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Your third point is the second most important, but the most important is number one by far. People are willing to let social media turn into a shitshow because

Your third point is the second most important, but the most important is number one by far. People are willing to let social media turn into a shitshow because they're not invested. It didn't cost them anything and it doesn't continue to cost them anything, so it has no value. Starship Troopers (both the book and the movie) hit the nail on the head... "Something given has no value."

IgorPartola 6y ago
TANSTAAFL :) The thing is that if your social network gave you more value than $10/month, you’d sign up for it, no? Remember when texting on your mobile phone was a separate plan that cost about $10-20/month? People fell over themselves to sign up for that because it gave them access to a large social network, one that consisted of people you actually meet in real life and that are presumably worth keeping up with. I don’t use Facebook because nobody on there really is worth my time to keep up with, and I can’t bring myself to try to curate my feed/friends list because that’s just work, all the while FB will keep polluting it with ads anyways. Instagram is mildly more worth it to me because you can actually find some meaningful connections on there as a photographer, but I suspect that’s 100% temporary.
AlexandrB 6y ago
But the book (as I understand) is straight faced, while the movie is biting satire. Aren't the two saying opposite things with that line?
- IgorPartola 6y ago
  I saw the movie more as a campy adaptation than satire. In either case, while most people are familiar with the movie, the book is much more significant. I believe it’s still required reading in the Marine Corp for example. TANSTAAFL is from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, basically a libertarian manifesto. Heinlein had range. Add Stranger in a Strange Land, the hippie manifesto, and you have the trifecta.
mro_name 6y ago
indeed. Like online snipers. Shooting from cover. They don't expose themselves while insulting. That asymmetry enables toxicity. And volume will make it a matter of time until arbitrary toxic things eventually show up. Participation must require more committment than opening a free account. I wonder how those free accounts without any accountability get any credibility.

IgorPartola 6y ago

TANSTAAFL :) The thing is that if your social network gave you more value than $10/month, you’d sign up for it, no? Remember when texting on your mobile phone was a separate plan that cost about $10-20/month? People fell over themselves to sign up for that because it gave them access to a large social network, one that consisted of people you actually meet in real life and that are presumably worth keeping up with. I don’t use Facebook because nobody on there really is worth my time to keep up with, and I can’t bring myself to try to curate my feed/friends list because that’s just work, all the while FB will keep polluting it with ads anyways. Instagram is mildly more worth it to me because you can actually find some meaningful connections on there as a photographer, but I suspect that’s 100% temporary.

AlexandrB 6y ago

But the book (as I understand) is straight faced, while the movie is biting satire. Aren't the two saying opposite things with that line?

IgorPartola 6y ago
I saw the movie more as a campy adaptation than satire. In either case, while most people are familiar with the movie, the book is much more significant. I believe it’s still required reading in the Marine Corp for example. TANSTAAFL is from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, basically a libertarian manifesto. Heinlein had range. Add Stranger in a Strange Land, the hippie manifesto, and you have the trifecta.

mro_name 6y ago

indeed. Like online snipers. Shooting from cover. They don't expose themselves while insulting. That asymmetry enables toxicity. And volume will make it a matter of time until arbitrary toxic things eventually show up. Participation must require more committment than opening a free account. I wonder how those free accounts without any accountability get any credibility.