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This and the author's other post both remind me of tyler the creator's famous tweet about cyber bullying (https://twitter.com/tylerthecreator/status/28567082226

This and the author's other post both remind me of tyler the creator's famous tweet about cyber bullying (https://twitter.com/tylerthecreator/status/285670822264307712?lang=en https://twitter.com/tylerthecreator/status/28567082226430771...). We choose where we put our time. Obviously it's harder for teens etc, but we still have agency in this. I installed an app called clearspace that makes instagram annoying to open. It's killed it for me. Using it less has shown me how little value it was delivereing me. So, how does this reconcile? The author is too deep in social, they're not seeing the forest for the trees. The problem isn't some minute one about which social platform matters, the problem is that they're bad products 90% of the time, with the occasional gleams of brilliance that keep us hooked. I get the same value out of checking instagram for 5 min a day that I did when I didn't have the chastity belt app and could check it continuously. This is a problem for Zuck. And Musk. AI could read instgram for me and summarise, and my utility would increase even further.

twodave 3y ago
I’m with you, having quit social media some 10 years ago. That said, not everybody has the ability to exercise their agency. In this social media addiction isn’t much different from any other addiction. Many folks find themselves incapable of making a change here, while some like you (and myself) simply decided one day. Same goes for a lot of other things. I quit drinking alcohol because I saw it as a negative in my life. Other things have been much, much harder for me.
- te_chris 3y ago
  Agree, I'm certainly not trying to minimise the effects of real addiction, but I do think for a lot of us it's more crutch than dependency.
- heresie-dabord 3y ago
  > not everybody has the ability to exercise agency Disaster awaits a person whose habits become lucrative for someone else. At the same time, the distribution of Meta users by country is interesting. The top 5 countries for Meta are (with some variance among Funkbook, Insipigram, Wartsapp): * India * USA * Indonesia * Brazil * Mexico [1] _ https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/facebook-users-by-country/#canada https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/facebook-users-by-cou...
at0mic22 3y ago
Once you are off the dopamine needle, you start seeking for options to get the most relevant and compact content. And you start understanding that algorithms are playing against you, they are made to keep you scrolling. Not to deliver the most relevant stuff in shortest time
micromacrofoot 3y ago
From my perspective the problem is often other people... without a Facebook account I have a hard time getting invited to events, and lately even more difficulty purchasing used items locally, people organize roommates and rentals on facebook! one organization I volunteered for briefly organized everything via Facebook message and were upset that I didn't have an account.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  You could, you know, have a Facebook account and use it only for Marketplace and Messenger. That’s what I do. I don’t post or read the feeds.
  - micromacrofoot 3y ago
    I find it too insidious personally
    - Cthulhu_ 3y ago
      That's cool, but it means you'll be excluded from events by people that don't agree; you can't expect people to make an exception just for you.
      - micromacrofoot 3y ago
        Yes, this is the problem as described in the initial comment. Facebook has commercialized a basic slice of human interaction. To boycott Facebook is to boycott people who rely on it. Quite evil at scale, from my perspective.
        TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
        You could say the same of EventBrite, Craigslist, and evite (birthday parties). Facebook is not alone. Why not just turn off all screens while you’re at it? /s A better solution is to use these services with discernment; e.g. engage with them to the limited extent to need to RSVP an event or sell something out of your garage.
kmeisthax 3y ago
One thing to note is that Mastodon - at least in its current form - is a lot lower intensity than Instagram. We don't have algorithms that try to hunt for content to "maximize engagement". So you're very likely to run out of stuff on there at about the same time as your 5 minutes a day. And the author already knows most of Meta's products are garbage attention sinks.
- Cthulhu_ 3y ago
  Sounds like Mastodon is still in its eternal september and pre-enshittification phase; it'll either peter out over time (likely since it feels like only techbros use it), or get an influx of users / "normies" that make people feel nostalgia about when they would only see a dozen new posts a day. Then commercial interests will take over.
  - kmeisthax 3y ago
    If the 'normies' discover Mastodon, the biggest problem won't be enshittification. I run my own instance, it can't be enshittified because I have no profit motive. On the other hand, it can be spammed, and I've already noticed several instances of ActivityPub spam that I've had to deal with. Think less Facebook, more e-mail.

twodave 3y ago

I’m with you, having quit social media some 10 years ago. That said, not everybody has the ability to exercise their agency. In this social media addiction isn’t much different from any other addiction. Many folks find themselves incapable of making a change here, while some like you (and myself) simply decided one day. Same goes for a lot of other things. I quit drinking alcohol because I saw it as a negative in my life. Other things have been much, much harder for me.

te_chris 3y ago
Agree, I'm certainly not trying to minimise the effects of real addiction, but I do think for a lot of us it's more crutch than dependency.
heresie-dabord 3y ago
> not everybody has the ability to exercise agency Disaster awaits a person whose habits become lucrative for someone else. At the same time, the distribution of Meta users by country is interesting. The top 5 countries for Meta are (with some variance among Funkbook, Insipigram, Wartsapp): * India * USA * Indonesia * Brazil * Mexico [1] _ https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/facebook-users-by-country/#canada https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/facebook-users-by-cou...

at0mic22 3y ago

Once you are off the dopamine needle, you start seeking for options to get the most relevant and compact content. And you start understanding that algorithms are playing against you, they are made to keep you scrolling. Not to deliver the most relevant stuff in shortest time

micromacrofoot 3y ago

From my perspective the problem is often other people... without a Facebook account I have a hard time getting invited to events, and lately even more difficulty purchasing used items locally, people organize roommates and rentals on facebook! one organization I volunteered for briefly organized everything via Facebook message and were upset that I didn't have an account.

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
You could, you know, have a Facebook account and use it only for Marketplace and Messenger. That’s what I do. I don’t post or read the feeds.
- micromacrofoot 3y ago
  I find it too insidious personally
  - Cthulhu_ 3y ago
    That's cool, but it means you'll be excluded from events by people that don't agree; you can't expect people to make an exception just for you.
    - micromacrofoot 3y ago
      Yes, this is the problem as described in the initial comment. Facebook has commercialized a basic slice of human interaction. To boycott Facebook is to boycott people who rely on it. Quite evil at scale, from my perspective.
      - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
        You could say the same of EventBrite, Craigslist, and evite (birthday parties). Facebook is not alone. Why not just turn off all screens while you’re at it? /s A better solution is to use these services with discernment; e.g. engage with them to the limited extent to need to RSVP an event or sell something out of your garage.

kmeisthax 3y ago

One thing to note is that Mastodon - at least in its current form - is a lot lower intensity than Instagram. We don't have algorithms that try to hunt for content to "maximize engagement". So you're very likely to run out of stuff on there at about the same time as your 5 minutes a day. And the author already knows most of Meta's products are garbage attention sinks.

Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Sounds like Mastodon is still in its eternal september and pre-enshittification phase; it'll either peter out over time (likely since it feels like only techbros use it), or get an influx of users / "normies" that make people feel nostalgia about when they would only see a dozen new posts a day. Then commercial interests will take over.
- kmeisthax 3y ago
  If the 'normies' discover Mastodon, the biggest problem won't be enshittification. I run my own instance, it can't be enshittified because I have no profit motive. On the other hand, it can be spammed, and I've already noticed several instances of ActivityPub spam that I've had to deal with. Think less Facebook, more e-mail.