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At this point, I think it would be a net win for society if all the tech companies got together and just ended Twitter. Revoke their DNS registration, shut down

At this point, I think it would be a net win for society if all the tech companies got together and just ended Twitter. Revoke their DNS registration, shut down their cloud hosting, etc. Just completely end it. Twitter is tearing us apart. And I think it is intrinsically that way. Twitter is the meth lab of the of the Internet.

toptal 6y ago
It’s certainly a terrible place.
busterarm 6y ago
We should do this with all social media. Facebook too.
- whymauri 6y ago
  Is this website not a form of social media..?
  - realusername 6y ago
    HN is just a forum really, there's not enough features to go beyond that.
    - whymauri 6y ago
      Interesting. I guess I take the term "social media" a little too literally. This is not a hill I'm willing to die on, though. You're most likely correct.
      - realusername 6y ago
        It always depends on how you stretch the term indeed, HN has less features than most old-style phpbb forums so that sounds strange to count it as social media.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    As much as I've had my disagreements with dang and the team, they're doing a great job keeping this community together. If you steer clear of certain topics[1], this place is absolutely civil. [1]: Not the usual suspects and not what divides the rest of the world...
- empath75 6y ago
  The problem isn’t social media, the problem is unmoderated social media that uses engagement metrics to drive their algorithms. They’re selecting for the most hateful, divisive content. It’s YouTube, it’s Facebook, it’s twitter. Those three sites are the problem. Reddit has a lot of hateful bullshit but you need to go out of your way to find it. YouTube and Facebook feed you a heroin drip of it all day long.
ornxka 6y ago
I don't really understand sentiments like this - Twitter is just a means for people to communicate. If the apparent result of this communication is "tearing us apart", then isn't that the fault of the end to which people communicate, and not the means by which they communicate?
- whymauri 6y ago
  Yes and no. Keep in mind that the algorithms that Facebook and Twitter use to increase engagement metrics might actually encourage conflict. As a result, the means of communication fundamentally change the framing of the resulting social interactions. Now, within that system users can certainly be self-aware and actively abide to 'remembering the human.' Even then, this self-aware group is likely a minority.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
  > I don't really understand sentiments like this - Twitter is just a means for people to communicate The problem is in the way it is designed. The shortness of the tweet limits context and nuance. This makes it easy to find something to be outraged over. Now add the re-tweet that makes it easy to spread the outrage everywhere. No, Twitter is optimized for outrage and conflict.
- gbjw 6y ago
  The medium is the message. The medium, Twitter, may not necessarily be just a passive channel, but an active component that amplifies and promotes certain types of communication at the expense of others.
  - DamnYuppie 6y ago
    It promotes the type of communication people wouldn't generally have in person. Its discourse is pure childish vitriol masquerading a some just cause.
- acituan 6y ago
  > Twitter is just a means for people to communicate Human to human communication inherently includes a certain amount of noise per signal transmitted. Twitter or in general social media algorithms seem to amplify the noise more than the signal since disagreement translates to higher engagement metrics than agreement. There is only so much their algorithms can do in the name of increasing relavance (i.e finding signal amidst the giant noise they help created).
indigochill 6y ago
I hear this a lot, but I don't get it because the user is entirely responsible for who they follow and thus the messages they're exposed to. I prune my Twitter feed and keep it pretty slim. I follow people who I find interesting. If they don't turn me off, I continue following them. If they do, I cut them. The turbulence in my Twitter feed remains moderate as a result. You can always come back to someone, too, after a particular controversy has blown over or something. But my point is it's all in the user's hands how out-of-control Twitter feels. Simply don't follow people who make it miserable.
- brightball 6y ago
  My concern with Twitter became reality when news media started using tweets as part of coverage. Between APIs, bots and selective coverage it creates an ability to amplify messages as if they are representative of public opinion. Look at the services that will sell followers as an example. I look at Twitter less than once a month but because of coverage (like the above article) I know about all sorts of stuff that’s happening on Twitter.
- numpad0 6y ago
  Twitter curates content and pretend to be neutral the way you said. They push politics and constantly push you away from content you like. So everyone is disappointed and angry but thinks they enjoy it and some people think it’s all up to users.
- ggreer 6y ago
  > Simply don't follow people who make it miserable. The main issue is that other people follow you or people who retweet you. If they take offense to something you say, they'll try to ruin your career.
zelly 6y ago
At a certain point it becomes a national security issue.

