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As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

nytimes.com

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Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#21

Post by AndrewKemendo »

primitur wrote: post #10

The elephant in the room is not Facebook. Its the generations of people who have, over the last 10 years, grown up to assume that their personal lives are of interest to others, and wish therefore to capitalize/profit on exposing their life to strangers. This is going to be a much more difficult precipice to step back from than, say, the rampant piracy of things like Napster, and so on. We'll definitely have to push…

This is a great point. Social Media democratized the ability to be a celebrity.

Celebrity is something that everyone wants - except for those who have achieved it.

Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#24

Post by a_e_k »

jacobolus wrote: post #9
petepete wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to this one, mum means to stay silent (mum as in 'mmm', not your mother). Even Shakespeare used it in Henry VI > Seal up your lips and give no words but mum

'mum' meaning silent dates from the 15th century. 'mum' meaning 'mother' (in England) dates from the 17th century. Various English posters and signs in WWII warned readers to 'be like dad – keep mum'. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/INF3-243... https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/be-like-dad-ke...

Yep. And of course "Mum's the word!"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mum%27s_the_word

Though in terms of Shakespeare, my favorite bit on keeping quiet is actually Iago's last line: "Demand me nothing: what you know, you know: From this time forth I never will speak word." My wife and I tend to quote it around Christmas and birthdays. :-)

Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#25

Post by prolikewhoa »

dictum wrote: post #17
dawhizkid wrote: post #13

Snapchat is definitely not staying mum this April Fool's https://twitter.com/CaseyNewton/status/980341288753967109

It's disappointing how this kind of commentary, disparaging a whole nation/language instead of a government/chief of state, is seeping into mass media. Another recent example is the mock-Cyrillic in the Silicon Valley intro. It stops being about Putin , the Russian government , leading Russian politicians , Russian oligarchs or some identifiable group. It becomes "the Russians". (It's not a new phenomenon—remember Dr…

It's turning into Russiophobia.

Criticism of Putin and the Government, fine, understandable. When you start bringing the language, culture, and innocent people just trying to get by into it and start picking fun at it, that's not OK.

The same people who are OK with this are appalled at the similar right wing/4chan generalizations about Israel and Jewish people.

Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#26

Post by throwaway84742 »

prolikewhoa wrote: post #25
dictum wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's disappointing how this kind of commentary, disparaging a whole nation/language instead of a government/chief of state, is seeping into mass media. Another recent example is the mock-Cyrillic in the Silicon Valley intro. It stops being about Putin , the Russian government , leading Russian politicians , Russian oligarchs or some identifiable group. It becomes "the Russians". (It's not a new phenomenon—remember Dr…

It's turning into Russiophobia. Criticism of Putin and the Government, fine, understandable. When you start bringing the language, culture, and innocent people just trying to get by into it and start picking fun at it, that's not OK. The same people who are OK with this are appalled at the similar right wing/4chan generalizations about Israel and Jewish people.

There’s plenty of “americanifobia” on the other end. But I think in both countries the extent of the problem is wildly exaggerated by observers. The vast majority of normal people don’t really fear or hate the entire other people. It may be trendy or “socially acceptable” for them to say they do, but deep down they understand it’s all propaganda and bullshit.

More generally, the quantity of fucks anybody gives about things that do not affect them directly tends to be exaggerated.

Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#28

Post by primitur »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #15
primitur wrote: post #10

The elephant in the room is not Facebook. Its the generations of people who have, over the last 10 years, grown up to assume that their personal lives are of interest to others, and wish therefore to capitalize/profit on exposing their life to strangers. This is going to be a much more difficult precipice to step back from than, say, the rampant piracy of things like Napster, and so on. We'll definitely have to push…

The notion that parents are always or even usually wise and responsible, that seems like a very shaky foundation upon which to repair a culture. Homer Simpson “beat” Dr. Huxtable, after all, quite handily...

They don't have to be wise or responsible. They do have to have a desire to raise their kids with future-proof values. These are not necessarily the same thing.

And .. Homer Simpson? Fiction, yo.

Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#29

Post by primitur »

pjc50 wrote: post #16
primitur wrote: post #10

The elephant in the room is not Facebook. Its the generations of people who have, over the last 10 years, grown up to assume that their personal lives are of interest to others, and wish therefore to capitalize/profit on exposing their life to strangers. This is going to be a much more difficult precipice to step back from than, say, the rampant piracy of things like Napster, and so on. We'll definitely have to push…

> assume that their personal lives are of interest to others Celebrities and self-promoters have existed forever. As have gossips. Generally people are interested in others' personal lives. > parental control This is going to be an endless battle, and will come with ludicrous comparisons to the various ages of personal responsibility. You can as easily end underage internet chatting as you can end underage drinking.

I'm not calling for its end. I'm calling for its control. And there is no better entity in all society than the family unit when it comes to social control. You can't effect change without control...

Re: As Facebook Struggles, Rivals’ Leaders Stay Mostly Mum

#30

Post by primitur »

harryf wrote: post #19
primitur wrote: post #10

The elephant in the room is not Facebook. Its the generations of people who have, over the last 10 years, grown up to assume that their personal lives are of interest to others, and wish therefore to capitalize/profit on exposing their life to strangers. This is going to be a much more difficult precipice to step back from than, say, the rampant piracy of things like Napster, and so on. We'll definitely have to push…

> And, in addition, we have to establish that parents should regulate their kids' use of online/social media tools in such a way that we reduce the devolutionary effect on human interaction that is occurring now. Basically: yes! But with lots of caveats. - Parents shouldn't be able to play Big Brother in their children's lives - it's important for all kinds of reasons, especially sexual development, that children and…

>we're training a generation of narcissists

This is an age-old conundrum, and I don't think we'll ever be rid of it. However, I do believe we need to refine the current situation such that it doesn't become the #1 dominating factor in social discourse.

It would be nice to see a social network arise that rewards altruism and empathy, for example, while demoting narcissism and solipsism... Perhaps that will come, somehow. In some ways I believe we already have these platforms in some forms (github comes to mind) ..

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