361–370 of 421 posts
I just watched this last night. A lot of the content will already be well known to the HN audience. There was one big light-bulb moment for me. One of the speakers was clarifying the "If you're not paying then you are the product" idea. He refined it to, (rough quote), "Changes to your behavior and actions are the product" That distinction made the insidiousness much more clear than the former statement.
I don't understand this movie. I agree with the sentiment that social media is bad for people, especially youngsters, but I fail to see how advertising and corporations are to blame for the UX practices of social media websites (notifications, infinite scroll, liking posts etc), especially to the level that the movie makes it out to be. Sure, it is in Facebook's best interest to keep you on the site for as long as po…
Remember when the Flappy Bird guy removed the game from the store because it was too addictive for his liking? It goes to show how the addictiveness of tech can easily be accidental. And then people complained that he did. Even when a creator says "please, stop, this is harmful" it will go unheard. So putting all the blame on evil corporate decisions is an incomplete picture, but it sells better I guess.
Looks like Nir Eyal (Author of Hooked) was interviewed for 3 hours of this documentary. But, none of his clips made it to the final version. https://twitter.com/nireyal/status/1307577732448964608
>The filmmakers attempt to manipulate people into fearing technology that the filmmakers say is manipulating them.
I mean there are real problems with fake news stories getting promoted for example. On the other hand I'm quite happy to have a facebook account which I glance at occasionally to see what friends are up to. Or an HN account which is fun if a bit of a time sink.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "Changes to your behavior and actions..." Isn't this the definition (or goal) of all advertising? I don't see the connection to the first half of the statement tying it to free products and services. There are plenty of paid services that are riddled with ads as well. Movies, Cable TV, airline flights, etc. The fact is that people and organizations are _constantly_ trying to influence your behavior. It's not obviou…
Not just advertising, but any communication. You wrote this comment to influence me and everyone who else who read it.
There is a difference between someone telling you Band A is good, and someone hooking you on drugs and promising more drugs if you buy Band B.
This has been done to death. And, I don't mean that I'm tired of hearing it. It's more like talking about the obesity epidemic. Conceptually the solution ought to be pretty simple. (eat less food, exercise more) But in practice it's a pernicious problem which plays on our weaknesses, and does so in a way such that most people are vulnerable. We never solved this problem. Most people are a little too fat. And so too i…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "Changes to your behavior and actions..." Isn't this the definition (or goal) of all advertising? I don't see the connection to the first half of the statement tying it to free products and services. There are plenty of paid services that are riddled with ads as well. Movies, Cable TV, airline flights, etc. The fact is that people and organizations are _constantly_ trying to influence your behavior. It's not obviou…
Not just advertising, but any communication. You wrote this comment to influence me and everyone who else who read it.
But to compare it to what has been proven to be possible via social media is absurd.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Their sources aren't convincing. The questions about loneliness don't support the conclusion. https://ourworldindata.org/suicide I didn't say social media usage isn't a public health concern, there are many things that drive addiction. Social media use is convenient and it doesn't expose you to risks. Perfect for any form of escapism. I doubt suicide is underreported. There are certainly cases misattributed, cases of…
> https://ourworldindata.org/suicide This is not a credible source for suicide data. > I doubt suicide is underreported. There are certainly cases misattributed, cases of attempts are excluded perhaps, but concluding something on that assumption seems premature. There are lots of complicated reasons why suicide may be under-reported. In the US the work to get standard definitions, in the NVDRS, to be used across the…
This has been done to death. And, I don't mean that I'm tired of hearing it. It's more like talking about the obesity epidemic. Conceptually the solution ought to be pretty simple. (eat less food, exercise more) But in practice it's a pernicious problem which plays on our weaknesses, and does so in a way such that most people are vulnerable. We never solved this problem. Most people are a little too fat. And so too i…
And yet we are now looking at the obesity epidemic from the production side, rather than blaming people. The food itself hijacks important systems that are parts of our hardware. As the movie demonstrates, social media all too often does the same thing: hijacks the hardware. And as humans, we have a lot of important social instincts that are built in. Companies should not be permitted to take advantage of it: Artific…
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...