On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
calnewport.com
On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#2the article reads a lot more like [on social media and saving civil society]
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#3Completely agree with Cal but this just isn't going to happen. People's livelihoods depend on these platforms. They're extremely addictive. If one side retreats it only amplifies the voice of the other side. The only way something like a mass exodus from these platforms is possible is through legislation. But the platforms are so powerful and well funded and well lobbied that this is next to impossible. Expect things to get worse before they get better (if they do in fact eventually get better).
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#4Social media is 90% outrage farming by nation states and individuals with agendas. I think the experiment failed. Humans in large groups are so trivially manipulated by algorithms.
Our ape brains at large just can't deal with a firehose of manipulation. We're just giving bad actors a key to our subconscious to destroy the fabric of our civilization, and those bad actors are using it as much as they can.
This article is really missing the discussion on the fact that social media is far, far more inauthentic than real humans these days.
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#5I don’t think it is possible to just “quit” using social media. The problem is that quitting feels to most people like giving you your weapons when your enemy still has them. Maybe if everyone “disarmed” at the same time it would work but how could you coordinate that? No one wants to sit out social media only to let their opponents continue to use it as an effective way to spread THEIR message.
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#6Completely agree with Cal but this just isn't going to happen. People's livelihoods depend on these platforms. They're extremely addictive. If one side retreats it only amplifies the voice of the other side. The only way something like a mass exodus from these platforms is possible is through legislation. But the platforms are so powerful and well funded and well lobbied that this is next to impossible. Expect things…
Reminds me of the environment. Large companies would rather blame individuals for "not doing enough to save the planet", when in fact we'd be better off with coordinated, collective action through legislation.
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#7[flagged]
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#8> To save civil society, we need to end our decade-long experiment with global social platforms. We tried them. They became dark and awful. It’s time to move on.
I mean, the lack of global social media platforms didn't do much for RFK or JFK or MLK Jr or Malcolm X or Harvey Milk or...
This sort of thing happens in any society where people have differences over how the state or capital should be used, and where at least some of those people can obtain or craft weapons. It's not just the US, either, though the availability of firearms is far more widespread here than in other Western nations. Canada, the UK, France, all have had politically-motivated assassinations (or attempts at assassinations) in the pre-social media era.
Humans are very good at being awful.
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#9I think it's lazy to say social media is to blame. Political murder and radical ideas have been around pretty much from the beginning of history. Is social media really more effective in radicalizing people than folklore, religion or mass propaganda? People didn't change much, only the means by which they communicate and share ideas.
Re: On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society
#10Completely agree with Cal but this just isn't going to happen. People's livelihoods depend on these platforms. They're extremely addictive. If one side retreats it only amplifies the voice of the other side. The only way something like a mass exodus from these platforms is possible is through legislation. But the platforms are so powerful and well funded and well lobbied that this is next to impossible. Expect things…
Reminds me of the environment. Large companies would rather blame individuals for "not doing enough to save the planet", when in fact we'd be better off with coordinated, collective action through legislation.
Pretty sure you would lose any election where you proposed a fossil fuel tax large enough to cause people to give up their large lots and large cars and overseas vacations and cheap toys, even without any lobbying by any “large companies”.