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Social media have tried and failed. They monetize disinformation and hate speech. How long do we wait for alternatives to emerge?

by mgbmtl 6y ago

smisheduprog 6y ago
What do you think is the alternative to social media?
- dleslie 6y ago
  No social media. We survived fine without it.
  - mstade 6y ago
    HN and other forums are also social media though, no? Whether it's online or a billboard on the town square it's still social media in a sense. Personally I agree with your sentiment, but in my mind I equate no social media with "the giants" like Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, Snapchat I guess. I'm not sure exactly what makes them different from more focused forums, but it's something and – in my opinion – I don't think it's a net good for society. Personally, I have no account with these services. I used to but I deleted all of them and it's made my life richer, not poorer.
    - almost_usual 6y ago
      > I'm not sure exactly what makes them different from more focused forums Have you ever been on a smaller focused forum without mods or rules? I haven’t.
      - mstade 6y ago
        I most certainly have, but regardless I fail to see your point. Do you mean to suggest Facebook et al don't have rules or don't enforce those rules? That's just objectively false.
        almost_usual 6y ago
        The platforms are designed for growth, forums aren’t. Rule enforcement isn’t their priority and it’s much harder to do it at their scale. Pretty simple really.
- mgbmtl 6y ago
  I don't have all the answers, but many G7 governments have been working on laws to hold social media accountable for hate speech, including Canada, where hate speech online is not legal. Pornhub (based in Canada) recently decided to allow uploads only from verified accounts due to political pressure. Twitter/Fb could also require ID verification, for example. They basically already do (require a cell number after account creation), but it's not enforced in all countries. Anyway, no magic bullet, but if they are held accountable, they will find solutions pretty quickly, as Pornhub did.

Social media have tried and failed. They monetize disinformation and hate speech. How long do we wait for alternatives to emerge?

by mgbmtl 6y ago

Social media have tried and failed. They monetize disinformation and hate speech. How long do we wait for alternatives to emerge?

smisheduprog 6y ago

What do you think is the alternative to social media?

dleslie 6y ago
No social media. We survived fine without it.
- mstade 6y ago
  HN and other forums are also social media though, no? Whether it's online or a billboard on the town square it's still social media in a sense. Personally I agree with your sentiment, but in my mind I equate no social media with "the giants" like Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, Snapchat I guess. I'm not sure exactly what makes them different from more focused forums, but it's something and – in my opinion – I don't think it's a net good for society. Personally, I have no account with these services. I used to but I deleted all of them and it's made my life richer, not poorer.
  - almost_usual 6y ago
    > I'm not sure exactly what makes them different from more focused forums Have you ever been on a smaller focused forum without mods or rules? I haven’t.
    - mstade 6y ago
      I most certainly have, but regardless I fail to see your point. Do you mean to suggest Facebook et al don't have rules or don't enforce those rules? That's just objectively false.
      - almost_usual 6y ago
        The platforms are designed for growth, forums aren’t. Rule enforcement isn’t their priority and it’s much harder to do it at their scale. Pretty simple really.
mgbmtl 6y ago
I don't have all the answers, but many G7 governments have been working on laws to hold social media accountable for hate speech, including Canada, where hate speech online is not legal. Pornhub (based in Canada) recently decided to allow uploads only from verified accounts due to political pressure. Twitter/Fb could also require ID verification, for example. They basically already do (require a cell number after account creation), but it's not enforced in all countries. Anyway, no magic bullet, but if they are held accountable, they will find solutions pretty quickly, as Pornhub did.