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Threads isn't launched in EU possibly because it's spyware and not compliant with GDPR. Coming from Meta, and given Facebook, their main product, why would you

Threads isn't launched in EU possibly because it's spyware and not compliant with GDPR. Coming from Meta, and given Facebook, their main product, why would you think it can develop a better culture? On Twitter/X, the reality is that people get the kind of posts they tend to interact with. The "For You" page can be curated, however. My X/Twitter feed right now has no mentions of war, or politics. It's all tech. Whenever I engage with tweets, I end up seeing similar tweets on the "For You" page, that I am then careful about curating. The automated feed is now a feature of all social media, except for the Fediverse/Mastodon. I don't like it, because the algorithm is meant to maximize engagement whatever the cost. But have you seen Facebook's feed lately? It's much, much worse than Twitter, because on Facebook, whatever you do, you can't stop it from suggesting bullshit, drama and yellow journalism. BTW, Mastodon is nice. But even without the algorithmic feed, people tend to gravitate toward drama and shallow subjects, such as politics and religion. Some people like complaining about shallow subjects into the void, or to pick a fight with strangers. Instagram, being based on posts of images only, seemed to be different. Well, not anymore, right?

yodsanklai 3y ago
> Threads isn't launched in EU possibly because it's spyware and not compliant with GDPR. This is why we have regulations. If Meta wants to target that market (and I assume they want), they'll have to conform. Could also be technical reasons that slow them down. > Coming from Meta, and given Facebook, their main product, why would you think it can develop a better culture? Because Meta does moderate content whereas Musk advocates free speech and doesn't mind the toxicity as far as I can tell. Each side has its pros and cons, and there's room for both. Meta gets a lot of flack but I think content moderation at that scale is a hard problem, politically and technically.
kalleboo 3y ago
It's interesting how different our experiences are. > On Twitter/X, the reality is that people get the kind of posts they tend to interact with. The "For You" page can be curated, however I deleted my Twitter account late last year and created a new one that only follows a handful of local bars to keep track of their opening hours/upcoming events. I'm in Japan, all the bars only post in Japanese, my computer is set to Japanese. But when I check out the For You tab, after about 3 screenfuls of local stuff, it fades to U.S. brain-rot all in English and I stop scrolling and close the tab. > But have you seen Facebook's feed lately? I'm mostly on Facebook for family but also am I a handful of groups - retro tech groups, some car Youtuber groups. I see no politics or anything like that on Facebook so the feed curation there seems to work. There are a lot of really bad ads and just tons and tons of lowest-common-denominator "viral videos" like those 5 minute crafts and "look at this weird kid in china" type things so it's still not a pleasant experience. > BTW, Mastodon is nice. But even without the algorithmic feed, people tend to gravitate toward drama and shallow subjects, such as politics and religion Aside from people expressing exasperation about whatever the latest political tragedy is, and a lot of "trans rights" boosts, I see proportionately very little drama, politics and religion on Mastodon. Without the algorithm to reward virality from emotional posts like that, they just don't seem to get the reach they did on Twitter. Most of my Mastodon feed is technical stuff like people's pet projects, which always got buried and never surfaced properly on Twitter since it didn't trigger the algorithmic vitality.
- bad_user 3y ago
  Our experiences are different indeed. It is on facebook where I've seen the most vile shit, which happens especially in private (yet big) groups. I've also reported posts for blatant sexism, racism, antisemitism or dangerous medical advice, and they did nothing. It probably didn't help that those posts weren't written in English. I'm guessing that it depends on the bubble we have on each social network.
  - kalleboo 3y ago
    Wow, that sounds horrifying! > I'm guessing that it depends on the bubble we have on each social network. Absolutely, and it always makes these kinds of social media debates very anecdotal and hard to make any conclusions.

yodsanklai 3y ago

> Threads isn't launched in EU possibly because it's spyware and not compliant with GDPR. This is why we have regulations. If Meta wants to target that market (and I assume they want), they'll have to conform. Could also be technical reasons that slow them down. > Coming from Meta, and given Facebook, their main product, why would you think it can develop a better culture? Because Meta does moderate content whereas Musk advocates free speech and doesn't mind the toxicity as far as I can tell. Each side has its pros and cons, and there's room for both. Meta gets a lot of flack but I think content moderation at that scale is a hard problem, politically and technically.

kalleboo 3y ago

It's interesting how different our experiences are. > On Twitter/X, the reality is that people get the kind of posts they tend to interact with. The "For You" page can be curated, however I deleted my Twitter account late last year and created a new one that only follows a handful of local bars to keep track of their opening hours/upcoming events. I'm in Japan, all the bars only post in Japanese, my computer is set to Japanese. But when I check out the For You tab, after about 3 screenfuls of local stuff, it fades to U.S. brain-rot all in English and I stop scrolling and close the tab. > But have you seen Facebook's feed lately? I'm mostly on Facebook for family but also am I a handful of groups - retro tech groups, some car Youtuber groups. I see no politics or anything like that on Facebook so the feed curation there seems to work. There are a lot of really bad ads and just tons and tons of lowest-common-denominator "viral videos" like those 5 minute crafts and "look at this weird kid in china" type things so it's still not a pleasant experience. > BTW, Mastodon is nice. But even without the algorithmic feed, people tend to gravitate toward drama and shallow subjects, such as politics and religion Aside from people expressing exasperation about whatever the latest political tragedy is, and a lot of "trans rights" boosts, I see proportionately very little drama, politics and religion on Mastodon. Without the algorithm to reward virality from emotional posts like that, they just don't seem to get the reach they did on Twitter. Most of my Mastodon feed is technical stuff like people's pet projects, which always got buried and never surfaced properly on Twitter since it didn't trigger the algorithmic vitality.

bad_user 3y ago
Our experiences are different indeed. It is on facebook where I've seen the most vile shit, which happens especially in private (yet big) groups. I've also reported posts for blatant sexism, racism, antisemitism or dangerous medical advice, and they did nothing. It probably didn't help that those posts weren't written in English. I'm guessing that it depends on the bubble we have on each social network.
- kalleboo 3y ago
  Wow, that sounds horrifying! > I'm guessing that it depends on the bubble we have on each social network. Absolutely, and it always makes these kinds of social media debates very anecdotal and hard to make any conclusions.