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> This manufactured pity instead blindly inflates the value of the work in question – as if to say: if the story is sad enough, the art is automatically good.

> This manufactured pity instead blindly inflates the value of the work in question – as if to say: if the story is sad enough, the art is automatically good. This poor fool still believes that social media has a shred of authenticity left. There is no such authenticity on social media platforms, the entire system is designed to generate content that creates engagement. I think it says more about our society that people have found success in begging online than it does the beggars themselves.

the_af 3y ago
When it comes from corporations, I'm with you: nothing is genuine, everything is carefully manufactured to elicit an emotion (to buy and consume). But from individuals? Sure, there's astroturfing, but there's also genuine messages with no ulterior motives. Or do you think everyone posting here on HN has ulterior motives?
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  I think it all comes down to what your definition of authenticity is and acknowledging that the vast majority of social media behavior is learned to elicit some sort of reaction and not to necessarily replicate your real-life behavior and mannerisms. As far as HN goes, I find myself posting for upvotes sometimes instead of having the more nuanced conversation. It’s why I typically abandon my account around 2-3k upvotes. Even these systems reinforce our beliefs that we are always correct or more correct than someone else because we have more upvotes/karma/whatever. I don’t think everyone has ulterior motives in the sense that there’s a hidden agenda to adhere to. But I also think it’s impossible not behave in a way that reinforces the clout mechanisms that exist on all of these platforms, which ultimately does detract from authentic behavior.
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    > I typically abandon my account around 2-3k upvotes. I’ve done the same thing about three times. My rough limit is 5k. It’s time. I think HN is better than many forums but posting for karma is a motivation everywhere it is possible.
- apsurd 3y ago
  > When it comes from corporations, I'm with you: nothing is genuine... the insight is that our culture is consumed by capitalism and so individual people actually do mimic corporations because the corporation is all mighty. hustle culture, influencers, content creators are all very literally trying to make a business of their identity. i am not judging, i am saying it's very clear what's going on. To your point, not to say authenticity is dead. There are still voices. It's by no means a given. i don't think it's unreasonable to default suspect everyone posting content online has a commercialized agenda.
- shash7 3y ago
  Depends on who you're talking about in organic context. For instance, if you're talking about the Instagram Explore page or the Tiktok For you page, its all marketing. Literally nothing is real, everything is made to maximize engagement. If you're talking about your followers who you know in person, that will be 80% authentic at least.
deleted 3y ago
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the_af 3y ago

When it comes from corporations, I'm with you: nothing is genuine, everything is carefully manufactured to elicit an emotion (to buy and consume). But from individuals? Sure, there's astroturfing, but there's also genuine messages with no ulterior motives. Or do you think everyone posting here on HN has ulterior motives?

LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
I think it all comes down to what your definition of authenticity is and acknowledging that the vast majority of social media behavior is learned to elicit some sort of reaction and not to necessarily replicate your real-life behavior and mannerisms. As far as HN goes, I find myself posting for upvotes sometimes instead of having the more nuanced conversation. It’s why I typically abandon my account around 2-3k upvotes. Even these systems reinforce our beliefs that we are always correct or more correct than someone else because we have more upvotes/karma/whatever. I don’t think everyone has ulterior motives in the sense that there’s a hidden agenda to adhere to. But I also think it’s impossible not behave in a way that reinforces the clout mechanisms that exist on all of these platforms, which ultimately does detract from authentic behavior.
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  > I typically abandon my account around 2-3k upvotes. I’ve done the same thing about three times. My rough limit is 5k. It’s time. I think HN is better than many forums but posting for karma is a motivation everywhere it is possible.
apsurd 3y ago
> When it comes from corporations, I'm with you: nothing is genuine... the insight is that our culture is consumed by capitalism and so individual people actually do mimic corporations because the corporation is all mighty. hustle culture, influencers, content creators are all very literally trying to make a business of their identity. i am not judging, i am saying it's very clear what's going on. To your point, not to say authenticity is dead. There are still voices. It's by no means a given. i don't think it's unreasonable to default suspect everyone posting content online has a commercialized agenda.
shash7 3y ago
Depends on who you're talking about in organic context. For instance, if you're talking about the Instagram Explore page or the Tiktok For you page, its all marketing. Literally nothing is real, everything is made to maximize engagement. If you're talking about your followers who you know in person, that will be 80% authentic at least.

deleted 3y ago

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