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Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

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Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#391

Post by projektfu »

andix wrote: post #33

I used to browse through my instagram feed a few times per month. Just to keep updated about those friends who often posted there. Now it's mostly crappy shorts and I can't even find the "friend feed" anymore. No idea if it's just well hidden or completely gone. Now I don't use it anymore at all.

I was on it for the comic strips, but the rest of it is so noxious to me that I don't want to go there just to get a feed of comics.

Oh well, there's always GoComics :) It is missing a lot of the new ones that are on Instagram, though.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#392

Post by dredmorbius »

chasd00 wrote: post #310
malfist wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your theory about cable television is fascinating. I never really watched TV growing up, but every time I visit my parents now that they're retired, one of them always has a 24 hour news going and it's just non stop "you should be afraid" and "you should be angry" told to you by pretty faces smiling the whole time. Social media is totally that today too. I quit facebook in 2016 and reddit in 2023 over similar fears.…

> but every time I visit my parents now that they're retired, one of them always has a 24 hour news going and it's just non stop "you should be afraid" and "you should be angry" told to you by pretty faces smiling the whole time. Don Henley wrote a song about that kind of news: "We got the bubble headed bleached blonde Comes on at five She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye It's interesting wh…

Great song.

And long before that, Yellow Journalism:

Journalism historian Frank Luther Mott used five characteristics to identify yellow journalism:

1. scare headlines in huge print, often sensationalizing minor news

2. lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings

3. use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudoscience, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts

4. emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with superficial articles and comics

5. dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism>.

The same or highly similar tactics apply equally in the 2020s as they did in the 1880s (and before).

What many people don't realise: the "prestigious" journalistic prize, the Pulizter, is named for one of the most infamous low-quality yellow journalism publishers, Joseph Pulitzer. This is an early example of successful greenwashing of a reputation.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#393

Post by andix »

mattbruv wrote: post #159
zbikowski wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is so well-hidden, in fact, that there is no visual indicator that it exists at all, so you cannot be blamed for thinking it is gone. On the homepage (house icon) tap the Instagram logo and select "Following." It will present you with a chronological feed of posts from only those you follow. Again, there is NO ARROW or any UI to indicate this is possible. You used to be able to set it as the default view, but that…

Wow, I've been using instagram for 5 years and I just learned that there's a following-only feed. I had always just assumed that Instagram was designed in bad faith to always interleave posts from people you didn't follow to try to capture your attention. It's incredibly annoying that I can't set this as my default.

You just discovered OG Instagram. The feed used to be just your friend's posts and nothing else. Maybe an occasional ad, but the first few years it was mostly ad free if I remember correctly.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#394

Post by andix »

zbikowski wrote: post #69
andix wrote: post #33

I used to browse through my instagram feed a few times per month. Just to keep updated about those friends who often posted there. Now it's mostly crappy shorts and I can't even find the "friend feed" anymore. No idea if it's just well hidden or completely gone. Now I don't use it anymore at all.

It is so well-hidden, in fact, that there is no visual indicator that it exists at all, so you cannot be blamed for thinking it is gone. On the homepage (house icon) tap the Instagram logo and select "Following." It will present you with a chronological feed of posts from only those you follow. Again, there is NO ARROW or any UI to indicate this is possible. You used to be able to set it as the default view, but that…

I've found it. I'm quite sure the drop down wasn't there a few months ago.

But the sad reality: nobody is posting anything anymore. I follow around 500 real people I know in person, and in the last 30 days they published only a few posts. Very short feed.

So instagram became something completely different over time, and I still opened it occasionally, because I associate it with old memories. To feel closer to people I lost touch with, or didn't see for a while. But instead I get bombarded with BS and ads (and the occasional "real" social media post), without me consciously noticing the change for years.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#395

Post by supertroop »

hedora wrote: post #162
supertroop wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re just learning how small minded people are? In the US there was an attempted insurrection filmed live. We elected the guy who led it who then pardoned 1600 jailed criminals. Now he is trying to creat a slush fund to give them millions as reparations. 33% of the country is delighted by this. These are Plank sized brains.

billions; 30%. (His approval rating is finally starting to drop below the historic floor).

He’s still not at Bush Jr pre 9/11 numbers. That’s a ways to go.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#396

Post by chownie »

close04 wrote: post #277
chownie wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that user but I don't think this is as difficult as you're making it out to be? On Reddit, Instagram, Tiktok et al I can create a community on that platform. I can get find other people into Booktok, I can join the Rowing subreddit, I can get into Knittinggram or whatever. Posters expect roughly their micro-community to see their posts, users expect to see their micro-community's posts. On hacker news I see the s…

TL;DR. If you ask me, the essence of social media today is the algorithm and the "social curation". Is what I see dictated by some behind the scenes algorithm and by the mob (votes, views, engagement, flags, clicks)? It's social media. But fair enough. Don't forums have subforums for different interests, topics and specific discussions and sub-communities? They have the option to follow other members or topics in a c…

You're equating subreddits to forums but on forums people recognised other posters and the average subreddit poster will never read the same username twice, if they even notice they're there.

I see the argument you're making, but it's not convincing. These just aren't similar types of social engagement.

> The current top comment isn’t there because it’s the most recent, the only objectively correct one, or a mod pinned it. It’s there because the algorithm driven by social engagement decided it’s the media I should see first.

When people neglect to vote that they like the comment you posted, or they vote that they didn't like the thing you posted, this is algorithm driven by social engagement.

When the forum software which sorts by newest-posted-first bumps your thread off the front page because no one cared enough to reply that was also an algorithm driven by social engagement.

It seems a lot to me like the "hidden algorithm" part is the same? It is still the users indicating more/no more in the end.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#397

Post by rnewme »

kachurovskiy wrote: post #389

I've stopped using YouTube and Reddit since early April and it's been a mixed bag. On one side my interest level has adjusted so that normal activities make sense again - like sitting in the garden or playing a game with my kid. I've also completed dozens of projects like replacing old silicon in the entire kitchen or updating the garden playground. On the other side I'm feeling more isolated and lacking information…

Create rss feed of few curated favorite creators.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#398

Post by andix »

al_borland wrote: post #191
andix wrote: post #33

I used to browse through my instagram feed a few times per month. Just to keep updated about those friends who often posted there. Now it's mostly crappy shorts and I can't even find the "friend feed" anymore. No idea if it's just well hidden or completely gone. Now I don't use it anymore at all.

This is why I don’t understand why my family/friends keep wanting me on Facebook or Instagram. It’s not about keeping up with each other. They just want it to be slightly easier to send me memes. But if I wanted to browse memes, I could just go do that. I don’t need them sending me their feed with a bunch of jokes that are funny to them, but not me.

I have a lot of unread messages on those platforms. And I'm not going to check if it's just stupid memes, or if some more personal messages hide there. Googling my name puts my contact details and phone number on the first page. So anyone who wants to get in touch should be able to.

Re: Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds

#399

Post by andoando »

trollbridge wrote: post #135
armchairhacker wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN has comments which are social media. I don’t get why people care, because social media isn’t intrinsically bad; I always say “mainstream social media” or “toxic social media” to clarify what I’m referring to. > HN makes it quite difficult (technically impossible, but you can link out) to embed media such as videos and pictures, which makes it fundamentally different than "social media". What’s the difference? Subm…

Comment threads are not “social media”, no matter how badly anyone wants to redefine that they are. They date back to the 1970s on USENET and mailing lists.

Why do people argue so hard on semantics? Its social media in some ways and its not in others
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