toptal 6y ago

It’s certainly a terrible place.

busterarm 6y ago

We should do this with all social media. Facebook too.

whymauri 6y ago
Is this website not a form of social media..?
- realusername 6y ago
  HN is just a forum really, there's not enough features to go beyond that.
  - whymauri 6y ago
    Interesting. I guess I take the term "social media" a little too literally. This is not a hill I'm willing to die on, though. You're most likely correct.
    - realusername 6y ago
      It always depends on how you stretch the term indeed, HN has less features than most old-style phpbb forums so that sounds strange to count it as social media.
- busterarm 6y ago
  As much as I've had my disagreements with dang and the team, they're doing a great job keeping this community together. If you steer clear of certain topics[1], this place is absolutely civil. [1]: Not the usual suspects and not what divides the rest of the world...
empath75 6y ago
The problem isn’t social media, the problem is unmoderated social media that uses engagement metrics to drive their algorithms. They’re selecting for the most hateful, divisive content. It’s YouTube, it’s Facebook, it’s twitter. Those three sites are the problem. Reddit has a lot of hateful bullshit but you need to go out of your way to find it. YouTube and Facebook feed you a heroin drip of it all day long.

ornxka 6y ago

I don't really understand sentiments like this - Twitter is just a means for people to communicate. If the apparent result of this communication is "tearing us apart", then isn't that the fault of the end to which people communicate, and not the means by which they communicate?

whymauri 6y ago
Yes and no. Keep in mind that the algorithms that Facebook and Twitter use to increase engagement metrics might actually encourage conflict. As a result, the means of communication fundamentally change the framing of the resulting social interactions. Now, within that system users can certainly be self-aware and actively abide to 'remembering the human.' Even then, this self-aware group is likely a minority.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
> I don't really understand sentiments like this - Twitter is just a means for people to communicate The problem is in the way it is designed. The shortness of the tweet limits context and nuance. This makes it easy to find something to be outraged over. Now add the re-tweet that makes it easy to spread the outrage everywhere. No, Twitter is optimized for outrage and conflict.
gbjw 6y ago
The medium is the message. The medium, Twitter, may not necessarily be just a passive channel, but an active component that amplifies and promotes certain types of communication at the expense of others.
- DamnYuppie 6y ago
  It promotes the type of communication people wouldn't generally have in person. Its discourse is pure childish vitriol masquerading a some just cause.
acituan 6y ago
> Twitter is just a means for people to communicate Human to human communication inherently includes a certain amount of noise per signal transmitted. Twitter or in general social media algorithms seem to amplify the noise more than the signal since disagreement translates to higher engagement metrics than agreement. There is only so much their algorithms can do in the name of increasing relavance (i.e finding signal amidst the giant noise they help created).

indigochill 6y ago

I hear this a lot, but I don't get it because the user is entirely responsible for who they follow and thus the messages they're exposed to. I prune my Twitter feed and keep it pretty slim. I follow people who I find interesting. If they don't turn me off, I continue following them. If they do, I cut them. The turbulence in my Twitter feed remains moderate as a result. You can always come back to someone, too, after a particular controversy has blown over or something. But my point is it's all in the user's hands how out-of-control Twitter feels. Simply don't follow people who make it miserable.

brightball 6y ago
My concern with Twitter became reality when news media started using tweets as part of coverage. Between APIs, bots and selective coverage it creates an ability to amplify messages as if they are representative of public opinion. Look at the services that will sell followers as an example. I look at Twitter less than once a month but because of coverage (like the above article) I know about all sorts of stuff that’s happening on Twitter.
numpad0 6y ago
Twitter curates content and pretend to be neutral the way you said. They push politics and constantly push you away from content you like. So everyone is disappointed and angry but thinks they enjoy it and some people think it’s all up to users.
ggreer 6y ago
> Simply don't follow people who make it miserable. The main issue is that other people follow you or people who retweet you. If they take offense to something you say, they'll try to ruin your career.

zelly 6y ago

At a certain point it becomes a national security issue.