4 ms·

This is a great comment. Over the last year I have become a creator. I teach and translate Afghan folk poetry on TikTok, I livestream code contributions to a co

by bsnnkv 4y ago

This is a great comment. Over the last year I have become a creator. I teach and translate Afghan folk poetry on TikTok, I livestream code contributions to a complex open source project on YouTube, and I'm thinking of starting to stream myself working through difficult language learning textbooks as well. After seeing the positive impact I'm able to have in people's lives; showing them that open source and Rust are not so scary, getting teenagers in exile and diaspora reconnected with their languages and roots etc., I'm no longer comfortable making blanket "social media bad" comments anymore.

carapace 4y ago
For me the crucial point is that those services are closed and proprietary and they do not make hardware, in other words, they are packaging capabilities that your machine(s) already have, they are not fundamentally adding anything to the system. All those positive impacts you're making are orthogonal (in my POV) from the companies who are using them as a kind of camouflage or stalking horse for their parasitic and (ironically) anti-social behavior.
- bsnnkv 4y ago
  In the case of TikTok and Afghan folk poetry, there is just no way that I would have been able to reach the audience of tens of thousands that I have without TikTok. I didn't even have to do anything besides upload videos; their algorithm figured who would like it, and put the content in front of them. I don't necessarily disagree with anything you're saying, but at the same time I can't just dismiss the difference that this makes, especially when creating content for non-white, non-Anglophone audiences.
  - carapace 4y ago
    It's not something I want to argue about, but I feel like I can envision a world where you connected with your audience without the intercession of a "black box" corporate system. (I hesitate to believe that an algorithm could beat word-of-mouth, or that, if it could, that this is desirable in some hard-to-quantify sense.) However, I have no idea if this imaginary alternate reality is realistic or some kind of Harry Potter fantasy, y'know? In any event, I'm glad you are getting something good out of it. Cheers! :)

by bsnnkv 4y ago

carapace 4y ago

For me the crucial point is that those services are closed and proprietary and they do not make hardware, in other words, they are packaging capabilities that your machine(s) already have, they are not fundamentally adding anything to the system. All those positive impacts you're making are orthogonal (in my POV) from the companies who are using them as a kind of camouflage or stalking horse for their parasitic and (ironically) anti-social behavior.

bsnnkv 4y ago
In the case of TikTok and Afghan folk poetry, there is just no way that I would have been able to reach the audience of tens of thousands that I have without TikTok. I didn't even have to do anything besides upload videos; their algorithm figured who would like it, and put the content in front of them. I don't necessarily disagree with anything you're saying, but at the same time I can't just dismiss the difference that this makes, especially when creating content for non-white, non-Anglophone audiences.
- carapace 4y ago
  It's not something I want to argue about, but I feel like I can envision a world where you connected with your audience without the intercession of a "black box" corporate system. (I hesitate to believe that an algorithm could beat word-of-mouth, or that, if it could, that this is desirable in some hard-to-quantify sense.) However, I have no idea if this imaginary alternate reality is realistic or some kind of Harry Potter fantasy, y'know? In any event, I'm glad you are getting something good out of it. Cheers! :)