4 ms·

I know that a big concern is the centralisation of power (something that might be mitigated by legislation, albeit problematically if the legislators are the on

I know that a big concern is the centralisation of power (something that might be mitigated by legislation, albeit problematically if the legislators are the ones to worry about) but aside from that, are aggregation sites like FB and such really that bad? His argument that they only show you what you like, keeping you in a little bubble, feels plausible, but is it true in practice? Those who are interested in new ideas will find them regardless of FB, and may even be shown them by FB if it works out that is what they will like. And those that are more passive get the benefit of the net without effort. Seems like a good arrangement, at least for now.

gengkev 11y ago
I think part of the problem is that one benefit of the web is to be exposed to new ideas, and passive users are hardly benefiting from seeing stuff that doesn't challenge them. Centralisation of power is not just a problem in that Facebook tailors content to your preferences, but also that it has the power to choose how it does so. For example, I believe that Facebook said that it might choose to ignore that a user clicked "Show me less of this", because what we say we want isn't always what we actually want. Another example is that when even people who have liked an organisation's page don't see its content, Facebook basically forces them to pay for advertising. Some of these ideas I found in a TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s
- spc476 11y ago
  And some people like living in a bubble. A friend of mine "unfriended" me (and a few others) because we dared to present differing points of view to what he posted (in my case, it was a study that showed marijuana use had potential side effects). It's all too easy to remove yourself from alternative points of view, which was another prediction David Brin made in his novel Earth.
  - prebrov 11y ago
    _Most_ people like living it in a bubble and go to lengths to create a comfortable bubble. That's why we hang out with like-minded friends, choose jobs at companies we share values with, watch Vice and not Fox News (or vice versa), etc. Support and backing for the choices we make give us a warm and fuzzy feeling that we're in a good place or on the right path there. Bubble is good. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

gengkev 11y ago

I think part of the problem is that one benefit of the web is to be exposed to new ideas, and passive users are hardly benefiting from seeing stuff that doesn't challenge them. Centralisation of power is not just a problem in that Facebook tailors content to your preferences, but also that it has the power to choose how it does so. For example, I believe that Facebook said that it might choose to ignore that a user clicked "Show me less of this", because what we say we want isn't always what we actually want. Another example is that when even people who have liked an organisation's page don't see its content, Facebook basically forces them to pay for advertising. Some of these ideas I found in a TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s

spc476 11y ago
And some people like living in a bubble. A friend of mine "unfriended" me (and a few others) because we dared to present differing points of view to what he posted (in my case, it was a study that showed marijuana use had potential side effects). It's all too easy to remove yourself from alternative points of view, which was another prediction David Brin made in his novel Earth.
- prebrov 11y ago
  _Most_ people like living it in a bubble and go to lengths to create a comfortable bubble. That's why we hang out with like-minded friends, choose jobs at companies we share values with, watch Vice and not Fox News (or vice versa), etc. Support and backing for the choices we make give us a warm and fuzzy feeling that we're in a good place or on the right path there. Bubble is good. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.