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> How to avoid social media enshitification, if no one pays for it? Paying for it is orthogonal. Social networks can be widely used, or they can be high qualit
by tqi 3y ago
> How to avoid social media enshitification, if no one pays for it?
Paying for it is orthogonal. Social networks can be widely used, or they can be high quality (or they can be neither). They can't be both.
- jmye 3y agoI agree: if you want a non-terrible social network, it has to be exclusive, either in people or in ways to engage with content. If everyone is on it and can see everyone on it, then the worst people with the hottest takes will always get the most engagement, which the service will prioritize (because it’s lucrative, or because it thinks the things people engage with are the things people are interested in) creating a death circle. Trending lists, virality, etc. ensure that platforms will get worse over time. I don’t think paying for it changes that math at all.
- wmf 3y agothe worst people with the hottest takes will always get the most engagement, which the service will prioritize ... creating a death circle Now that we know this problem exists we could just not do it. We won't, but we could.