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Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

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Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#171

Back in 2005-ish era, I helped reboot a college club (I was the coach/advisor). We started out using forum software to co-ordinate what we were doing but eventually (2008-ish) switched to Facebook as the president of the club pointed out "Alex, everyone is already on Facebook and the notifications from us are in the middle of the notifications for when the next party is" etc. Fast forward to today and the club is reb…

I was in college at the time when people had stopped using Facebook to post random personal stuff and started using it for pages, groups, events, and messaging. I had avoided it before, but it was actually useful then.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#172
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen "group emails" working, even when amongst technical people. Part of it is just how emails work, part of it is how each clients work, part of it is people not knowing/caring. You'll have: - the guy that don't use the group email address as recipient, but personal email address - the guy that change the subject which starts a new thread/discussion - the guy that include all previous emails in their answ…

I move into a neighbourhood of new houses in 2007. One of the guys there worked IT at a university and set up a mailing list of the neighbourhood. It was used successfully for all sorts of coordination, neighbourhood watch, internal news, etc. There's always someone mis-using it, and the same applies to every other platform. There's always someone hijacking forum threads, or asking questions in comments instead of st…

Hijacking threads was a problem on our neighborhood mailing list (the most egregious example being hijacking a welcome thread to complain about trash pickup). The solution was pretty easy: auto-lock threads after a week of inactivity. We found that on-topic discussion settled after about that long. People are then forced to start new threads. If there is something new on an old thread, it can be administratively resurrected.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#173

Back in 2005-ish era, I helped reboot a college club (I was the coach/advisor). We started out using forum software to co-ordinate what we were doing but eventually (2008-ish) switched to Facebook as the president of the club pointed out "Alex, everyone is already on Facebook and the notifications from us are in the middle of the notifications for when the next party is" etc. Fast forward to today and the club is reb…

> Part of me hopes that we got back to the late 1990s dedicated websites/forums. That seems to be the Discord model but let's see.

Dunno: people in my circles all have Telegram (Europe here but I think they have 1 billion MAU now: they're not just successful in Europe).

I've got Telegram groups depending on my interests.

I just got invited to try ball trap (clay pidgeon shooting) tomorrow. Then another group set up a beer after work on wednesday. And on thursday, another group, another after-work meetup. It's not because we don't use WhatsApp that we use SMSes: nope, we're all on Telegram.

People can lament Telegram is proprietary, russian (is it, I forgot?), etc. but at least it's not the Zuck's FaceBook/Instagram/WhatsApp exploitative ecosystem. And people love that fact.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#174
For better or worse we are on Discord. A mixture of a throwback to IRC days combined with a platform that speaks “Internet” better than most places means a lot more interesting, unrestrained discussion happens. While most people will not go full tilt into 4chan-style right wing diatribes, it’s not like anyone will feign being offended to score “karma” points over what is being said. As a result, there is little incentive to game it. It’s just a chat with little else.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m gonna break it to you bud, the people you see only once a decade or so aren’t your friends. Those are shallow acquaintances that you’re letting drag on for too long. They’re not a part of your life and you’re not a part of theirs. At most, you can call them professional contacts whom you hope to get some value out of in the future, and in that sense I’d agree — social media makes it possible to keep in touch with…

"Drag on for too long" Who are you to dictate how other people connect. The word friend is not well defined, but a person I know from my past that I'm able to keep in contact with, thanks to the magic of technology, that I want to have some communication with, is a something.

Everything is not well defined as long as you don’t think about it hard enough. With that attitude, you can dismiss any genuinely thoughtful question with potentially painful answers, which is why a lot of people like it.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#176

Back in 2005-ish era, I helped reboot a college club (I was the coach/advisor). We started out using forum software to co-ordinate what we were doing but eventually (2008-ish) switched to Facebook as the president of the club pointed out "Alex, everyone is already on Facebook and the notifications from us are in the middle of the notifications for when the next party is" etc. Fast forward to today and the club is reb…

South African here. Just about all notifications have moved to WhatsApp. Most school classes have a group for the parents, extended family group, immediate family group, residents association group, high school classmates group, gym class group, home town group ... the list goes on. Sounds like a lot but most groups tend to have few messages.

Ditto in the UK.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#177

Back in 2005-ish era, I helped reboot a college club (I was the coach/advisor). We started out using forum software to co-ordinate what we were doing but eventually (2008-ish) switched to Facebook as the president of the club pointed out "Alex, everyone is already on Facebook and the notifications from us are in the middle of the notifications for when the next party is" etc. Fast forward to today and the club is reb…

Better yet, maybe a bulletin board and an email list is all you need?

I have some extremely useful Discords and Signal group chats, but not everything ought to be an always on chatterbox.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#178
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not group emails? There's a guy that runs multiple sports teams at a local recreation center, in multiple adult divisions (wide age/culture rage), and he has been using email to great effect for over a decade that I have known him. I get 2-3 weekly emails about teams that need a sub for a game and those spots continue to fill up quickly. He probably has the majority of regulars (in the hundreds) at that sports ce…

I've never seen "group emails" working, even when amongst technical people. Part of it is just how emails work, part of it is how each clients work, part of it is people not knowing/caring. You'll have: - the guy that don't use the group email address as recipient, but personal email address - the guy that change the subject which starts a new thread/discussion - the guy that include all previous emails in their answ…

[deleted]

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#179

Back in 2005-ish era, I helped reboot a college club (I was the coach/advisor). We started out using forum software to co-ordinate what we were doing but eventually (2008-ish) switched to Facebook as the president of the club pointed out "Alex, everyone is already on Facebook and the notifications from us are in the middle of the notifications for when the next party is" etc. Fast forward to today and the club is reb…

There is nothing wrong with the bulletin board at the student center It works It's kinda sad that members of a club have to share their private details with some remote third party focused on surveillance, data collection and targeting ads in order communicate with other members or potential members. Not to mention the possibility of "age verification" When used for public notice, the benefits, if any, of "social med…

Some reasons why a computer system is beneficial:

* Can send out updates quickly, e.g. changing rooms when you discover your secretary forgot to book the usual one that week 5 minutes before the club meeting.

* Folks can see/post updates without going in to the student center in person. This is particularly helpful if there's any club members who live further away and/or down come by the student center regularly and/or aren't highly engaged enough to go check a board.

* An archive of messages can be valuable. I have dug though club archives to find the name of a guest speaker from several years prior. Physical records make this difficult, especially in a college club where leadership changes frequently and papers get lost.

Of course... email can do all of that. The lesson is to be judicious with technology, not abandon it entirely.

Re: Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

#180
Because it's a dead end now. It used to be tons of fun, people were generally happy/positive, and you met a ton of cool people from all over the world.

Now, it's just a weird performative stage. Even worse, the people who are awarded with attention often prove themselves to be utterly clueless and nothing more than a modern day cabaret performer.

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