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The thesis here seems to be that social media is only worthwhile so long as it fulfills the attention-seeking impulse of people like the author. I may be unusu

by Veen 10y ago

The thesis here seems to be that social media is only worthwhile so long as it fulfills the attention-seeking impulse of people like the author. I may be unusual but I avoid Facebook precisely because I don't want that sort of attention directed at my brain farts and the ephemeral detritus of my everyday life. When I make something worthwhile and of substance, that's different, but I won't be putting it on Facebook.

epalmer 10y ago
Veen Not sure why you are downvoted. Your comments resonate. I do FB however.
lvoudour 10y ago
>I may be unusual but I avoid Facebook precisely because I don't want that sort of attention directed at my brain farts and the ephemeral detritus of my everyday life. >When I make something worthwhile and of substance, that's different, but I won't be putting it on Facebook. I agree with your comment and I share your feeling, but I don't think this approach can/should be the norm. I find that attention-seeking is so fundamental to human nature, that most people have to spend a LOT of energy to suppress it and I don't know if it's worth the trouble (is it that detrimental ?) The only successful anonymous social media out there are used for trolling/venting/shocking/expressing extremely unpopular opinions - things that people absolutely don't want to take any credit for.
M_Grey 10y ago
Absolutely this. Facebook is almost entirely, if not entirely, empty of anything I care about. After a while it just starts to look like a ton of people all pointing out, "Hey, look! I have an asshole!" "Whoa really? Look at my asshole!" "Nice asshole, here's mine on the beach..." HN can be totally anonymous, but good luck being mean here! The issue is how you moderate your forum, the competence with which you do it, and the kind of people you draw. Having a name doesn't change behavior as much as people would like to think. We're not suddenly turning into beasts because of the internet, we're just connected to every last beast out there. They always existed, but they use to have to do things like slip pamphlets in the pages of library books, or shout at people on the street. Now they have the internet, and a lot of people seem to think that it's not just a new medium for them, but a new species. It is not a new species, or a new behavioral profile.
Xeoncross 10y ago
> it fulfills the attention-seeking impulse of people That is most of the market share. We all want attention, but a small percent of people look for it in non-compromising ways.
- M_Grey 10y ago
  For so long, FB and that kind of social media has not only been normalized, but the people who don't use it are seen as "odd". Snowden definitely started to change that, but there is no substitute for time and experience online. Most people don't have much of either, so it's easy to lead them around. I don't think that most people would have sought to publicize most details of their lives without prompting. The reason why the prompting exists is simple and obvious: your information is valuable product which can be packaged and sold.
  - Xeoncross 10y ago
    I don't doubt that most people would probably not "publicize most details of their lives" - but the fact that we want attention is obvious. I talk to lots of people and if I start asking them about themselves or their life most are happy to talk about themselves as long as you don't seem like a threat in some way. People are naturally self-centered and enjoy attention. Kids are the best example of that.
    - M_Grey 10y ago
      I agree that people want attention, but I think the notion of gaining attention through notoriety online is generally a bad idea. It is however, very profitable for people to seek that kind of notoriety, and unprofitable for people to be anonymous.

by Veen 10y ago

epalmer 10y ago

Veen Not sure why you are downvoted. Your comments resonate. I do FB however.

lvoudour 10y ago

>I may be unusual but I avoid Facebook precisely because I don't want that sort of attention directed at my brain farts and the ephemeral detritus of my everyday life. >When I make something worthwhile and of substance, that's different, but I won't be putting it on Facebook. I agree with your comment and I share your feeling, but I don't think this approach can/should be the norm. I find that attention-seeking is so fundamental to human nature, that most people have to spend a LOT of energy to suppress it and I don't know if it's worth the trouble (is it that detrimental ?) The only successful anonymous social media out there are used for trolling/venting/shocking/expressing extremely unpopular opinions - things that people absolutely don't want to take any credit for.

M_Grey 10y ago

Absolutely this. Facebook is almost entirely, if not entirely, empty of anything I care about. After a while it just starts to look like a ton of people all pointing out, "Hey, look! I have an asshole!" "Whoa really? Look at my asshole!" "Nice asshole, here's mine on the beach..." HN can be totally anonymous, but good luck being mean here! The issue is how you moderate your forum, the competence with which you do it, and the kind of people you draw. Having a name doesn't change behavior as much as people would like to think. We're not suddenly turning into beasts because of the internet, we're just connected to every last beast out there. They always existed, but they use to have to do things like slip pamphlets in the pages of library books, or shout at people on the street. Now they have the internet, and a lot of people seem to think that it's not just a new medium for them, but a new species. It is not a new species, or a new behavioral profile.

Xeoncross 10y ago

> it fulfills the attention-seeking impulse of people That is most of the market share. We all want attention, but a small percent of people look for it in non-compromising ways.

M_Grey 10y ago
For so long, FB and that kind of social media has not only been normalized, but the people who don't use it are seen as "odd". Snowden definitely started to change that, but there is no substitute for time and experience online. Most people don't have much of either, so it's easy to lead them around. I don't think that most people would have sought to publicize most details of their lives without prompting. The reason why the prompting exists is simple and obvious: your information is valuable product which can be packaged and sold.
- Xeoncross 10y ago
  I don't doubt that most people would probably not "publicize most details of their lives" - but the fact that we want attention is obvious. I talk to lots of people and if I start asking them about themselves or their life most are happy to talk about themselves as long as you don't seem like a threat in some way. People are naturally self-centered and enjoy attention. Kids are the best example of that.
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    I agree that people want attention, but I think the notion of gaining attention through notoriety online is generally a bad idea. It is however, very profitable for people to seek that kind of notoriety, and unprofitable for people to be anonymous.