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Shaming people who use mass-scale social media could help. Sort of like smoking: people used to do it because it was cool, even after the enormous health probl

Shaming people who use mass-scale social media could help. Sort of like smoking: people used to do it because it was cool, even after the enormous health problems were well-understood. And it didn't stop being cool until enough people started to treat it like a gross and dirty habit.

mapme 6y ago
Theoretically this is exactly the justification political mobs on twitter use to go after bad behavior that to them feels morally wrong. I think it’s one of the only ways to change society but it should be done with a light touch. With smoking I think people thought “it’s gross” not that you are a gross and morally repugnant person. So demonizing the act and not the person is important. Granted if people are not using social media the mobs will be smaller, but even if everyone is in communities the size of HN, it’s still possible to form “mob sentiment”
- deleted 6y ago
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- meekrohprocess 6y ago
  Right, exactly. The habit is gross, not the person. "Social-media-using" should be treated like an adjective that modifies the individual, not a noun that defines them. It's a shame that nuance seems like the first thing to go out the window when we use social media sites like this, but maybe someday we'll be able to do better.
decasteve 6y ago
> Shaming people who use mass-scale social media could help. Start by shaming government officials and organizations, any official government channels, even schools and school boards, that require tools provided by surveillance capitalists. If a ToS and privacy policy to a third party is required, then your right to freedom of association is infringed upon. If governments make official releases only to walled gardens, then those who choose not to associate are cut-off from important information in the political process. Giving up your equal rights unless you give in to surveillance capitalism is a threat to democracy. Start there.
- Daho0n 6y ago
  > that require tools provided by surveillance capitalists So no state made tools?
deleted 6y ago
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mapme 6y ago

Theoretically this is exactly the justification political mobs on twitter use to go after bad behavior that to them feels morally wrong. I think it’s one of the only ways to change society but it should be done with a light touch. With smoking I think people thought “it’s gross” not that you are a gross and morally repugnant person. So demonizing the act and not the person is important. Granted if people are not using social media the mobs will be smaller, but even if everyone is in communities the size of HN, it’s still possible to form “mob sentiment”

deleted 6y ago
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meekrohprocess 6y ago
Right, exactly. The habit is gross, not the person. "Social-media-using" should be treated like an adjective that modifies the individual, not a noun that defines them. It's a shame that nuance seems like the first thing to go out the window when we use social media sites like this, but maybe someday we'll be able to do better.

decasteve 6y ago

> Shaming people who use mass-scale social media could help. Start by shaming government officials and organizations, any official government channels, even schools and school boards, that require tools provided by surveillance capitalists. If a ToS and privacy policy to a third party is required, then your right to freedom of association is infringed upon. If governments make official releases only to walled gardens, then those who choose not to associate are cut-off from important information in the political process. Giving up your equal rights unless you give in to surveillance capitalism is a threat to democracy. Start there.

Daho0n 6y ago
> that require tools provided by surveillance capitalists So no state made tools?

deleted 6y ago

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