4 ms·

> "Most people can say, 'Why is it a big deal for a teenager now to have their data [on TikTok]?' Well in five years, in 10 years, that teenager will be a young

> "Most people can say, 'Why is it a big deal for a teenager now to have their data [on TikTok]?' Well in five years, in 10 years, that teenager will be a young adult, will be engaged in different activities around the world," I’m technically Gen-Z (but just barely) and this is something that really worries me. It’s become increasingly normal in recent times to share absolutely everything online but I’ve got a pretty grim feeling that this isn’t gonna end well. People don’t realize that the AI’s being trained on your data today will act as an internet history that you can never delete.

DilutedMetrics 2y ago
Full circle from early Facebook and Twitter over sharing.
- dystnitem4r3 2y ago
  As someone who actually didn't participate in the facebook generation (I was a straight edge Millenial who started college at the tail of the Gen X generation), I do not envy anyone trying to live in modern western society without their generation's social media of choice. The few of us 'counterflow' cannot win against the tides as long as we remain part of the larger society. At best we eke out livings generally disadvantaged compared to our brethren with social media presences and all the drama that goes with it. A few of us may get opportunities from those rare outliers in positions to make a call or introduce you to a friend of a friend. But make of the rest of us simply become one of the unspoken masses, just like say the people in Slab City, or those old rock hounds who used to live in Quartzite, AZ (now some weird mass of RV park and bedroom community for Phoenix, as I understand it.) My point, winding as it may seem, is that this generations kids are bound to their social mediums just like the radio and then television generations were to theirs, for mainstream culture, and like the Beatniks, Hippies, Progressives(I'm not sure of the proper term here, but the non-internet groups of the 80s-00s, LGBTQA movement, the BDSM movement, etc) for the outliers. There are plenty of other subcultures out there that have waxed and waned as well, some of them crossing other boundaries, like the religious or politcal gaps in this country. But for many of us that leaves us as the odd person out. Not being into the right hobbies or social activities or just having the wrong values and you soon find yourself distanced from those around you. The internet can give that back to you or help take it away, but in the long term the dossiers on each of us that being online produce is far less damaging than the lack of in-person connections many of us(not I) gain from social networks even as we give up our privacy and our opportunities for future dissent against the status quo, something that Eastern and Western societies alike are rapidly barreling towards an ultimatum on. Assuming you're not YOLOing it, what will you give up for your life now, versus the lives you want to leave you to your descendants, or if you're not planning on your own and not a selfish jerk, for other people's descendants? Footnote: This comment was written from an American point of view, although much of it still applies to our Canadian cousins and European/Australian brethren.
  - emptiestplace 2y ago
    I think you are significantly over-valuing what you are hypothetically missing out on.
    - nerdponx 2y ago
      Try telling that to a teenager.
    - sethammons 2y ago
      In my (very rural) area, you literally will not attract clients unless you are on Facebook or have a personal connection. This includes basic services like well service, septic service, tree service, etc. I had to have my wife use her account to find these companies. Apparently nobody has a real website. This is in the US.
- immibis 2y ago
  Why is the other child comment of this one - the one saying they can't imagine growing up while boycotting social media - deleted?
gerdesj 2y ago
"As ye sow, so ye shall reap"! errm, soz for the Biblical ref. If everyone is spewing (sorry ... sharing) pics on TikTok, X and co then you won't stand out from the crowd. Unless those pics involve something too controversial. I have an internet history that stretches back to Compuserve and I've always used my real name, which may or may not have been a good idea. Many years ago I decided not to give myself a silly pseudonym because I thought it would be futile and counter productive. Cheers wonky231
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > If everyone is spewing (sorry ... sharing) pics on TikTok, X and co then you won't stand out from the crowd You’re assuming people are consistent. You may have been photographed doing the same thing as all your peers, the fact that your photo can be highlighted unfavourable is ample ammo for proven lines of character attacks.
  - ipaddr 2y ago
    People can attack character over anything.
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      Just saying that I have seen zero evidence over the last 10 years of anyone getting more tolerant of others being, in their opinion, stupid online.
  - gerdesj 2y ago
    "You’re assuming people are consistent." People are consistent but the media is not and the audience is far bigger than anyone can imagine. This is the Brave New World. We all know things are changing rather fast. Back in the day, I'd write a letter to someone - yes pen and ink (obviously being modern, I had a cartridge pen). Nowadays I pick up the phone and shout at the little twit who tries to hide behind email. OK we had phones back in the day but a call to say Australia (I'm in the UK) had a 2 second latency and a price in the £ per minute range. I remember the handover of pulse to tone dialing. Nowadays we have an embarrassing array of communication methods and forums to chat and shout in and be heard all around the world (should anyone care to listen). Yes you can be picked out and I suggest you be a little careful there but this is the world that we find ourselves within. I was forced to read 1984 in 1984 when I was a lad. We also had Animal Farm and Brave New World on the reading and discussion list at school that year. My doorbell looks at you (1) Cheers Noddy871 (1) It is on a VLAN that can't see the internet and Home Assistant looks at my doorbell
ipaddr 2y ago
I wouldn't worry about it the truth is the internet forgets quickly. Important popular things disappear quicker than you expect. User data and logs exponentially becomes less valuable as time goes out. Know you are at McDonalds now is much more valuable then that you visited 10 years ago and being able to connect this data becomes difficult when devices switch. Video from 2005's is generally not easily consumable because of format changes and quality from a few years ago makes older video painful to watch. Even facebook starts forgetting data you upload.. stops being searchable after a few years.
- nirav72 2y ago
  But the fact that you prefer McDonald’s will not forgotten and will be part of some data profile on you , sold and resold by data brokers.
  - BOOSTERHIDROGEN 2y ago
    and saved into weights.
  - xanderlewis 2y ago
    Sorry, but who cares?
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
      This is the fascinating question, because people who would normally respond on 'who cares' question, are also the ones, who know full well that even participation in an online forum is effectively builds up their profile. I am beyond redemption so I am their avatar.
      - xanderlewis 2y ago
        > I am beyond redemption so I am their avatar. I have no idea what that sentence means. I also have no idea why I should care that someone knows I like to go to McDonald’s.
cjf101 2y ago
One possible saving grace for Z is that, due to how expensive it is to keep around, video will probably disappear much more readily than text and photos.
Aurornis 2y ago
> It’s become increasingly normal in recent times to share absolutely everything online It certainly feels that way when you pull up a social media feed However, the majority of people I interact with (all ages) don't post frequently or at all. It's 10% of the users posting 90% of the content, including over-sharing. It only looks normal because they're so dominant in the feed that you don't realize who's missing.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 2y ago
  I'm worried about the 1 or 2 posts where I said something stupid, but someone tied everything to everything else I've ever said, and it comes back to bite me. It doesn't take much to ruin a person.
aprilthird2021 2y ago
We are lucky who live in America with free speech. I read an article the other day where a woman in Israel was kicked out of school, arrested and imprisoned for months without charge, and basically had her entire career and life ruined for social media posts because that country doesn't have the freedom of speech we often take for granted. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/03/magazine/israel-free-speech.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/03/magazine/israel-free-spee... - How 4 Instagram posts ruined her life
- Tcehrarzy 2y ago
  I am scared by this article and decide keep remain silent on social media.

