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> some advice: Instead blaming this one actor, better get used to it. I think you've nailed it with this bit, but you're not respecting the side effects of bei

by dgzl 8y ago

> some advice: Instead blaming this one actor, better get used to it. I think you've nailed it with this bit, but you're not respecting the side effects of being an unsuspecting victim of their model. Youth were the people who first adopted social media, and that was before our data was considered either sensitive or valuable. By the time we've realized that our content and behavior are being targeted, we have become hooked and addicted to social media. At the same time, we really shouldn't expect ourselves or others to understand the potential side-effects and consequences of this kind of collection. That would be a disservice to the ourselves and the public.

danShumway 8y ago
> we really shouldn't expect ourselves or others to understand the potential side-effects and consequences I am somewhat with you, but people have been warning about the potential side-effects and consequences of this collection a long time[0]. I don't fault anyone who is only just now figuring out that Facebook might be problematic. I don't fault people who ignored those warnings. That is what it is, that's just what people do, and that part of human nature is never really going to go away. I can live with it. What annoys me is that when I read articles like this, there's this undertone I pick up of "we've uncovered something crazy and we need to start having a conversation about this." And no, we don't. If you're just now figuring out that Facebook might potentially be maybe evil, you don't need to start a conversation, you need to join the conversation that already exists. This might sound like bitterness, but there is a real point beyond, "serves you all for not listening." The vast majority of criticism I see on Medium/Twitter/Cable/Outlets in general ignores the perspectives of people who have been thinking about this problem way longer than they have, and as result people come up with, frankly, really bad solutions that are equally problematic. To make a comparison, this is like everybody waking up one day and realizing that climate change is a real problem. And then instead of going and talking to the scientists who have been warning about it for years, we get a bunch of very reactionary takes on Cable news that ignore the nuance of the situation and say stupid things like, "this is all solar's fault because the mirrors get really hot", or "Facebook should just filter everything that gets uploaded from anywhere for hate speech." So no shame to people who are just now figuring out that advertising and data collection have downsides. Yes shame to people who feel like this is a novel problem that requires completely novel solutions, or who are using Facebook as an excuse to avoid the broader problem that literally everyone is doing this and many of the other actors are just as bad as Facebook if not worse. [0]: https://www.xkcd.com/743/ https://www.xkcd.com/743/
- dgzl 8y ago
  Absolutely no disagreements here.

by dgzl 8y ago

danShumway 8y ago

> we really shouldn't expect ourselves or others to understand the potential side-effects and consequences I am somewhat with you, but people have been warning about the potential side-effects and consequences of this collection a long time[0]. I don't fault anyone who is only just now figuring out that Facebook might be problematic. I don't fault people who ignored those warnings. That is what it is, that's just what people do, and that part of human nature is never really going to go away. I can live with it. What annoys me is that when I read articles like this, there's this undertone I pick up of "we've uncovered something crazy and we need to start having a conversation about this." And no, we don't. If you're just now figuring out that Facebook might potentially be maybe evil, you don't need to start a conversation, you need to join the conversation that already exists. This might sound like bitterness, but there is a real point beyond, "serves you all for not listening." The vast majority of criticism I see on Medium/Twitter/Cable/Outlets in general ignores the perspectives of people who have been thinking about this problem way longer than they have, and as result people come up with, frankly, really bad solutions that are equally problematic. To make a comparison, this is like everybody waking up one day and realizing that climate change is a real problem. And then instead of going and talking to the scientists who have been warning about it for years, we get a bunch of very reactionary takes on Cable news that ignore the nuance of the situation and say stupid things like, "this is all solar's fault because the mirrors get really hot", or "Facebook should just filter everything that gets uploaded from anywhere for hate speech." So no shame to people who are just now figuring out that advertising and data collection have downsides. Yes shame to people who feel like this is a novel problem that requires completely novel solutions, or who are using Facebook as an excuse to avoid the broader problem that literally everyone is doing this and many of the other actors are just as bad as Facebook if not worse. [0]: https://www.xkcd.com/743/ https://www.xkcd.com/743/

dgzl 8y ago
Absolutely no disagreements here.