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I don't understand this movie. I agree with the sentiment that social media is bad for people, especially youngsters, but I fail to see how advertising and corp
by madjam002 6y ago
I don't understand this movie. I agree with the sentiment that social media is bad for people, especially youngsters, but I fail to see how advertising and corporations are to blame for the UX practices of social media websites (notifications, infinite scroll, liking posts etc), especially to the level that the movie makes it out to be.
Sure, it is in Facebook's best interest to keep you on the site for as long as possible so that they can drive ads. But the same issues with social media existed before Facebook had ads. People would still be checking their feed constantly, checking if their post had new likes, seeking the approval of their peers.
One of the interviewees said he was addicted to his email... what bad practices does Gmail employ and how exactly are advertisers to blame for this as well? Gmail has a couple of ads but that's about it? It also said Whatsapp was one of the apps responsible for the spread of fake news, this is simply a texting client with the ability to send messages to groups.
Maybe it turns out that if you put technology and instant messaging in the hands of social circles, messages, whether fake news or not, spreads faster than ever.
If Facebook had no financial incentive, sure, maybe they would have realised the negative effect it is having on people and shut the whole thing down. But then another site would have come along doing exactly the same thing. Maybe the issue is that people don't cope well when being connected with hundreds of "friends", constantly seeing updates from their lives and feeling compelled to also share updates of their own.
- stagehn 6y agoWell said, it's not a problem unique to Facebook, Twitter is as much of a problem but they don't get dragged as much because they're more willing to take a knee to the woke religion
- pseudalopex 6y agoI don't think they claimed only social media has problems or advertising is the only reason it has them. Social media is where the problems meet and affect the world most. And Facebook was always designed for advertising.[1] WhatsApp has large groups anyone can join. SMS doesn't. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-first-ever-ad-sales-pitch-deck-2015-9 https://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-first-ever-ad-sale...
- EmilioMartinez 6y agoYeah, there was a lot of denouncing evil practices, and very little instrospection. Like with every human vice, there being bad agents exploiting the phenomenon shouldn't overshadow the fact that its deep rooted in how we work, because it risks precluding self-examination and self-awareness as a way out. Remember when the Flappy Bird guy removed the game from the store because it was too addictive for his liking? It goes to show how the addictiveness of tech can easily be accidental. And then people complained that he did. Even when a creator says "please, stop, this is harmful" it will go unheard. So putting all the blame on evil corporate decisions is an incomplete picture, but it sells better I guess.
- madjam002 6y agoHuh, I forgot about Flappy bird!! That pretty much hits the nail on the head. I agree blaming corporations sells better, but they really exaggerated it. I just rewatched some of it and got to the bit on A/B testing and how it is mind control and we are all guinea pigs being manipulated... apparently every marketing department in every business, and every advertising company is now some evil puppet master controlling people without their consent!
- EmilioMartinez 6y agoIronically, I recall a discussion on HN about people being irrationally afraid of A/B testing, and how overcoming it could greatly benefit society (the centerpiece topic at the moment were variants of hospital posters about hand-washing, ircc). A/B testing is just another neutral tool, but productions like this feed on those fears.