Live data from Hacker News

Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

theatlantic.com

511–520 of 537 posts

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#511
post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I have a few younger acquaintances/friends IRL, but they would be the first ones to admit that they don't feel like they fit in with their peers, and even a apart from that its generally best not to project too much based on interactions in my own bubble. Sorry to say, but this is the akin to the “We are all different” meme. The quintessence of the internet and social apps is to organize individual and hence form…

10% of population engaging in revolutionary activities is a lot.

Yeah I've seen article or study that said that 13% activist population means guaranteed coup

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#513
post #161
post #124

Recently I was thinking about how I am completely out of touch with the culture of younger generations, and was about to laugh it off cause that's how it is with every generation, but then I realized that I don't even know how I would know. In the past if you wanted to know what kids were listening to, you change the radio station to that new loud one you normally skip, or watch that new TV show that people are going…

The extreme personalization of the internet/modern life can lead to a feeling of isolation. I recently was on a plane with broken inflight entertainment, so all you could watch was a single movie in lock step with everyone else. When the movie ended, there was a weird sense of camaraderie; "we are all stuck in this tube and we all just sat through that mediocre movie".

Planes used to be like this, and I'm noticing more and more they're expecting you to bring your own device, so it wouldn't shock me if they went back to having no inflight entertainment.

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#514
post #316
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The extreme personalization of the internet/modern life can lead to a feeling of isolation. I recently was on a plane with broken inflight entertainment, so all you could watch was a single movie in lock step with everyone else. When the movie ended, there was a weird sense of camaraderie; "we are all stuck in this tube and we all just sat through that mediocre movie".

I was honestly kind of shocked to find out a coworker watched a couple of the same YouTubers I do. It's probably just because my interests are obscure but my assumption has always been I live in my own bubble. Even my friends don't consume anything like the same media I do, going back to the early aughts. About once a month I'll be watching a YouTube Short and my wife will yell out "Hey, I saw that on Tiktok"

If you share internet wifi you will get similar recommendations based on what others on the network have watched...not just based on "your" suggestions.

Could be that.

Metaphorically...Both of you were offered "the same meal at the cafeteria" so to speak. Based on what "others" who visited that particular cafeteria had eaten in the past.

This happens all the time to me when I visit friends. I realize the reason I have a suggestion on my youtube was because that was what the person who I was just visiting would want to watch.

Linkedin does this too with suggested contacts. I would imagine spotify and others do as well.

I said one day to a friend of mine how it was "getting creepy" and his response was "Isn't this what we have been asking for though?"

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#515
Social networks definitely created that bubble where what you experience is different than your neighbor. What seems to be trendy is just for you and your related peers, but not for everyone (which can further increase extremist thinking).

The difference with the old web is (was) that it consisted mostly of blogs - public pages - available to everyone, in a way that if a piece became trendy, it would be for a broader set of people.

I miss that.

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#516
Frankly I just don't care anymore what is 'the thing' online these days.

I left the whole Facebook ecosystem years ago, Twitter last year, never used Reddit nor TikTok.

The amount of time and cpu cycles I can rather put towards my own interests and going deep on them, rather than chasing what the mass is interested in, is quite big.

Sure, at times I will sound like the guy who has been living in a forest and doesn't know about the latest happening trends. But most of the time I have deeper and better researched knowledge on the subject matters that are always relevant (rather than the fleeting trends of social media).

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why am I the only one on HN pointing these things out, and legions of HNers telling me I'm wrong? > t's just that for many people, hard work is the safest, and sometimes the only, way to get there A lot of people are disappointed because hard work got them nowhere. It's because they weren't working on things that other people valued. For example, the hardest job I ever had was working for the city maintaining the…

I'll give you some unsolicited advice: You come off as rather arrogant and I would suggest reflecting on it. The idea that "legions of HNers" are telling you you're wrong sounds like confirmation bias. I basically see the same old discussion about free markets vs. market regulation every day on HN and it's not as if there was ever a clear-cut consensus. Maybe somewhat expectedly, radical positions such as "markets sh…

> You come off as rather arrogant

I know.

> instead it's just other people who "don't understand" free markets

When I see an example of a successful commune or communist society, I'll think about changing my mind.

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You and I both know what these conventionally mean, and the overwhelming bulk of American adults are of sound mind and body, and you know that, too.

I don't know what it means; that's the whole point. I want a specific definition. I'll start with a question: Is a pregnant woman of 'able body'? Is a person who speaks english as a second language 'of sound mind'? Is a person who grew up in a place with very poor schools and who had to drop in high school to take care of their aged mother 'of sound mind and body'? Expound on the reasons please.

Sorry, I'm not interested in semantic arguments.

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love rap and hip hop in general. I find Kosher to be odd. That's all.

I wasn’t trying to be disparaging to you, and I guess I was responding to what I perceived as a slight against him on your part. If I made unreasonable assumptions based on word choice/context clues, I apologize. What about him strikes you as odd compared to rap artists you’re a fan of, or odd in what respect? I’d be inclined to agree, as I don't typically assume Jews are big in rap, but there’s definitely a huge pre…

I love tons of strange rappers. I think what rubs me the wrong way about Kosher is that he feels inauthentic in several ways.

A supposedly Jewish rapper talking about killing people and embracing that lifestyle seems weird to me. The fact that he looks awkward and uncomfortable when he tries to somewhat dance to the beat strikes me. And the way he speaks also seems very much like a put on. Like he's intentionally trying to speak in a stereotypically black manner but it doesn't come natural to him.

Generally, I get the impression that he's a white skater kid with a shtick. And being Jewish feels like part of that shtick to me.

Happy to be wrong, and I don't hate the guy. I'm not going to go around knocking people for liking him. But it does feel like something you like in middle school and then grow out of, only to go back and wonder why you enjoyed it.

Just my two cents and my opinion in worthless.

Re: Nobody knows what's happening online anymore

#520
post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew a lot of people who got into Ancient Aliens craze (paradocumental series on History Channel). Every week they would meet up and talk about whatever conspiracy they aired that week. I was so glad to be missing out. Sure, it's just an anecdote, no perhaps I was unlucky, but I want to show that it's not always a positive thing to have this "shared culture" that you speak of.

Eh, counter-argument to that is — it is sometimes really fun to discuss absolutely outrageous and stupid conspiracy theories. It’s a fun thing to laugh at, I would say even that gives a common ground to a group.

This is fun until one person says "well, they are kinda right". Happened in that group I'm thinking of, now some of them are unironically saying the pope has UFOs hidden in a garage.

This reminds me of how me and my friends once upon a time started browsing 4chan and jbzd (Polish nsfw meme site) for "spicy memes". We found some gems, but I couldn't stand negativity of these places. Few years later some folks developed genuine strong dislike for women and people of color. They are decent people otherwise.

Hence I cannot stand "silly"/conspiracy stuff like this, even if people say it's just for fun. Sadly, it sells well, so this is what you get exposed to when you start watching TV or online memes. And since it is simplistic, it is easier to have a discussion in a group about "why Muslims are bad" or "do you also believe that Vatican is hiding UFO incidents" than about e.g. politics of The North in Game of Thrones.

Post reply on HN