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Are we tired of social media? (2025)

danielbrendel.com

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Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#71

Post by tonyedgecombe »

afavour wrote: post #10

No matter how many of us on Hacker News are absolutely exhausted with social media… no, “we” as a society are as addicted as ever. It is interesting to note, though, that over the years the “social” in social media exists almost exclusively in the comments. We used to have feeds heavily populated by people we actually know. Now algorithmic feeds pump influencers in many people’s faces 24/7. In some ways it’s not that…

A statistic I heard on the radio a couple of days ago said that global use had declined by 8% last year. It did vary by country and the US seemed stable which implies it had fallen more in other countries.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#72

Post by elorant »

The difference for me is that 20+ years ago if you went to an online community there was no filter to protect you. You’d have to choose wisely what to say and avoid being confrontational because there was the very possible chance of someone more knowledgeable than you putting you in place. With social media that exposure diminished because everyone can build a bubble of like-minded people. I like been corrected, while it hurts on a personal level it also helps you evolve as a human being because you become more knowledgeable. An Internet where everyone agrees with you is boring. And because everything is a bubble we went full circle and now there are culture wars everywhere. You can’t have a decent conversation where people just present their arguments without throwing punches and accusations all around. I feel like Hacker News is the last bastion of civilized conversations at scale.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#73

Post by Desafinado »

al_borland wrote: post #2

With old chat programs and forums I was talking to real people over a long span of time. On the modern platforms I’m just talking to the internet. It feels very different. In 2024 I was looking for a place to see the eclipse, and someone I knew from a forum 20 years ago told me I could come to his house, as it was going right over it. It was my first time meeting him in person, despite having known him for 20 years.…

One of the interesting things about how people socialize is that we tend to be less honest with those we're closest to, and more honest with people who have no impact on our bottom line.

Counter-intuitively this means we end up having better conversation with strangers than our closest friends and family. Which makes platforms like Facebook a lost cause for connection.

I've had the same experience. Many of my best friends have been found on forums.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#74

Post by eager_learner »

elorant wrote: post #72

The difference for me is that 20+ years ago if you went to an online community there was no filter to protect you. You’d have to choose wisely what to say and avoid being confrontational because there was the very possible chance of someone more knowledgeable than you putting you in place. With social media that exposure diminished because everyone can build a bubble of like-minded people. I like been corrected, whil…

Try posting something that majority of HN disagrees with and see the barrage of downvotes.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#75

Post by verzali »

__lain__ wrote: post #5

Social media has long stopped being an actual social outlet and is filled with either bots or influencer types trying to be the loudest voice shouting into the void. I recall going to Reddit in like 2010-2012, back when there was pretty much only college kids on it, and the posts were often witty and interesting. That no longer exists anywhere on the major sites and trying for any kind of conversation is a dead end.…

AI has only made it worse. I stopped using instagram for a while but went back on it last week. The number of AI videos was just incredible. What happened to the place where I could see the photos from my friends? Why does Meta think I want to see AI slop instead?

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#76

Post by rupinderdev »

Yes I'm tired of it and I've been only active for last 2 months but I can't stop using it just yet. Here is why: I'm developer for 7+ years. I was never active on any of the social media platforms. I recently released my tool. I was doing research on how can I increase my reach to the audience. Most of the results I found were about engaging with audience on the platforms like reddit, twitter/X, etc. As a novice, I started doing as it was suggested to me. I showcased my tool and started trying to engage with audience. My approach might have been wrong as I didn't get any results from it instead I started wasting my time on these platforms with infinite scroll. There is no end to it. But I started reducing my time on social media. For me I feel its a long way to go as I'm still figuring out things on my own. Once I figure things out that might be the time I stop using it.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#77

Post by z500 »

__lain__ wrote: post #5

Social media has long stopped being an actual social outlet and is filled with either bots or influencer types trying to be the loudest voice shouting into the void. I recall going to Reddit in like 2010-2012, back when there was pretty much only college kids on it, and the posts were often witty and interesting. That no longer exists anywhere on the major sites and trying for any kind of conversation is a dead end.…

> I recall going to Reddit in like 2010-2012, back when there was pretty much only college kids on it, and the posts were often witty and interesting.

Well, there was also narwhal bacon and Streetlamp Le Moose.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#79

Post by enaaem »

al_borland wrote: post #2

With old chat programs and forums I was talking to real people over a long span of time. On the modern platforms I’m just talking to the internet. It feels very different. In 2024 I was looking for a place to see the eclipse, and someone I knew from a forum 20 years ago told me I could come to his house, as it was going right over it. It was my first time meeting him in person, despite having known him for 20 years.…

In the past reputation matters. Accounts like "Endwokeness" would never work, because people would just make fun of him. "Why is he so obsessed with trans people?" "Does he have a job?". His whole persona would become an inside joke. You also can't just spam low effort opening post, because it will just be removed, so if he for example wants to hate on gay people he needs to write whole essays about it.

Re: Are we tired of social media? (2025)

#80

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

I'm not tired of social media as a concept, but I'm certainly tired of rage bait and engagement bait. But my tiredness of those pales in comparison to people's utter inability to recognize it and react accordingly by not responding to it.

How many times do I have to see the question about whether an airplane takes off if it's on a reverse treadmill? How many times do I have to see simple math questions that test your knowledge about order-of-operations? How many videos do I need to see of downright stupid recipes (I'm looking at you, Chef Club!)? How many deliberately misleading questions (ie, "Divide by half"), pointless questions ("Can you name a US state that doesn't contain the letter 'A'?"), and always with the claim of "Only a genius can figure this out!"

Not to mention how many people can't grasp even the most obvious satire. Some people still don't know the Onion is satire.

And ever time, the comments are filled with the dumbest takes.

I miss the days when people knew not to feed the trolls.

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