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> Social media is basically internet era alcohol. I've always used sugar and high fructose corn syrup as my analogy. In the early days of the internet we didn
by superfrank 4y ago
> Social media is basically internet era alcohol.
I've always used sugar and high fructose corn syrup as my analogy.
In the early days of the internet we didn't have what we now call social media, but we had things like blogs and message boards that allowed for some connection with other people. Those things had some of the elements that make modern social media toxic, but they were mixed in with other good things and we consumed them much slower.
Over the past few decades, we've slowly refined social media to what it is today. In an attempt to retain customers we've boiled it down to its most addictive and unhealthy parts and pushed customers to consume more of that quicker than ever before.
- wrp 4y agoThe analogy I think of is the introduction of sugar to Inuit culture. Before the Europeans brought it, the Inuit apparently had no need to be concerned about dental hygiene and controlling intake of certain foods. For decades, there was the stereotype of Eskimos with most of their teeth rotted out. I don't know how many generations it took for Inuit culture to adapt.
- berniedurfee 4y agoSpot on. Humans are driven to optimize innovation to an incredible degree… for better or for worse. The distillation of social media is still ongoing. It won’t be long before TikTok looks as quaint as MySpace does today.