4 ms·

> there's something to be said of an overall trend toward more consumption, less production I think this couldn't be further from the truth. You could argue th

by xmprt 3y ago

> there's something to be said of an overall trend toward more consumption, less production I think this couldn't be further from the truth. You could argue that the production has been heavily centralized, but I think today more than ever we see kids in their early teens making videos on YouTube/TikTok, etc. It's different from other people's childhoods where you'd make geocities website or customize your myspace page or write blogs but it's still production nonetheless.

ethanbond 3y ago
I think TikTok is a substantial aberration on this trigger trend. It’s been great (as a non-user) seeing legitimately funny and creative stuff coming from that platform. It’ll be interesting to see if it stays that way or it does go the way (at least IMO) of YouTube and Instagram: quite commercialized. Note: All of this based on impressions/vibes, would be keen to hear any stats if people around have ‘em on hand!
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  TikTok is extremely commercialized; even a lot of the "good" content is extremely carefully crafted part of the acquisition funnel for commercial activities. I'm not knocking people liking it -- its like people liking SuperBowl ads; just because something is the very much marketing content doesn't mean its not fun and entertaining. But, the idea that becoming "quite commercialized" is a potential way it might go downhill in the future seems to miss that it is very much already there.
  - ethanbond 3y ago
    I've never used TikTok but definitely not surprised to hear this. I've certainly seen some interesting things escape the app, but yeah quite a shame to hear it's already over that hump already (or started over it)!
    - fragmede 3y ago
      Given the investment involved (installing and using an app), I'd recommend trying yourself and drawing your own conclusions, rather than treating one person's experience as gospel
      - ethanbond 3y ago
        No thanks :) I’m extremely defensive of my information diet + attention allocation, and I know upfront that I don’t need to add a service like TikTok to the mix. I’m not treating anyone’s experience as gospel in any case. There are no important decisions I’ll be making off this information.
jstarfish 3y ago
> I think today more than ever we see kids in their early teens making videos on YouTube/TikTok, etc. It's different from other people's childhoods where you'd make geocities website or customize your myspace page or write blogs but it's still production nonetheless. You are correct, but there is a disappointing shift in the nature of said content. GeoCities sites and the like were at least labors of love. Your site looked like shit but that's ok, nobody's going to see it anyway. Tumblr was performative garbage that bridged LiveJournal/Myspace and Instagram. Your site looked like shit but if you say something controversial enough, you'll get a lot of views. The YouTube/Instagram/TikTok crowd only optimize for engagement, to get as many views as possible. Everything is so over-the-top. You're not making anything out of love, you're making what gets you attention. Your content is professionally-polished and staged to attract eyeballs even if you have nothing to say. (No wonder everybody has an identity crisis; everyone's a child star that's been living for the camera since they got their first iPhone.)
- izzydata 3y ago
  That's also what happens when you turn hobbies into jobs that then become necessities. If you want to pay the bills you have to do and say controversial nonsense or be incredibly exaggerated.
samtho 3y ago
I think the post you are replying to was trying to say this, but less precisely. It used to be that a MySpace, account profile on DeviantArt, Flickr, an online forum, or even a personal website was another human trying to connect with (or troll) someone, and that everyone was putting out content because that’s how you needed to exist. Nowadays, I’m sure that 95% of all content I see is made by a media company for hire, mega corporation, or, most recently, word soup from an LLM where, in a strange twist of fate, I’m just a lab mouse in a giant, AI created A/B test trying to determine which option gets 0.2% more clicks. The age of casual creator is mostly over. Everything you do must be to build or enhance “your brand” and its a full time job to keep up with huge teams that automate the churn of information regurgitation, otherwise you’ll never be able to get enough of a following to qualify for perks that actual content creators make - and we’ve not even gotten to compensation yet. The gold rush of making money selling your brand online is over and it has been enshitified much like everything else novel and interesting in the world and on the internet.
- pxoe 3y ago
  as much as this doomer drivel might be true, it might be blinding you to the good parts and good people. just not seeing what's "novel and interesting", nor seeking it out.

by xmprt 3y ago

ethanbond 3y ago

I think TikTok is a substantial aberration on this trigger trend. It’s been great (as a non-user) seeing legitimately funny and creative stuff coming from that platform. It’ll be interesting to see if it stays that way or it does go the way (at least IMO) of YouTube and Instagram: quite commercialized. Note: All of this based on impressions/vibes, would be keen to hear any stats if people around have ‘em on hand!

dragonwriter 3y ago
TikTok is extremely commercialized; even a lot of the "good" content is extremely carefully crafted part of the acquisition funnel for commercial activities. I'm not knocking people liking it -- its like people liking SuperBowl ads; just because something is the very much marketing content doesn't mean its not fun and entertaining. But, the idea that becoming "quite commercialized" is a potential way it might go downhill in the future seems to miss that it is very much already there.
- ethanbond 3y ago
  I've never used TikTok but definitely not surprised to hear this. I've certainly seen some interesting things escape the app, but yeah quite a shame to hear it's already over that hump already (or started over it)!
  - fragmede 3y ago
    Given the investment involved (installing and using an app), I'd recommend trying yourself and drawing your own conclusions, rather than treating one person's experience as gospel
    - ethanbond 3y ago
      No thanks :) I’m extremely defensive of my information diet + attention allocation, and I know upfront that I don’t need to add a service like TikTok to the mix. I’m not treating anyone’s experience as gospel in any case. There are no important decisions I’ll be making off this information.

jstarfish 3y ago

> I think today more than ever we see kids in their early teens making videos on YouTube/TikTok, etc. It's different from other people's childhoods where you'd make geocities website or customize your myspace page or write blogs but it's still production nonetheless. You are correct, but there is a disappointing shift in the nature of said content. GeoCities sites and the like were at least labors of love. Your site looked like shit but that's ok, nobody's going to see it anyway. Tumblr was performative garbage that bridged LiveJournal/Myspace and Instagram. Your site looked like shit but if you say something controversial enough, you'll get a lot of views. The YouTube/Instagram/TikTok crowd only optimize for engagement, to get as many views as possible. Everything is so over-the-top. You're not making anything out of love, you're making what gets you attention. Your content is professionally-polished and staged to attract eyeballs even if you have nothing to say. (No wonder everybody has an identity crisis; everyone's a child star that's been living for the camera since they got their first iPhone.)

izzydata 3y ago
That's also what happens when you turn hobbies into jobs that then become necessities. If you want to pay the bills you have to do and say controversial nonsense or be incredibly exaggerated.

samtho 3y ago

I think the post you are replying to was trying to say this, but less precisely. It used to be that a MySpace, account profile on DeviantArt, Flickr, an online forum, or even a personal website was another human trying to connect with (or troll) someone, and that everyone was putting out content because that’s how you needed to exist. Nowadays, I’m sure that 95% of all content I see is made by a media company for hire, mega corporation, or, most recently, word soup from an LLM where, in a strange twist of fate, I’m just a lab mouse in a giant, AI created A/B test trying to determine which option gets 0.2% more clicks. The age of casual creator is mostly over. Everything you do must be to build or enhance “your brand” and its a full time job to keep up with huge teams that automate the churn of information regurgitation, otherwise you’ll never be able to get enough of a following to qualify for perks that actual content creators make - and we’ve not even gotten to compensation yet. The gold rush of making money selling your brand online is over and it has been enshitified much like everything else novel and interesting in the world and on the internet.

pxoe 3y ago
as much as this doomer drivel might be true, it might be blinding you to the good parts and good people. just not seeing what's "novel and interesting", nor seeking it out.