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Yes. All that makes sense. And we should have predicted it many years ago as the logical outcome of social forces. The fact that we did not predict this or see

Yes. All that makes sense. And we should have predicted it many years ago as the logical outcome of social forces. The fact that we did not predict this or see this coming is because we are blind to the hidden forces at play in society and furthermore lack the imagination to see how each of us will be used as a means to an end rather than an end in ourselves. From what you're saying Social Media has very little upside and a whole raft of bad juju. If rhetoric is the art of influencing people with language and communication then in the 21st century our cyber-rhetoric would cause the Greeks and Romans of old to bow down before us. This will only get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better. Yes, that's my own personal subjective viewpoint and a highly normative claim but, you know what, that's not the world I want to be living in.

walterbell 12y ago
Media is like any other virus - it can kill you or train your immune system. It's no coincidence that social media contagion research & social network analysis draw upon epidemiology. In software security, we see the publication of both defensive and offensive research. Where are the defensive researchers for brain security? Currently, social media companies own the proprietary datasets of their customers' behavior. If this was available to each customer, they could voluntarily provide their data to researchers who represented their social values. This would enable diverse research into defensive filters. The originating company can still have an aggregate copy, but it would be non-exclusive. Algorithmic disarmament is unlikely. We need open-source, defensive algorithms for media consumption. A baby step would be to post social media on your own site, then syndicate to social media companies, see http://indiewebcamp.com/Bridgy http://indiewebcamp.com/Bridgy

walterbell 12y ago

Media is like any other virus - it can kill you or train your immune system. It's no coincidence that social media contagion research & social network analysis draw upon epidemiology. In software security, we see the publication of both defensive and offensive research. Where are the defensive researchers for brain security? Currently, social media companies own the proprietary datasets of their customers' behavior. If this was available to each customer, they could voluntarily provide their data to researchers who represented their social values. This would enable diverse research into defensive filters. The originating company can still have an aggregate copy, but it would be non-exclusive. Algorithmic disarmament is unlikely. We need open-source, defensive algorithms for media consumption. A baby step would be to post social media on your own site, then syndicate to social media companies, see http://indiewebcamp.com/Bridgy http://indiewebcamp.com/Bridgy