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The Ghetto Called Facebook

pcmag.com

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Re: The Ghetto Called Facebook

#31

Post by ARobotics »

juiceandjuice wrote: post #20

Are all Dvorak's friends on facebook pre-teen girls? It's probably worse than that, they are probably 'writers' The fake people on facebook, at least on MY facebook, are the people that are fake in real life. Yes, it is easier for them to broadcast how fake they are. Luckily facebook also makes it easy to filter out their broadcasts. It's also much easier for the friends I care about to broadcast important informatio…

You may be underestimating how many small bits of 'fake' are common. A facebook profile is much more accurately described as "how someone wants themselves to be seen" rather than how they are in reality. Some of it is self-censorship, some is self-promotion, some is subconscious, but the cumulative effect is such that the reality show analogy is quite apt; it's based on real events, but edited and filtered into something misleading.

Think about it this way, an autobiography is probably mostly true, but you're going to read it with the understanding that it's not an impartial, objective viewpoint.

Re: The Ghetto Called Facebook

#32

Post by zinkem »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #25
zinkem wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mostly agree with your sentiment. I think WoW and Facebook are very similar in function, connecting people socially through software. I don't really think one is any better or worse than the other. However, I do think something like WoW is a significant artistic achievement as well as a social tool. I really think this artistic product is the "achievement" of WoW.

I really think this artistic product is the "achievement" of WoW. That's one take. Another is its achievement was taking an entertainment medium that people used to pay for only once, applying Skinnerian behavior modification techniques to keep them coming back and paying for monthly, then scaling that model to an unprecedented massive scale. http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-gam... Granted the…

You're partly right, but I think a game like WoW would exist even if there weren't a market to exploit (although probably not on the same scale with today's technology). Look back to the 80s and 90s when these types of games existed for cheap or free.

Many of the "psychological manipulations" present in WoW were present in the genre long before someone at Blizzard (or Sony or whoever else) decided those game play mechanics can make a boatload of cash. The tone of your post suggests that games are designed from the bottom up as a psychological manipulation tool. This is most certainly not the case; they are designed to be fun (although I could buy the argument that this stuff is being done consciously with WoW now, and would not be surprised if evidence were presented). For the most part these "manipulative" qualities in games were discovered/researched after gaming became popular, they did not insert these manipulations into games to make them popular. Most of this psychology stuff is pretty new to popular game design.

So far I haven't even addressed the original point of my statement, the artistic merits. WoW is a huge 3d environment created from scratch by a team of talented (and I'm sure very well paid) artists. There are many people who are excited about the lore of WoW the same way others get excited about LotR. To say:

"The achievement of WoW is to inflate the importance mouse clicks to an insane level by a more complex mechanism.

That is all."

Especially with the "that is all" added to the end, this statement dismisses the creative work that went in to WoW to create one of the largest 3d interactive worlds ever made.

Anyway, both services offer value to the user but I'm just sayin' give credit where credits due.

Re: The Ghetto Called Facebook

#33

Post by alexgartrell »

hrunting wrote: post #26
alexgartrell wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One huge divide between people in the tech community and those outside of it is the meaning of free. Facebook's a walled garden to people who want APIs and generously licensed (or public domain) data, but, to most of everyone else, the only cost with Facebook is creating an account -- something many people want to do anyway for the other features of the site. This is in sharp contrast to AOL, which was very expensive…

AOL's cost was money. Facebook's cost is your personal privacy. Yes, you don't have to shell out a dollar, but you lose all control over the information you associate with Facebook. In some ways, I'd rather pay real money.

Right, I'm not trying to make a claim either way about what the superior thing is; I'm just saying that your average person would rather get the service for free at the cost of their own privacy, which is one plausible explanation for the difference.

Re: The Ghetto Called Facebook

#34

Post by SkyMarshal »

zinkem wrote: post #32
SkyMarshal wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really think this artistic product is the "achievement" of WoW. That's one take. Another is its achievement was taking an entertainment medium that people used to pay for only once, applying Skinnerian behavior modification techniques to keep them coming back and paying for monthly, then scaling that model to an unprecedented massive scale. http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-gam... Granted the…

You're partly right, but I think a game like WoW would exist even if there weren't a market to exploit (although probably not on the same scale with today's technology). Look back to the 80s and 90s when these types of games existed for cheap or free. Many of the "psychological manipulations" present in WoW were present in the genre long before someone at Blizzard (or Sony or whoever else) decided those game play mec…

Regarding WoW's artistic achievement, I've read a good observation about that - they've somehow created an art style whose longevity is not dependent on continually increasing gfx capabilities, but maintains an appeal even as other games get higher realism and whatnot. Timeless design in any domain is quite a feat.

Re: The Ghetto Called Facebook

#35

Post by dasil003 »

idle_processor wrote: post #29
shortlived wrote: post #27

Would someone like to clue me in on all the hate of this guy named "Dvorak"?

It's the name of the linked article's author.

To add to that... his specialty is intentionally specious and sensationalist arguments that don't hold up to any kind of scrutiny, thus inviting rabid rebuttals from people in the know, driving tremendous traffic well beyond what either A) a plainly idiotic argument or B) a extremely well-honed analysis would produce. In other words, he takes trolling to heights 4chan can only dream of.

Re: The Ghetto Called Facebook

#36

Post by gnosis »

ARobotics wrote: post #31
juiceandjuice wrote: post #20

Are all Dvorak's friends on facebook pre-teen girls? It's probably worse than that, they are probably 'writers' The fake people on facebook, at least on MY facebook, are the people that are fake in real life. Yes, it is easier for them to broadcast how fake they are. Luckily facebook also makes it easy to filter out their broadcasts. It's also much easier for the friends I care about to broadcast important informatio…

You may be underestimating how many small bits of 'fake' are common. A facebook profile is much more accurately described as "how someone wants themselves to be seen" rather than how they are in reality. Some of it is self-censorship, some is self-promotion, some is subconscious, but the cumulative effect is such that the reality show analogy is quite apt; it's based on real events, but edited and filtered into somet…

"Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from inside is simply a series of defeats."

         -- George Orwell
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