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The article is as stupid as the website it's on is. Value-added sharing mechanisms that take the expertise out of creating useful Internet content does not de-d

The article is as stupid as the website it's on is. Value-added sharing mechanisms that take the expertise out of creating useful Internet content does not de-democratize the Internet. You are still as free as before to make your own websites and share your content the way it was done before Facebook. Facebook is popular but that can't be held against it. More generally, populism by itself does not threaten democracy. It's when the people that elect demagogues let those demagogues destroy public institutions that democracy is undermined. But it's the people that are at fault here, they are the ones that let themselves get hoodwinked. Napoleon destroyed the French Republic. But the French were absolutely complicit and just let him do it because they were hungry for empire. All of Europe was like that back then and she wasn't cured of that disease until WW2 showed them how utterly stupid warmongering in the Industrial age was.

HappyTypist 11y ago
Facebook is prioritising native content over external hyperlinks. That's a subtle but significant lock in.
- drivingmenuts 11y ago
  So? They aren't preventing you from going outside the service to find your own information. FB's policies dictate how you interact with FB, but you don't have to interact with FB at all, if you choose not to.
  - blub 11y ago
    Once a platform becomes big enough, it doesn't matter what YOU can do if everyone else is on that platform. Whether YOU want to or not, your friends and family are probably on Facebook and you probably have to use gmail and WhatsApp to talk to them. You argument is flat out wrong.
    - drivingmenuts 11y ago
      Two words: Richard Stallman. He uses no social service that I'm aware of, a command line email program and downloads web pages for later viewing (I do none of those things, btw). YOU choose how you interact with the rest of the world. You may have those choices thrust in your face, but ultimately, it's up to you to decide. Unless your IP and DNS are somehow restricted by your ISP, then you have access to all the tools you will need. If they are, there's probably little I can do to help you.
devishard 11y ago
> You are still as free as before to make your own websites and share your content the way it was done before Facebook. And nobody will read them if you don't integrate with Facebook and other social media--where you will be censored. > But it's the people that are at fault here, they are the ones that let themselves get hoodwinked. Did you really claim that scam victims are to blame when they get scammed, and not the scammers? I'm all for avoiding naiveté, but that doesn't excuse the actions of manipulative people and organizations.
- vinceguidry 11y ago
  > And nobody will read them if you don't integrate with Facebook and other social media--where you will be censored. That's not an issue with Facebook, it's the natural consequence of being popular. Things are popular because the public likes them. You can't say that something being powerful because the public made them powerful is undemocratic. Either you're giving the public what they want or you're not. Dethroning Facebook would be profoundly undemocratic. Facebook is a public institution, albeit under private management. > Did you really claim that scam victims are to blame when they get scammed, and not the scammers? The people are bigger than the politicians. Politicians have to, at some point, give the people what they want. The days where you can brutally put down rebellions is over. Not even CCP can get away with it. Napoleon could not have given Europe war if the French truly didn't want war. Napoleon did not have to scam the French, they went into it willingly. Democracy is the progressive march of what most people want over what a few people want. If what most people want is stupid, democracy will not save you from that.
  - blub 11y ago
    There is no such thing as a public institution under private management. Facebook is a corporate entity with control over a large part of the internet and no accountability towards their user base. When a private institution has so much power there need to be rules put in place that make sure they won't abuse that power to the detriment of everyone else. Democracy is about people, not the rights of corporations. Your claims about the power of the people are amusingly misguided as reading a little bit about history will tell you. Pointers: propaganda, public opinion manipulation.
curun1r 11y ago
I used to think that. Then my parents found Facebook and started using it. Their friends send them interesting content, which comes to their inbox where they consume it. Then, they do the natural thing and forward it to me if they think I'll find it interesting. Now, I have hundreds, if not thousands, of emails in my inbox with links that, if I click them, require me to login as my parents if I want to see the content. The fact that Facebook doesn't send pure hyperlinks but, instead, links that funnel through Facebook to be authenticated and tracked, is extremely annoying and dangerous to a free and open web.

HappyTypist 11y ago

Facebook is prioritising native content over external hyperlinks. That's a subtle but significant lock in.

drivingmenuts 11y ago
So? They aren't preventing you from going outside the service to find your own information. FB's policies dictate how you interact with FB, but you don't have to interact with FB at all, if you choose not to.
- blub 11y ago
  Once a platform becomes big enough, it doesn't matter what YOU can do if everyone else is on that platform. Whether YOU want to or not, your friends and family are probably on Facebook and you probably have to use gmail and WhatsApp to talk to them. You argument is flat out wrong.
  - drivingmenuts 11y ago
    Two words: Richard Stallman. He uses no social service that I'm aware of, a command line email program and downloads web pages for later viewing (I do none of those things, btw). YOU choose how you interact with the rest of the world. You may have those choices thrust in your face, but ultimately, it's up to you to decide. Unless your IP and DNS are somehow restricted by your ISP, then you have access to all the tools you will need. If they are, there's probably little I can do to help you.

devishard 11y ago

> You are still as free as before to make your own websites and share your content the way it was done before Facebook. And nobody will read them if you don't integrate with Facebook and other social media--where you will be censored. > But it's the people that are at fault here, they are the ones that let themselves get hoodwinked. Did you really claim that scam victims are to blame when they get scammed, and not the scammers? I'm all for avoiding naiveté, but that doesn't excuse the actions of manipulative people and organizations.

vinceguidry 11y ago
> And nobody will read them if you don't integrate with Facebook and other social media--where you will be censored. That's not an issue with Facebook, it's the natural consequence of being popular. Things are popular because the public likes them. You can't say that something being powerful because the public made them powerful is undemocratic. Either you're giving the public what they want or you're not. Dethroning Facebook would be profoundly undemocratic. Facebook is a public institution, albeit under private management. > Did you really claim that scam victims are to blame when they get scammed, and not the scammers? The people are bigger than the politicians. Politicians have to, at some point, give the people what they want. The days where you can brutally put down rebellions is over. Not even CCP can get away with it. Napoleon could not have given Europe war if the French truly didn't want war. Napoleon did not have to scam the French, they went into it willingly. Democracy is the progressive march of what most people want over what a few people want. If what most people want is stupid, democracy will not save you from that.
- blub 11y ago
  There is no such thing as a public institution under private management. Facebook is a corporate entity with control over a large part of the internet and no accountability towards their user base. When a private institution has so much power there need to be rules put in place that make sure they won't abuse that power to the detriment of everyone else. Democracy is about people, not the rights of corporations. Your claims about the power of the people are amusingly misguided as reading a little bit about history will tell you. Pointers: propaganda, public opinion manipulation.

curun1r 11y ago

I used to think that. Then my parents found Facebook and started using it. Their friends send them interesting content, which comes to their inbox where they consume it. Then, they do the natural thing and forward it to me if they think I'll find it interesting. Now, I have hundreds, if not thousands, of emails in my inbox with links that, if I click them, require me to login as my parents if I want to see the content. The fact that Facebook doesn't send pure hyperlinks but, instead, links that funnel through Facebook to be authenticated and tracked, is extremely annoying and dangerous to a free and open web.