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I never said social media was not powerful. The question is what percentage of the "economy" it makes up. This source[1] puts the share of the "internet economy

by Erik816 10y ago

I never said social media was not powerful. The question is what percentage of the "economy" it makes up. This source[1] puts the share of the "internet economy" at 5.6% of US GDP. I'm not sure how those terms are defined in this study. But the point remains that no matter how powerful you think the internet and social media have become, the economy is large and diverse. Here is one breakdown of GDP by category[2]. Even if you are generous and include all retail (6%), information (4%), and entertainment (4%), that is still only 14% of the economy. I think people forget just how much economic activity is tied to things like government, real estate, healthcare, manufacturing, etc. The poster I replied to seem to imply that social media was making up most of the economy, and I think that's demonstrably false. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/250703/forecast-of-internet-economy-as-percentage-of-gdp-in-g-20-countries/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/250703/forecast-of-inter... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#GDP_by_industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#G...

eldavido 10y ago
You're probably right. My fiancee is an architect and I invest in real estate so I probably have a broader view of this than most (if only due to the luck of my draw/circumstances). Plus my father worked his entire career in factory operations. Part of the problem is that HN is so software/Bay Area-centric, it's an industry cluster that pushes out a lot of traditional S&P 500 companies. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, living here, you are definitely "in a bubble" thought and perspective-wise. On the other hand, living in the bubble means you get to see what's coming next, and let's face it, the S&P 500 is backward. It's hard to appreciate how backward so much of it is, it's practically incomprehensible to the average Bay Area tech person. People overall are paid just way less, 40-hour weeks are the norm, people don't read books or retrain much, everything is done via emailed word documents and playing "did you get the latest changes" vs. VCS), etc. Arrogant? Maybe, but you tell me how companies here can post such exceptional operational performance relative to their more "average" peers. Healthcare is enormous. Holy crap, what, 24% of GDP?

by Erik816 10y ago

eldavido 10y ago

You're probably right. My fiancee is an architect and I invest in real estate so I probably have a broader view of this than most (if only due to the luck of my draw/circumstances). Plus my father worked his entire career in factory operations. Part of the problem is that HN is so software/Bay Area-centric, it's an industry cluster that pushes out a lot of traditional S&P 500 companies. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, living here, you are definitely "in a bubble" thought and perspective-wise. On the other hand, living in the bubble means you get to see what's coming next, and let's face it, the S&P 500 is backward. It's hard to appreciate how backward so much of it is, it's practically incomprehensible to the average Bay Area tech person. People overall are paid just way less, 40-hour weeks are the norm, people don't read books or retrain much, everything is done via emailed word documents and playing "did you get the latest changes" vs. VCS), etc. Arrogant? Maybe, but you tell me how companies here can post such exceptional operational performance relative to their more "average" peers. Healthcare is enormous. Holy crap, what, 24% of GDP?