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Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

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Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#181

Post by jeanofthedead »

dont__panic wrote: post #9
mzkply wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I in the super-minority if I say I've unfollowed about 80% of my FB friends? I've never seen a political or outrage post in the last 3 years since I just unfollowed everyone but my closest friends and family.

Probably? I know that you're capable of doing that, but most of our friends and family log onto Facebook to zone out, not to curate their feed. Their feeds will continue to be full of garbage, not even counting the ads that show up that often target people for political ends. I would much rather Facebook removed link posts entirely, and also provided an easy toggle option to disable shared content in the feed.

I'm a big fan of the FBPurity browser extension for disabling shared links/posts.

https://www.fbpurity.com/

Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#182

Post by olivermarks »

marttt wrote: post #171
olivermarks wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel you can apply the maxim 'in politics nothing happens by accident' to Facebook despite their earnest attempts to claim unintended consequences. They are a highly important component of our divide and rule political era on multiple levels and sadly are doing an excellent job.

True. In the early 2010s, I used to ponder whether journalism is actually dying -- meaning, now that we have social media, traditional gatekeeper-journalism [1] is simply not needed any more. During the passed decade, it has become obvious that as long as a social network is also a megacorporation, this idea won't work. We still need the better parts of traditional journalism to check what's going on behind the curta…

The huge challenge for journalism is the reality that professionals are almost always paid to promote the agenda of their employer and advertisers. Independent, investigative reporting is very rare in corporate media these days. Many (Chris Hedges, ex NYT foreign correspondent is a good example) set up as independents in the golden era of blogging prior to the social media/smartphone tsunamai.

I would argue people such as Matt Taibbi, Matt Stoller, Michael Tracey, Chris Hedges in the US are the true gatekeepers right now based on my understanding of the planet. These people appear to survive by publishing books and keeping up a strong social media presence critiquing the platforms that host them, and with companies like substack paying them to promote their platforms.

Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#183

Post by bingohbangoh »

jeanofthedead wrote: post #179
bingohbangoh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always been surprised that Facebook did not try to spin out Events like they did with Messenger. Facebook Events is an incredible product.

Facebook created "Facebook Events," later renamed "Facebook Local" for iOS and Android. And nobody I know has ever heard of it. https://www.facebook.com/local

It appears to not be available in the united states.

Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#184

Post by midnightGhost »

Facebook lost at being a social media platform long ago with serving ads and trying to be a social media platform and news media platform at the same time. It just does not work.

That seems to be the big issue with people trying to create a social platform. You can't have a social platform that also has ads and news going around like wildfire. Ads ruin the experience and make it feel less "social" and news well just look at Facebook and Twitter and what news sharing has done there.

People want to be able to chat and have a feed among their friends and family. Take out all the business, celebrity pages and all other pages. Just have a friends list, chat and a feed.

I look back on the AIM days and how simple it was. It was just a friends list, chats and chatrooms based on topics from what I can remember. There weren't any algorithms altering anything. There wasn't all this extra stuff like following or friending businesses, magazines/newspapers, celebrities or anything else.

I have no idea why a social platform today needs all this extra garbage like businesses, celebs etc that has nothing to do with being a social platform. I think at that point it just becomes a hub for information and not a place to socialize, chat and share among your friends and family.

Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#185

Post by moate »

fortuna86 wrote: post #180
moate wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I haven't spoken to my parents in 2 years. Don't worry, that's taken care of.

I would try and reconnect and avoid politics. If they are older, they might not be around that much longer.

I would advise you not try and make any assumptions about someone else's situation based on about 4 sentences in the comments' section.

The world would be better off without them, nevermind me.

Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#186

Post by fortuna86 »

moate wrote: post #185
fortuna86 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would try and reconnect and avoid politics. If they are older, they might not be around that much longer.

I would advise you not try and make any assumptions about someone else's situation based on about 4 sentences in the comments' section. The world would be better off without them, nevermind me.

That's a hell of a sentence.

Re: Facebook tried to make its platform a healthier place, but it got angrier

#187

Post by moate »

fortuna86 wrote: post #186
moate wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would advise you not try and make any assumptions about someone else's situation based on about 4 sentences in the comments' section. The world would be better off without them, nevermind me.

That's a hell of a sentence.

I realize grammatically I fucked that one up: I would be better off without them. The world would also be better off without them.
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