DilutedMetrics 2y ago

Full circle from early Facebook and Twitter over sharing.

dystnitem4r3 2y ago
As someone who actually didn't participate in the facebook generation (I was a straight edge Millenial who started college at the tail of the Gen X generation), I do not envy anyone trying to live in modern western society without their generation's social media of choice. The few of us 'counterflow' cannot win against the tides as long as we remain part of the larger society. At best we eke out livings generally disadvantaged compared to our brethren with social media presences and all the drama that goes with it. A few of us may get opportunities from those rare outliers in positions to make a call or introduce you to a friend of a friend. But make of the rest of us simply become one of the unspoken masses, just like say the people in Slab City, or those old rock hounds who used to live in Quartzite, AZ (now some weird mass of RV park and bedroom community for Phoenix, as I understand it.) My point, winding as it may seem, is that this generations kids are bound to their social mediums just like the radio and then television generations were to theirs, for mainstream culture, and like the Beatniks, Hippies, Progressives(I'm not sure of the proper term here, but the non-internet groups of the 80s-00s, LGBTQA movement, the BDSM movement, etc) for the outliers. There are plenty of other subcultures out there that have waxed and waned as well, some of them crossing other boundaries, like the religious or politcal gaps in this country. But for many of us that leaves us as the odd person out. Not being into the right hobbies or social activities or just having the wrong values and you soon find yourself distanced from those around you. The internet can give that back to you or help take it away, but in the long term the dossiers on each of us that being online produce is far less damaging than the lack of in-person connections many of us(not I) gain from social networks even as we give up our privacy and our opportunities for future dissent against the status quo, something that Eastern and Western societies alike are rapidly barreling towards an ultimatum on. Assuming you're not YOLOing it, what will you give up for your life now, versus the lives you want to leave you to your descendants, or if you're not planning on your own and not a selfish jerk, for other people's descendants? Footnote: This comment was written from an American point of view, although much of it still applies to our Canadian cousins and European/Australian brethren.
- emptiestplace 2y ago
  I think you are significantly over-valuing what you are hypothetically missing out on.
  - nerdponx 2y ago
    Try telling that to a teenager.
  - sethammons 2y ago
    In my (very rural) area, you literally will not attract clients unless you are on Facebook or have a personal connection. This includes basic services like well service, septic service, tree service, etc. I had to have my wife use her account to find these companies. Apparently nobody has a real website. This is in the US.
immibis 2y ago
Why is the other child comment of this one - the one saying they can't imagine growing up while boycotting social media - deleted?

