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So what can we do to fix this? I mean, we're hackers, right? We build things that solve problems. What can we build to solve this problem? Some initial thoug

So what can we do to fix this? I mean, we're hackers, right? We build things that solve problems. What can we build to solve this problem? Some initial thoughts: 1) Personally, I've observed that video chat comes a lot closer to genuine human contact than anything else digital. Better video chat technology would be useful. Also, ChatRoulette but not terrible? 2) Infoproducts - perhaps it's time for an update of "How To Win Friends And Influence People" with more emphasis on the "Win Friends" part? There's a surprising lack of solid information on how to actually make contact with human beings. 3) There are loads of dating sites out there, but no friend-making sites. It's gotta be a solvable problem at least to the (terrible but usable) extent that dating sites have solved the finding-a-partner problem. 4) Nootropics? Cranial stimulation? Brain-training for chronically lonely people? Something even crazier?

jokoon 13y ago
Creating an ad system where you post what you can offer to do and what you want, like an offer and demand system, and allow to search by location. Orient this on activities and jobs, and allow people to post their interests so that people can find people that have the same interests in the area. You'd only need to ask users what they want to share, and disallow for people to search beyond their area.
- thenomad 13y ago
  I think this has been tried, although I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. It'd be really interesting to find out why it didn't work well.
  - jokoon 13y ago
    I think it's a niche market because it would deal with businesses, and also with people who are lonely which is the subject of the article. I don't think it would really be a success at first, but the fact facebook never tried something like that always frustrated me. I guess they did not implement it because they don't want to put complex features like this, and that's understandable. But sometimes an economy can work much better when detailed information is available about what's around your home, which is not the case today. Companies do use advertisement, but single individuals don't and companies don't wait for people to search for their product, and I'm sure there are ways to advertise yourself if you skip the dating stuff, and let everyone post their interests so it can searched and found by people around you. Advertisement only gives voice to people who can afford it because there are too few room for it. The real problem here is the number of participants (you need a big sample if you want users to find matches) and how it cannot be datamined. I think it would work if it was anonymised and if it would encourage private talks. I don't understand why google did not try that, they know how to effectively sort data by topic and category.
rimantas 13y ago
I wish more hackers would understand that you don't fix sociological problems with technology.
- thenomad 13y ago
  1) The Pill. The washing machine. The various reductions in mortality in childhood and childbirth. And hundreds more. Technology and society are inextricably linked. Democracy, for example, is significantly enabled by technology, as is the liberation of women from servitude. 2) I said "can we fix this?". I didn't say anything about using technology to do it. For example, my original point #2 - a book ain't exactly a technological advancement at this point, but it might be one of the things that would help most.

jokoon 13y ago

Creating an ad system where you post what you can offer to do and what you want, like an offer and demand system, and allow to search by location. Orient this on activities and jobs, and allow people to post their interests so that people can find people that have the same interests in the area. You'd only need to ask users what they want to share, and disallow for people to search beyond their area.

thenomad 13y ago
I think this has been tried, although I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. It'd be really interesting to find out why it didn't work well.
- jokoon 13y ago
  I think it's a niche market because it would deal with businesses, and also with people who are lonely which is the subject of the article. I don't think it would really be a success at first, but the fact facebook never tried something like that always frustrated me. I guess they did not implement it because they don't want to put complex features like this, and that's understandable. But sometimes an economy can work much better when detailed information is available about what's around your home, which is not the case today. Companies do use advertisement, but single individuals don't and companies don't wait for people to search for their product, and I'm sure there are ways to advertise yourself if you skip the dating stuff, and let everyone post their interests so it can searched and found by people around you. Advertisement only gives voice to people who can afford it because there are too few room for it. The real problem here is the number of participants (you need a big sample if you want users to find matches) and how it cannot be datamined. I think it would work if it was anonymised and if it would encourage private talks. I don't understand why google did not try that, they know how to effectively sort data by topic and category.

rimantas 13y ago

I wish more hackers would understand that you don't fix sociological problems with technology.

thenomad 13y ago
1) The Pill. The washing machine. The various reductions in mortality in childhood and childbirth. And hundreds more. Technology and society are inextricably linked. Democracy, for example, is significantly enabled by technology, as is the liberation of women from servitude. 2) I said "can we fix this?". I didn't say anything about using technology to do it. For example, my original point #2 - a book ain't exactly a technological advancement at this point, but it might be one of the things that would help most.