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Critically reflecting on the harms of social media is a commendable effort. But I think this analysis and the implied conclusion is superficial and misguided:
by nequo 4y ago
Critically reflecting on the harms of social media is a commendable effort. But I think this analysis and the implied conclusion is superficial and misguided:
In private hands our choice is limited, toxicity is rewarded, rage is called engagement, public trust is corroded, and basic human decency is often an afterthought.
On a platform that is not centralized but consists of smaller competing providers, the incentives are the same for each provider: to maximize engagement. And given our current experience, the most effective way to do it is to incite anger and fear.
Decentralization does nothing to address the core problem.
- BlueTemplar 4y agoFirst, that's then not a platform, and second, this doesn't seem to have happened with the known examples like usenet, e-mail, IRC..?
- nequo 4y agoThat is true but I think that was not because they were decentralized but because they were not run to raise revenue.
- mariusor 4y agoTo my knowledge there isn't any one fediverse server that is being run to raise revenue. If there's any money involved it's usually for running the servers.
- emaro 4y agoWhy are the incentives for each provider to drive engagement? If I host a small server in the Fediverse, maybe I don't want/need engagement but happy users who appreciate a healthy community and are willing to pay a dollar a month to keep it running. I can compete with other providers, but I don't need to out-compete them.
- lofaszvanitt 4y agoMozilla comes to this equation with their totally out of touch bullshit approach. Just like they fucked up their browser market share, now they are the missionaries of privacy and the people and the trees and world peace. While 99% of people do not know jackshit about all this. Therefore they DON'T CARE. Imagine how successful will this become.