I don't agree. Social media is what you make of it---use it or don't. What's problematic about social media is what the OP writes today: that it's used to repress views that differ from those of our alleged "moral superiors." Force Big Tech to drop their "publisher" hats to be the neutral platforms they claim they are, and let the debates begin.
I fear it might leave more people dead than the U.S.тАЩs Civil War if people donтАЩt wake up to the polarizing nature of social media all to drive dopamine driven engagement.
It has some really great potential but I donтАЩt know if the upside balances out the downside risks.
It doesn't. Or rather, the people that use it don't have ANY potential.
SM would-a been GREAT to form small communities. When they got billions and everybody HAD to be on them, it all went sour. Even small knitting-hobby groups turned woke. I guess it figures.
What happened was that people could engage in flame wars without fear of the embarrassment that would ensue if anyone saw their faces. Anonymity is a curtain of darkness, and an opaque one.
Much has been written and researched about what people do when they have power: they exercise it. Having a little power and anonymityтАФergo no repercussionsтАФmakes someone dangerous. Potentially extremely so. And thatтАЩs much of todayтАЩs internet.
See: Stanford Prison Experiment, William GoldingтАЩs Lord of the Flies, MilgramтАЩs Experiment, Jared DiamondтАЩs The Third Chimpanzee, the list goes on and on.
But there are lots of people that don't resort to this type of behavior - who stay calm and rational and polite. So, not everyone exercises power in a toxic way.
Exercising power isn't something I've every been comfortable with, myself. Was awkward when I became head of computer dept. and it worked to my disadvantage a LOT, and to my advantage some.
Have on/off relationship with people exercising power over me. Fact of life.
What i ATTEMPT these days, is to exercise the one power that is exclusively mine, always available, and does the most good: (You probably guessed:) Over myself. Fail daily.
I dunno if I have FEAR, or DISGUST, or mebbe even some ENVY of people that even WANNA have power over others. I just turned out that Way. Not sure why.
True statement, that. But enough do to make blanket empowerment dangerous.
Consider that giving in to someoneтАЩs tantrums reinforces that behavior: it tells the person that thatтАЩs the way to get what they want. If the person has a mean streak, you can see where thatтАЩs going to end up. Lots of people have significant mean streaks.
No one had a problem with тАЬgood GermansтАЭ in the тАШ30s and тАШ40s. They werenтАЩt the ones who built the camps.
It's like any addiction. Me? Nicotine. You can't do it by NOT wanting to smoke. That works against You. You gotta WANT to skip cigarettes. You train the brain for dopamine hits for doing the right thing, it's a LOT easier. (Most days fail, but still tryin'.)
I spend time reading books, and I just forget about 'em. That's just me.
My comment was a response to other reader stating social media is worst thing in U.S. since slavery. It was not a response to or directed at David Sacks' sage statements in the interview.
I agree, particularly with your last paragraph. My theory is that we have had very technologically advanced societies on earth before and that when the pace of technology outpaces humanity societal collapse occurs.
Lynne, "we have had very technologically advanced societies on earth before". Probably not. Most evidence of an advanced society would disappear rather quickly. However, some would last for millions even billions of years. Mining operations would be detectable for a very, very long time. So far, no traces of prior mining have ever been found. Isotope ratios would also last a very, very long time. However, they could be interpreted quite ambiguously.
тАЬSocial media is the authoritarianтАЩs best friend.тАЭ
тАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФ-
The Babylon Bee and Trucker Convoy came from social media, just to name two. Countless others.
I want to remind everyone who is most vocal in their criticism of the evils of social media. ItтАЩs the Democrat authoritarians who want to control it. The only criticism of social media I have heard from Republicans is aimed at stopping the authoritarian Democrat takeover.
This is how they operate. They call things racist to create a justification for controlling them. They are calling social media evil for the same reason.
This is one of the main reasons why I treat Democrats like shit. TheyтАЩve already called me racist, which is the worst thing you can call someone. IтАЩm just responding proportionately.
IтАЩm not looking for a middle ground with scumbags and imbeciles.
At the end of the day, Bill Maher will always vote for any Democrat regardless of policy. Once in awhile, it looks like he is waking up but he always goes back to sleep.