gerdesj 2y ago

"As ye sow, so ye shall reap"! errm, soz for the Biblical ref. If everyone is spewing (sorry ... sharing) pics on TikTok, X and co then you won't stand out from the crowd. Unless those pics involve something too controversial. I have an internet history that stretches back to Compuserve and I've always used my real name, which may or may not have been a good idea. Many years ago I decided not to give myself a silly pseudonym because I thought it would be futile and counter productive. Cheers wonky231

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> If everyone is spewing (sorry ... sharing) pics on TikTok, X and co then you won't stand out from the crowd You’re assuming people are consistent. You may have been photographed doing the same thing as all your peers, the fact that your photo can be highlighted unfavourable is ample ammo for proven lines of character attacks.
- ipaddr 2y ago
  People can attack character over anything.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    Just saying that I have seen zero evidence over the last 10 years of anyone getting more tolerant of others being, in their opinion, stupid online.
- gerdesj 2y ago
  "You’re assuming people are consistent." People are consistent but the media is not and the audience is far bigger than anyone can imagine. This is the Brave New World. We all know things are changing rather fast. Back in the day, I'd write a letter to someone - yes pen and ink (obviously being modern, I had a cartridge pen). Nowadays I pick up the phone and shout at the little twit who tries to hide behind email. OK we had phones back in the day but a call to say Australia (I'm in the UK) had a 2 second latency and a price in the £ per minute range. I remember the handover of pulse to tone dialing. Nowadays we have an embarrassing array of communication methods and forums to chat and shout in and be heard all around the world (should anyone care to listen). Yes you can be picked out and I suggest you be a little careful there but this is the world that we find ourselves within. I was forced to read 1984 in 1984 when I was a lad. We also had Animal Farm and Brave New World on the reading and discussion list at school that year. My doorbell looks at you (1) Cheers Noddy871 (1) It is on a VLAN that can't see the internet and Home Assistant looks at my doorbell

ipaddr 2y ago

I wouldn't worry about it the truth is the internet forgets quickly. Important popular things disappear quicker than you expect. User data and logs exponentially becomes less valuable as time goes out. Know you are at McDonalds now is much more valuable then that you visited 10 years ago and being able to connect this data becomes difficult when devices switch. Video from 2005's is generally not easily consumable because of format changes and quality from a few years ago makes older video painful to watch. Even facebook starts forgetting data you upload.. stops being searchable after a few years.

nirav72 2y ago
But the fact that you prefer McDonald’s will not forgotten and will be part of some data profile on you , sold and resold by data brokers.
- BOOSTERHIDROGEN 2y ago
  and saved into weights.
- xanderlewis 2y ago
  Sorry, but who cares?
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
    This is the fascinating question, because people who would normally respond on 'who cares' question, are also the ones, who know full well that even participation in an online forum is effectively builds up their profile. I am beyond redemption so I am their avatar.
    - xanderlewis 2y ago
      > I am beyond redemption so I am their avatar. I have no idea what that sentence means. I also have no idea why I should care that someone knows I like to go to McDonald’s.

cjf101 2y ago

One possible saving grace for Z is that, due to how expensive it is to keep around, video will probably disappear much more readily than text and photos.

Aurornis 2y ago

> It’s become increasingly normal in recent times to share absolutely everything online It certainly feels that way when you pull up a social media feed However, the majority of people I interact with (all ages) don't post frequently or at all. It's 10% of the users posting 90% of the content, including over-sharing. It only looks normal because they're so dominant in the feed that you don't realize who's missing.

8n4vidtmkvmk 2y ago
I'm worried about the 1 or 2 posts where I said something stupid, but someone tied everything to everything else I've ever said, and it comes back to bite me. It doesn't take much to ruin a person.

aprilthird2021 2y ago

We are lucky who live in America with free speech. I read an article the other day where a woman in Israel was kicked out of school, arrested and imprisoned for months without charge, and basically had her entire career and life ruined for social media posts because that country doesn't have the freedom of speech we often take for granted. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/03/magazine/israel-free-speech.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/03/magazine/israel-free-spee... - How 4 Instagram posts ruined her life

Tcehrarzy 2y ago
I am scared by this article and decide keep remain silent on social media.