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The End of Social Media

miikavonbell.com

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Re: The End of Social Media

#41

Post by bee_rider »

thickened wrote: post #35

Miika- This article is a dog whistle for right-wing behaviour and is quite frankly problematic, starting with this quip in the first paragraph which sets the stage: "[...] instead of letting algorithms and machine learning decide what is good for you." We've spent a good twenty years now, and longer really, building the infrastructure to ensure that when it comes to the World Wide Web, FAAMNG+ companies - not just re…

I don't think anyone on the Left wants to give the Right ownership of the idea that algorithmic advertisements and social media are mostly bad.

> We've spent a good twenty years now, and longer really, building the infrastructure to ensure that when it comes to the World Wide Web, FAAMNG+ companies - not just restricted to US-centric ones but globally really - can make sure that the things you see, and the way the algorithms work, are done in a way that is good for you.

Wait, maybe I'm being hit by Poe's law here -- is your post actually sarcasm?

Re: The End of Social Media

#42

Post by gpsx »

I don't think anyone likes advertising, but that does bankroll the internet. There are some great content providers on youtube who do that full time and make a living from it. Even many basic sites owe their existence to advertising because running a server is not free. But the joke in on the advertisers. Internet advertising doesn't work, or at least that is what I have read.

If we hadn't had advertising but instead came up with some micropayment formalism, I bet the internet never would have developed to be what it is today, even for today's content that is not ad driven.

Re: The End of Social Media

#43

Post by briffle »

input_sh wrote: post #32
duxup wrote: post #11

Problems I see: - Most content produced by people on social media is not good and you probably don't want to see it. Serendipity of a bunch of crappy content "I had a bad day nobody ask me about it" is not something you want, but it is serendipity. - Social media isn't where you go to get info on Crocodiles, not sure how that would even work? That's Wikipedia. ... or if we're talking social media, YouTube (I searched…

> and you probably don't want to see it. Hard disagree. I want to see everything from everyone I follow in a specific newest-to-oldest order. I also don't want to see other shit in my feed (X liked Y, who to follow, whatever), but I'm fine with having it outside of the main feed (be it a sidebar or a click away). I also want to "tag" my follows into lists (family, close friends, topic X, topic Y), allowing me to filt…

Exactly this. I WANT to see all those pictures friends and family are posting of their kids going back to school, or of their dog doing whatever. That is the point of social media, to someone keep in touch with the goings-on of family that lives far away. I actually like to read their personal opinions and thoughts they write on things, even when I disagree with them. (its interesting to see things from others point of view) But I wish I could just block everthing that someone 're-shares' since lately, its no different than the huge email chains your great aunt used to foward in ALL CAPS about how if you forward this to 10 people Bill Gates is going to send you money....

Re: The End of Social Media

#44

Post by jjoonathan »

mbg721 wrote: post #9
ramesh31 wrote: post #5

YouTube is the only "social network" that I can defend. I honestly think it's the very best thing to ever come out of the Web. The key to it though is using it without a Google login and with cookies disabled. This gives you the default algorithm free experience and forces you to engage your brain to think about what you want to see, rather than being spoon fed down a rabbit hole.

I had done this in a new browser because my work once used it to stream a meeting, and I was shocked how tabloid-trashy the default front-page suggestions were. I can't believe that's what a plurality of people would want without the algorithms.

I can believe the tabloid trash is what people want: I've seen supermarket checkout aisles and daytime TV, the depths of the lowest common denominator have been plumbed before and it seems reasonable that youtube would arrive at much the same place. I can understand occasionally wanting to check the popular content for neat trends that you missed out on, but the idea of seeking out the pop / tabloid experience as your main interaction mechanism is foreign and slightly revolting to me. It's not an escape from the algorithm, it's just another side of the algorithm, and not the best one.

IMO the curated youtube experience is far better. Yes, it recommends similar content and will push you down a rabbithole if you let it, but that's what recommender systems do. The flipside of discovering good content from good choices is discovering bad content from bad choices, and I don't think those can be automatically separated. On occasion you have to actively and firmly tell the algorithm "no" in the form of "don't recommend this channel," but once you do it respects your decision. A tiny bit of curation goes a long way, and if if I didn't let youtube work with me to figure out what I liked I imagine I would wind up doing the same thing but worse by keeping a list of interesting channels that I periodically checked.

Re: The End of Social Media

#45

Post by ghaff »

chrisseaton wrote: post #39
skeeter2020 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the OP probably searched for 'Crocs'. Even DDG floods the front page with the footwear. I'm not sure this is a great example.

> the OP probably searched for 'Crocs' Why would you do that when searching for crocodiles?

Because it's shorter and is a common term for crocodiles in various places where they're common.

Re: The End of Social Media

#46

Post by ghaff »

gpsx wrote: post #42

I don't think anyone likes advertising, but that does bankroll the internet. There are some great content providers on youtube who do that full time and make a living from it. Even many basic sites owe their existence to advertising because running a server is not free. But the joke in on the advertisers. Internet advertising doesn't work, or at least that is what I have read. If we hadn't had advertising but instead…

I don't know if it's actually a plausible outcome, but take advertising out of the equation and you probably end up with a significantly more limited Internet that's mostly accessed from institutional accounts (as was originally the case) and by individuals who are fine with a fairly expensive subscription fee.

ADDED: I do tend to think the commercialization of the Internet with advertising was probably inevitable, but someone could probably construct at least a vaguely plausible narrative around a less commercialized post-NSFNET world.

Re: The End of Social Media

#47

Post by chrisseaton »

ghaff wrote: post #45
chrisseaton wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the OP probably searched for 'Crocs' Why would you do that when searching for crocodiles?

Because it's shorter and is a common term for crocodiles in various places where they're common.

Not sure it’s reasonable to search an international search engine with a regional slang and then complain when it doesn’t recognise it.

Re: The End of Social Media

#48

Post by ghaff »

chrisseaton wrote: post #47
ghaff wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's shorter and is a common term for crocodiles in various places where they're common.

Not sure it’s reasonable to search an international search engine with a regional slang and then complain when it doesn’t recognise it.

I don't disagree. As soon as I started typing I would realize that crocs would probably turn up the shoe. However, to the degree that people routinely use regionalisms, it's easy to see why they might use them reflexively. Of course, it's also easy to see why a search engine might not return the results they expect.

Re: The End of Social Media

#49

Post by criddell »

chrisseaton wrote: post #47
ghaff wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's shorter and is a common term for crocodiles in various places where they're common.

Not sure it’s reasonable to search an international search engine with a regional slang and then complain when it doesn’t recognise it.

It is when that search engine has been telling you for 20+ years to let them collect all your data because in exchange you get personalized search results.

Re: The End of Social Media

#50

Post by FalconSensei »

ghaff wrote: post #45
chrisseaton wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the OP probably searched for 'Crocs' Why would you do that when searching for crocodiles?

Because it's shorter and is a common term for crocodiles in various places where they're common.

it's also the exact name of a famous brand of footwear
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