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I disagree that all communication that is one-to-many should be treated like traditional broadcast media. A great deal of folks on the late 90s and early 2000s

by jchw 5y ago

I disagree that all communication that is one-to-many should be treated like traditional broadcast media. A great deal of folks on the late 90s and early 2000s internet were protesting effectively this kind of censorship, in the form of the Communications Decency Act. As Yishan Wong mentions in his thread regarding Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of Twitter, the difference between the Internet then and now is that the Internet then was mostly grappling with censorship from the evangelical religious right, whereas today it is very different. However, while reality has become muddy and unclear, I feel the principles have largely stayed the same. The fact is that the internet is becoming the fabric of all kinds of communication. All scales of communication can happen in effectively the same manner; a tweet can be sent to one person or a million and there’s no real difference. Internet communication has effectively replaced sitting in a group chatting with friends and acquaintances, something that absolutely should not be treated like broadcast media. It is tempting to try to special case this because it worked before, but I don’t think that’s the answer, and I wonder if that will even remain a feasible option into the long term future. With improving technology and the fundamental belief that people have a substantial amount of freedom to use computers (and the internet) as they like, it’s hard for me to imagine the cat going back into the bag. So I think what we have today is most likely to not change substantially… Everyone agrees that the internet can amplify some bad behaviors, but nobody seems to agree on exactly what to do about it. Making Twitter responsible for the content of every tweet seems unreasonable, but Twitter having zero accountability for what happens in the open on their platform also seems unreasonable. That makes it seem like the answer must be somewhere in the middle, and maybe it is. But sometimes, I do wonder if maybe there will emerge an alternative approach that doesn’t seem to be a futile game of balance? Although it is clear today that the Internet and social media is far from just a passing fad, I do wonder if it will ever hit its cultural peak at some point and begin declining in importance. I mean, how much longer can it continue to eat up other forms of interaction? Surely it will run out. Surely fatigue will build. Surely? And assuming it’s not cyclical, I hope that this eases some of the problems that come from the internet having become so important in modern society. Definitely won’t be holding my breath.

krapp 5y ago
I don't believe social media does eat up other forms of interaction, at least not for most people. People still speak, they still read, they still watch tv, talk on the telephone, communicate in every way they used to.
- jchw 5y ago
  Over 90% of the entire human population has cell phones, globally. Sure, some of them lack data or at least robust data, but the writing is firmly on the wall: people are getting online one way or another. Meanwhile, Facebook has nearly 3 billion active users on its own. It only started in 2004 and it wasn’t even available to the general public for years. By some estimates, 4 billion people don’t even have postal addresses yet. This is substantial adoption in an exceedingly short period. Many things can be said about exactly how and why this happened, but by and large Facebook became a utility for communicating with people who you otherwise would have trouble keeping up with due to geographical differences or other life changes. That said, as it has become so ubiquitous, today many people use it to keep up with people they see every day. Hell, I’m more likely to get a Discord message from someone who is a room away rather than them walk over. The utility of the internet draws people in, but once you have it, it can become second nature. Many of us carry around internet communicators in our pockets 24/7. You may initially mostly have one so you can use Maps, or call someone if you need to, but if it has a data connection and a screen it can probably be used to post to Facebook or watch a YouTube video. If it were deniable before, I’d argue COVID-19 lockdown only made it more evident just how online everyone was, and if they weren’t already, it certainly gave them a push to get there. For economical and other reasons, I’m sure Internet and social media adoption will slow down and it will take a long time to permeate even more of life. However, many Americans probably already spend more time with social interactions online than IRL. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: > From 2003 to 2017, the average amount of time Americans spent socializing per day dropped from about 46 minutes to 39 minutes. Meanwhile, many reports have cited frankly alarming amounts of time spent on platforms like Facebook and phones in general, with one claiming that Americans on average spend 7 hours a week using Facebook, and a report[1] from Pew Research Center asserts that 31% of American adults claim to be online “almost constantly.” Of course, this is U.S. centric to some degree, but the writing is on the wall. People still speak, read, watch TV, talk on the telephone, and communicate in every way they used to. Except they use Facebook more, and they use the “telephone” to do internet communication more than they use it to do voice calls over the traditional phone network. No matter how you look at it, the internet is eating up social interactions of all kinds. And if you don’t see it yet, you probably won’t have to wait long on this trajectory. For better and worse. [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/26/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-say-they-are-almost-constantly-online/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/26/about-three...

by jchw 5y ago

krapp 5y ago

I don't believe social media does eat up other forms of interaction, at least not for most people. People still speak, they still read, they still watch tv, talk on the telephone, communicate in every way they used to.

jchw 5y ago
Over 90% of the entire human population has cell phones, globally. Sure, some of them lack data or at least robust data, but the writing is firmly on the wall: people are getting online one way or another. Meanwhile, Facebook has nearly 3 billion active users on its own. It only started in 2004 and it wasn’t even available to the general public for years. By some estimates, 4 billion people don’t even have postal addresses yet. This is substantial adoption in an exceedingly short period. Many things can be said about exactly how and why this happened, but by and large Facebook became a utility for communicating with people who you otherwise would have trouble keeping up with due to geographical differences or other life changes. That said, as it has become so ubiquitous, today many people use it to keep up with people they see every day. Hell, I’m more likely to get a Discord message from someone who is a room away rather than them walk over. The utility of the internet draws people in, but once you have it, it can become second nature. Many of us carry around internet communicators in our pockets 24/7. You may initially mostly have one so you can use Maps, or call someone if you need to, but if it has a data connection and a screen it can probably be used to post to Facebook or watch a YouTube video. If it were deniable before, I’d argue COVID-19 lockdown only made it more evident just how online everyone was, and if they weren’t already, it certainly gave them a push to get there. For economical and other reasons, I’m sure Internet and social media adoption will slow down and it will take a long time to permeate even more of life. However, many Americans probably already spend more time with social interactions online than IRL. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: > From 2003 to 2017, the average amount of time Americans spent socializing per day dropped from about 46 minutes to 39 minutes. Meanwhile, many reports have cited frankly alarming amounts of time spent on platforms like Facebook and phones in general, with one claiming that Americans on average spend 7 hours a week using Facebook, and a report[1] from Pew Research Center asserts that 31% of American adults claim to be online “almost constantly.” Of course, this is U.S. centric to some degree, but the writing is on the wall. People still speak, read, watch TV, talk on the telephone, and communicate in every way they used to. Except they use Facebook more, and they use the “telephone” to do internet communication more than they use it to do voice calls over the traditional phone network. No matter how you look at it, the internet is eating up social interactions of all kinds. And if you don’t see it yet, you probably won’t have to wait long on this trajectory. For better and worse. [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/26/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-say-they-are-almost-constantly-online/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/26/about-three...