4 ms·
I think it's incorrect to lump the internet together as one medium. The messages that propagate over Reddit are different from those that propagate over Hacker
by bobbygoodlatte 10y ago
I think it's incorrect to lump the internet together as one medium. The messages that propagate over Reddit are different from those that propagate over Hacker News, which are different from Facebook.
Why draw a distinction? Because the algorithms behind those products can and do change.
Right now, hyper-partisan content is everywhere. Why? Because publishers have collectively realized that partisanship drives clicks. Take away those clicks by changing the algorithm: the medium changes, the messages change.
Facebook used to have a problem with Farmville spam. It doesn't anymore because the system changed. Perhaps the same could happen with hyper-partisan clickbait.
- halfdan 10y agoIt doesn't really matter how you want to split it. The internet for the majority of people is Facebook. That's where the mass gets their news. Reddit/HN and other websites may use different algorithms, but they represent just a tiny fraction. Think of them as privately operated radio channels - they do exist, but their role in the world is negligible.
- Fricken 10y agoThe medium is the message. Whether its HN, Facebook or 4chan, we come here to munch on novel bits of content and digest them in the comments. It has irrevocably altered how we think, just as the printed word, the radio, and the television did in their heyday. Now I suppose we will someday innoculate ourselves against it's dangers as we did with past media, but right now the online world is crazy, and it's breached it's barriers and is spilling out into meatspace. 'All identity is created through violence' is another one McLuhan's probes, and it kept my head busy for months. I can't find a reason to disagree with it.