2 ms·

The problem Twitter and Facebook have is size. Call it an unproven conjecture, but any network that reaches quasi-global sizes becomes a cesspool of scum and vi

by sph 3y ago

The problem Twitter and Facebook have is size. Call it an unproven conjecture, but any network that reaches quasi-global sizes becomes a cesspool of scum and villainy, and it scales exponentially with number of users. Newer generations are discovering that niche, small communities are better, in the face of the idea of an Inter-Net. While I enjoy HN immensely and have been participating without major issues for a decade, it would be hard for me to say even this place is the gold standard of communication. The upvote system, for example, is the major contributor to echo chamber hive mind mob thinking.

CM30 3y ago
Well it's not just scale. It's also a series of business decisions that hurt civility in various ways: 1. Focus on engagement means a focus on rage inducing, soundbite esque content that provokes anger rather than a reasonable conversation. 2. Algorithmic timelines mean content is often personalised to the user, potentially either leading to an echo chamber or a fight (by showing content from people the user fundamentally disagrees with) 3. Moderation is virtually nonexistent, outsourced to third world support teams or applied unevenly/unfairly, both encouraging bad behaviour and making those affected think the system is against them. 4. Short character limits and mobile focused designs encourage snarky responses and short putdowns over more thoughtful responses. 5. The focus on reply times and posting speed in how comments are shown encourages responding based on the title alone (on sites like Reddit especially) 6. Upvote/downvote system encourages people to see content as good or bad and nothing else, with the definitions of such being heavily based on whether the content agrees with their personal biases. And many, many other factors. Most social media sites and services are designed to make people act as unreasonably as possible.

by sph 3y ago

CM30 3y ago

Well it's not just scale. It's also a series of business decisions that hurt civility in various ways: 1. Focus on engagement means a focus on rage inducing, soundbite esque content that provokes anger rather than a reasonable conversation. 2. Algorithmic timelines mean content is often personalised to the user, potentially either leading to an echo chamber or a fight (by showing content from people the user fundamentally disagrees with) 3. Moderation is virtually nonexistent, outsourced to third world support teams or applied unevenly/unfairly, both encouraging bad behaviour and making those affected think the system is against them. 4. Short character limits and mobile focused designs encourage snarky responses and short putdowns over more thoughtful responses. 5. The focus on reply times and posting speed in how comments are shown encourages responding based on the title alone (on sites like Reddit especially) 6. Upvote/downvote system encourages people to see content as good or bad and nothing else, with the definitions of such being heavily based on whether the content agrees with their personal biases. And many, many other factors. Most social media sites and services are designed to make people act as unreasonably as possible.