4 ms·
The real problem here is people, not the platforms or the products. How do I know this? Because the problems have existed far longer than any of the platforms.
by cletus 5y ago
The real problem here is people, not the platforms or the products. How do I know this? Because the problems have existed far longer than any of the platforms.
Maybe people here are too young to remember how toxic, argumentative, irrational and judgmental everything else was that came previously: forums, mailing lists, Usenet, you name it.
Sure products can influence user behaviour but they can't totally change it. And if none of them (as you assert) "improve accuracy, increase thoughtfulness, paint nuance" ask yourself why: is it because all the platform providers are wrong? Or simply that's what users want?
Personally I've never liked Twitter. Of all the platforms I find it dominated by people who like the sounds of their own voices. I've described it as a "write only" platform. Even calling it "social media" seems like a stretch as there are no relationships, just people you follow and a news feed.
- Dumblydorr 5y agoIf humans are inherently violent, why hand them free guns? If they're inherently greedy, why hand them free credit cards? If humans are inherently toxic and disingenuous and biased, why hand them the free reach to thousands of gullible minds? I'm in agreement humans are flawed, but why should we allow billionaires, who mostly want power and wealth, to decide how to referee our public discourse? To me, these companies are run by humans and used by humans, so like drinking and driving, speed limits, personal safety, and all other kinds of laws: we need guardrails against bad actions. We need some rudimentary policing, for as Hamilton stated: "if men were angels, no government would be necessary"
- tcoff91 5y agoI'm sure people were saying the same things about the printing press as people are saying about social media. People were printing pamphlets in the 1800s that were just as crazy as any of the misinformation we see online today.
- datavirtue 5y agoI have been on a lot of forums where it was generally amicable, informative, and unarguably valuable. Sure, there was toxicity but was usually just enough to be comic relief and could be ignored. However, a lot of dumbshits were still carrying around flip phones and did little else than play hunting or monster truck games on a PC. Now they have a frictionless platform from where they can interject thier wisdom into just about any forum without having anything invested.
- mtoddsmith 5y agoThe difference with the new platforms is their ability to push content to users. And that content can be driven by bad actors.
- spion 5y agoWe should have (software) systems that amplify our strengths and help us deal with our flaws, not the other way around.