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Is this the end of social networking?

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Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#241

Post by wrp »

coldtea wrote: post #183
n4bz0r wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, but I can't agree either. Do we have a deal?

I was going more for getting the classic response, from the old story: Two men disagree and they bring a local wise man to listen to them. He listens to the first guy making his case, and tells him: - You're right. The other guy protests: Hey, here my side too. So the wise man listens to his side of the story too, and then tells him: - You're right. A bystandander witnessing this scene then calls out to the wise man:…

So true, reb Tevye.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#242

Post by fortran77 »

bawolff wrote: post #164
walterbell wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are ideas that are not allowed here. It would be more accurate to say that some ideas require more work here. The reasons why are open to debate.

If someone did a show HN, for their murder for hire app to connect assains to clients, i imagine it would (rightly) go over poorly. At least i would hope...

People have a lot of sympathy here for Silk Road, which was in this business.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#243

Post by nstart »

dont__panic wrote: post #17

> [TikTok]'s addiction-based advertising machine is probably close to the theoretical maximum of how many advertisements one can pour down somebody’s throat. Well put. It's interesting that we pivoted in my adult lifetime from: 1. Myspace's emphasis on sharing things on your own webpage, essentially a hosted blog 2. Facebook's evolution from "hosted blog" to "friend update aggregator" to "chat client" to "friend upda…

Didn’t have time to read other comments, but based on anecdotal experience I’d say the interpersonal connections have migrated into the private corners of chat via WhatsApp, Meta apps’ chat, or snap (highly dependent on age and location).

I’d add on to the idea of social media is over by saying the age of social networking in public is going through a rethink (or is just over for a while).

And as much as one wants to take it as a turn towards the networks becoming an ad machine and blame it on networks themselves, I’d also say it’s a human thing. The moment a platform gains escape velocity and starts growing, we immediately see the influencers, hustlers, and businesses approach it with a “grow your brand and audience” mentality. This eventually skews the network towards serving them because they actually bring money and shortly after, tadaaaa. It’s an ad machine laid on top of a content network rather than a social network.

Chats don’t suffer from this so in my experience, that’s where “social” networks are going for now. I’ll hold my breath on federated networks being the next step.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#244

Post by duud »

Meta had $117.9 billion in revenue for 2021, TikTok is estimated to have had $4.8 billion. Social networking is alive and well.

The push into short form is just another way to get users to stay in app longer. Come for your friend's posts/stories (or marketplace, groups, etc), stay for the Reels.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#245

Post by solraph »

jokoon wrote: post #13

I think that the only domain where social networks can be relevant is in the geoloc domain. Dating apps are quite an obvious example where it works very well, but dating is a very limited scope. So of course, the single problem of anything geoloc is safety and privacy, which is not the strong aspect of any social network right now. Tinder and others work hard to make their users safe, and it's difficult because users…

> Social networks always should have been used to meet people OUTSIDE of screens, for discovering other people and things.

The commercial nature of social media is that there's a perverse incentive to keep people attached to the app or site rather than encourage them to leave the app for physical face to face meetings.

I think the problem is social media in general. As an alternative, a friend of mine recently invited me to a "IT nerds social group" that meets every few weeks at a local pub. There's no agenda other than spending time with like minded people. We have dinner, a few drinks, talk about random stuff, then go home. Sometimes, members will organise between them to meet up for lunch, dinner, or board games.

People are invited by group members if a member thinks they fit the group. The entire thing is a list of email addresses and a regular calendar invites. There's no platform to monetise, no chat groups, no special software.

It's honestly been better than any IT related meetup I've been to.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#246

Post by jakecopp »

I'm looking forward to seeing the open source/federated alternatives fill the space.

I can see Telegram broadcast channels (or Signal/Matrix groups with only sending permissions for admin) filling the void for people who'd like to "microblog" short updates like a blog, but just for friends.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#247

Post by drusepth »

germinalphrase wrote: post #200
atwood22 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the GP’s point was that social relationships are increasingly becoming irrelevant to people. Having a personal relationship CRM seems cool, but this shift in society is happening not for lack of good social tools.

“I think the GP’s point was that social relationships are increasingly becoming irrelevant to people” I have a hard time believing this is generally true.

I wonder where the split is, and for what demographics this is/isn't true for. It's been true for at least a few years for my (small) circle and I.

I also wonder if this is a (temporary) side effect of larger societal issues. It certainly feels like all of my old relationships are trending towards hyperpolitical interactions (even ones where we agree on most topics) and/or transactional/performative obligations. In the city I live in now, I've yet to meet anyone that feels like a decent enough human being to even want to be friends with. Maybe the problem is me, or widespread cynicism, or people concerned with bigger issues than just friendships. I don't know, but I don't really see any reason to put effort into making and tending friendships (especially IRL friendships) anymore. I'd much rather have relationships where I can come and go as I want or have time (online groups, meetups, hobbies, being friendly to strangers, etc) without worrying about all the added context of "are we friends?" and everything that entails.

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#248

Post by Izkata »

f1refly wrote: post #46
theshrike79 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people are moving back to anonymous communication with limited audiences. Twitter is anonymous, but 100% public. There is no way to limit your audience to a smaller group. FB is not anonymous and mostly public. Private groups do exist, but you still mostly need to have an actual name on your account. TikTok & Snapchat are mostly for people who show their faces, not anonymous. WhatsApp shows everyone everyone's p…

Both telegram and discord need phone numbers though - telegram upfront and discord after your used it for about ten mimutes.

Telegram accepts Google Voice, and Discord doesn't seem to require a phone number (I never added one to either of my accounts).

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#249

Post by alexslobodnik »

theshrike79 wrote: post #36
saidinesh5 wrote: post #3

I think the "social" part of social networks just moved to group chats. All my friends share updates of their family events, kids' stuff etc.. over Whatsapp and Telegram. Strangers gather over topics that interest them and want to talk about it seem to have moved to discord, slack etc. The whole "broadcast yourself to the world" part of social networks just moved to Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram etc.. I think.

Some people are moving back to anonymous communication with limited audiences. Twitter is anonymous, but 100% public. There is no way to limit your audience to a smaller group. FB is not anonymous and mostly public. Private groups do exist, but you still mostly need to have an actual name on your account. TikTok & Snapchat are mostly for people who show their faces, not anonymous. WhatsApp shows everyone everyone's p…

web3 is taking a stab at reinventing this without the need of phone numbers.

see

[1] https://spkz.io/

[2] https://nftychat.xyz/

[3] https://gm.xyz/

*disclosure i'm a co-founder of #2

Re: Is this the end of social networking?

#250

Post by robjan »

matlin wrote: post #59

The approach at my company is to be group chat first. We think there is a distinction between social media (FB, Instragram, Twitter) and pure social networking. I think social networks that are unbounded and broadcast centric actually demonstrate anti-network effects where the more followers/friends you get the less value you get from your network unless of course you're trying to be an influencer. The ideal network…

Tried to download the app but it seems to be geo-restricted
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