed that HN is somehow different. I don't believe in social media addiction, but addicts are known for lying to themselves and making excuses. If you're quitting social media because you don't think it's healthy, you need to look at any social media you're still on really closely.

There are several key things that make HN different:

- no followers / following (no incentive to increase engagement)

- no notifications of responses to comments (maybe there's a way to do this with RSS but at least it's not obvious)

- no ads

- no endless feed

HN is much more like an RSS feed of interesting articles, where people can leave comments -- there is some back and forth (as in this case) but not a lot; it's centered around the linked content and thoughts on that content, not on engaging with other users. It's not monetized and therefore doesn't employ all the tricks that SM uses to "drive engagement", which is often driven by outrage (which is therefore a highly desirable component of a SM).