4 ms·

It isn't Instagram, it is like counts. But the like counts are what drives the addictive behavior and makes the product "free" to use. This is just Goodhart's

It isn't Instagram, it is like counts. But the like counts are what drives the addictive behavior and makes the product "free" to use. This is just Goodhart's Law at a personal level. We stop being authentic to chase likes. We inherently turn the measure into a target. We have hundreds of "friends" of FB and we interact with a dozen or less regularly.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago
It's not just like counts. That's just a metric/formalism for the narcissistic self-marketing thing that these platforms are really about. You could remove them or obscure them but some other form of observing engagement would take the same place. It's about being seen and popular. The same crap adolescents have dealt with for decades, but now... automated.
prawn 4y ago
I don't think likes are currently their major issue. Instagram at least created its own problem: 1. start with regular people posting regular stuff - it was great fun 2. the professional users are the most active and polished 3. regular people stop posting because their content isn't polished enough and they resent comparisons of their life to others' 4. regulars follow less (to preserve their sanity) and post less 5. to maintain growth, the platform pushes more and more suggestions (people you don't want to follow, ads you don't want to see, reel encouragement you don't want to do) Final stage is a platform that has deterred you from participating and constantly assaults you with things that you don't want to see. I used to really enjoy using Twitter and Instagram. I haven't touched Twitter in a couple of months and I usually resent using Instagram (but it's key in my industry).
- pixl97 4y ago
  https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other-and-start https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other... >Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things: Three Decades of Survival in the Desert of Social Media Covers this effect pretty well.
  - prawn 4y ago
    Yep, I remember that piece. Silly thing is, I think Instagram would be just fine if they didn't suggest things constantly. Every time, I select to see it less often, but it's inevitably back the following day. Let each person choose what they want their Instagram to be, whether it's following friends or being a creator or treating it like a magazine and looking at reels.
    - the_snooze 4y ago
      >Let each person choose what they want their Instagram to be That's not as valuable to advertisers though. With recommendations and algorithmic sorting, the platform gets to mold what's important, and that influence makes it easy to sell off to the highest bidder. I find a lot of value in following my friends---and my friends only. It's why we've all generally migrated off traditional social media and into private group chats. There's no algorithm mediating our interactions, and no one is going to try to sell our attention to outside parties.
      - prawn 4y ago
        That's not as valuable to advertisers though... ;) They're pushing away valuable eyeballs by trying to wring cash out of everyone.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago

It's not just like counts. That's just a metric/formalism for the narcissistic self-marketing thing that these platforms are really about. You could remove them or obscure them but some other form of observing engagement would take the same place. It's about being seen and popular. The same crap adolescents have dealt with for decades, but now... automated.

prawn 4y ago

I don't think likes are currently their major issue. Instagram at least created its own problem: 1. start with regular people posting regular stuff - it was great fun 2. the professional users are the most active and polished 3. regular people stop posting because their content isn't polished enough and they resent comparisons of their life to others' 4. regulars follow less (to preserve their sanity) and post less 5. to maintain growth, the platform pushes more and more suggestions (people you don't want to follow, ads you don't want to see, reel encouragement you don't want to do) Final stage is a platform that has deterred you from participating and constantly assaults you with things that you don't want to see. I used to really enjoy using Twitter and Instagram. I haven't touched Twitter in a couple of months and I usually resent using Instagram (but it's key in my industry).

pixl97 4y ago
https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other-and-start https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other... >Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things: Three Decades of Survival in the Desert of Social Media Covers this effect pretty well.
- prawn 4y ago
  Yep, I remember that piece. Silly thing is, I think Instagram would be just fine if they didn't suggest things constantly. Every time, I select to see it less often, but it's inevitably back the following day. Let each person choose what they want their Instagram to be, whether it's following friends or being a creator or treating it like a magazine and looking at reels.
  - the_snooze 4y ago
    >Let each person choose what they want their Instagram to be That's not as valuable to advertisers though. With recommendations and algorithmic sorting, the platform gets to mold what's important, and that influence makes it easy to sell off to the highest bidder. I find a lot of value in following my friends---and my friends only. It's why we've all generally migrated off traditional social media and into private group chats. There's no algorithm mediating our interactions, and no one is going to try to sell our attention to outside parties.
    - prawn 4y ago
      That's not as valuable to advertisers though... ;) They're pushing away valuable eyeballs by trying to wring cash out of everyone.