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Interesting how this is forcing these companies to objectively improve their products -- chronological feeds, friends and follows only, etc is what users have b
by btbuildem 3y ago
Interesting how this is forcing these companies to objectively improve their products -- chronological feeds, friends and follows only, etc is what users have been begging for and being ignored, because advertising trash salad is more profitable.
If the long-term effects end up being along the lines of the big social corps withdrawing from the EU, I see that as an enormous win for that economic zone. The presence of these companies, the influence of their products on society and individual mental health have been shown to be overall harmful.
- spunker540 3y agoWhy do you think complex algos, complex feeds, across large search space (all content instead of friends and family) turns out to be more profitable? Are ads suddenly more valuable in that context? I don’t think so. And it’s certainly much more expensive to operate than a simple chronological feed of friends and family. It comes down to time spent. People spend more time on the apps and see more ads. We can argue over whether that’s a sign people like the app more… but no one is being forced to scroll a feed they don’t enjoy. Interesting that people “are begging for changes” yet using the apps more and more anyways.
- AlexandrB 3y agoAddictiveness is not necessarily an indicator of utility. Drug addicts keep going back to heroin even if it's ruining their lives. Just because I feel compelled to scroll and endless, algorithmic feed it does not mean that this is how I want to use social media or that such usage reflects the role I want it to have in my life.
- username135 3y agoIt's almost a self fulfilling effect at this point.
- spunker540 3y agoThe average American watches close to 3 hours of tv per day— I just don’t see what the fuss is about. It seems like you simply don’t approve of how other people choose to spend their time.
- jancsika 3y ago> but no one is being forced to scroll a feed they don’t enjoy On what do you base this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomscrolling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomscrolling
- andrepd 3y agoMy, thank god people are perfect utility-optimising machines and not complex brains with a ton of psychological and neurological weaknesses and quirks :-) If people behaved like you're saying there would be no drug addicts or gambling addicts, or even obesity or depression.
- Filligree 3y agoThere's definitely a school of thought that goes "If they're gambling, then gambling must be their highest value; and they're lying if they say otherwise." "Revealed preferences", if you want something to search for. The most obvious issue is that humans aren't utility-maximizers.
- itronitron 3y agoScrolling a feed doesn't mean a person is watching the feed, in fact you could argue the opposite. It seems like the content is engineered to be skipped over while still registering as a view.
- legitster 3y ago> Interesting how this is forcing these companies to objectively improve their products Is it though? Facebook only used to show me content from friends and pages I followed. Now it's a nonstop hose of garbage content that only exists to stuff the space between poorly targeted ads.
- ta1243 3y agoI certainly see that, but I think part of it is how rare it is for anyone to actually post on facebook nowadays.
- AlexandrB 3y agoCouldn't that be an effect of algorithmic feeds though? What's the point of posting something if the people you want to see it probably won't because it's buried under a mountain of "content". Or worse, the opposite happens: it goes "viral" and people you don't want seeing it see it and decide to make you the internet's punching bag for the day.
- avianlyric 3y agoI’m confused, do you prefer chronological feeds from friends and family or not? GP is saying that feeds driven by friends and family would be an improvement to their products, and new EU law will drive that behaviour by making it hard for companies like Facebook to indiscriminately force black box recommendation algorithms on people. Isn’t that exactly what you say you want? And thus you agree with this statement > Interesting how this is forcing these companies to objectively improve their products
- chongli 3y agoI’m confused, do you prefer chronological feeds from friends and family or not? Yeah I don’t get it either. I’ve unfollowed most of my family and friends. I’m not interested in their re-shared political pieces. My Facebook feed has morphed into a stream of stuff from my hobbies. It’s basically replaced Reddit for me.
- Nimitz14 3y agoYou couldn't be more wrong.
- amadeuspagel 3y agoTwitter and youtube had chronological feeds for years.
- Tanjreeve 3y agoAnd then they enshittified them.
- DyslexicAtheist 3y ago5 min on yt shorts and I'm fed a diet of Andrew-Tate, Joe Rogan, or if I disagree with this genre and rage-click it away, I get left-wing US hate on why aren't you outraged about Dave Chapelle - because you should be? Youtube feed for content discovery of intelligent men has died long time ago. It is US propaganda at it's finest but for a global audience.
- djhn 3y agoWell out of the people you mention I only recognise Joe Rogan By name - never seen anything of his in my recommendations. Almost 20 year old YouTube account. I watch shorts regularly as well.
- DyslexicAtheist 3y agogood for you if yt knows you and caters to your interest. it is well known that if you show up with a new device, this isn't the case. and for most newcomers this means radicalize in 1 of 2 directions
- katbyte 3y agoAre you in the USA? I think it’s very country specific
- cmarschner 3y agoI only get puppies all along
- AlchemistCamp 3y ago
- petre 3y agoI'd really like Meta and TikTok threaten with withdrawal from the EU, after subsidizing the EU budget with violation fees. The thing is that then it might create a junk information void which will be promptly filled by Russian propaganda. They're already vehicles for propaganda distribution but more easy to regulate and control than lots of other small channels spreading misinformation.
- konschubert 3y agoI want a feed with recommendations and I want a feed that's not just friends and follows. I don't want my government to tell me what I should like.
- permo-w 3y agoyour government is not telling you what you should like, they're making people literally spying on you for profit something that you aren't opted into by default. if you want people to spy on you for profit, click accept, you still have that option
- permo-w 3y agoI suspect "suggested content" is not going anywhere. the profit incentive is now lower, but it's still in these company's interests to keep you as engaged as possible for as long as possible, and the casino model is the best way they've found to do that
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- kmlx 3y ago> If the long-term effects end up being along the lines of the big social corps withdrawing from the EU, I see that as an enormous win for that economic zone it will be a major net loss. the EU is already becoming the internet’s new china. what you’re writing will just make it clear the EU is a non-start for internet companies.