I would not be surprised if he would rather see 200,000,000 die than vote for a Republican.
He has a complete misunderstanding of the concept of тАЬconservativesтАЭ in much the same way a 3rd grader would.
Well IтАЩm certainly not going to criticize him when heтАЩs right. I recently heard him say
тАЬWell the right plays identity politics too with the MAGA movementтАжтАЭ
so IтАЩm not going to give him too much credit for understanding what is going on.
As the authoritarian dictator controlling the implementation of this approach to discourse, I reserve the right to carve out space arbitrarily for Democrats when it serves my purposes.
Okay but we get along because your Democratness is very non-psycho-hack.
If you start telling me that BidenтАЩs dignity and experience is what we need to heal our racist freeways then IтАЩll probably respond with pottymouth.
I'm not disagreeing. But they PROGRAMMED the things, DESIGNED them to BE addictive, early on. You're selling them Your attention, and then paying for it by buying useless junk. Surely there's nobody out there who thinks those things are free, right?
And dopamine addiction is a really cursed addiction to have. Same thing that makes Ya overeat, overspend... (Dunno dopamine involved in smoking, but it's evil on it's own either way.)
Ahh yes itтАЩs not really Democrats itтАЩs a pox on all of us.
Your opinion is that this is a тАШboth sidesтАЩ problem because of a hypothetical where Republicans run social media and they also invert all of their policies and are trying to aggressively expand the power of the state?
тАЬFairly ridiculousтАЭ is an absurd and unserious place to draw the line for what qualifies as тАЬclasslessтАЭ, which means you really just wanted to lob the тАШclasslessтАЩ pejorative at me. IтАЩm fine with lobbing pejoratives itтАЩs just hypocritical.
I donтАЩt disagree with your argument. ItтАЩs not an argument. It is vaporware based on an unreality where Parler, which does not delete leftists, is the king of social media and decides to start deleting leftists, the people whose slogan is тАЬOwn the LibsтАЭ decide they donтАЩt like arguing anymore, and Tom Cotton signs on to the Biden Sanders Unity Taskforce.
These disingenuous тАШboth sidesтАЩ arguments generally come from two places. Mainly, it is just an attempt to deflect blame from Democrats. The other version is what Jonah Goldberg does where, like itтАЩs a tick, he will reflexively couch all Democrat malfeasance in both sidesyness as a way of seeming even-handed, well considered, and generally just hovering above it all, as if thatтАЩs an option.
The only actual тАШboth sidesтАЩ problem we have right now is with regard to war mongering. IтАЩm sure you have many good arguments on other issues. This just wasnтАЩt one of them. Cheers!!
"Both Sidesism" simply reduces the will to fight against the woke tyrants. Conservatives are defective humans also, but they do not have an ideology that loves to concentrate power as the Woke left does. The Woke totalitarian ideology came from the left, and the concentration of power appears extraordinarily strong.
тАЬDemocrats are only doing this because Democrats own the social media companies and Republicans would do the exact same thing so a pox on both houses.тАЭ
Suggesting that the above is just a тАЬhintтАЭ of both sidesism represents a level of dishonesty that actually is indecent. Unlike тАЬfairly ridiculousтАЭ which is probably the mildest and most gentle criticism IтАЩve ever personally dealt out online.
Then you adopted the strictly left-wing ploy of accusing someone who explained why your argument is terrible of being тАЬtriggeredтАЭ. This is a typical smear that misuses the term knowingly in an attempt to paint the other person as enraged and thus irrational. This reeks of concern trolling.
Additionally, you appealed to the better and more dignified times from which you emerged in all of your glory, letтАЩs say the 60s, when everyone was either a hardcore racist wife beater or a Weather Underground bomber having unprotected sex in a field with multiple teenage girls and dropping acid.
What people really donтАЩt like about the internet is that they get called out on their horsepoop.
Kevin Durant? -it appears you have rightfully called out a person now named "deleted." Ha!
Excellent explaining the two places "bothsidesism" comes from: deflecting blame from the Dems, and the "above the fray" of the Jonah Goldbergs. There are quite a few of us here who understand this. I love the new word "bothsidesism" - perfectly defined as "an attempt to shield one from the Woke Tyranny." Unfortunately for Jonah Goldberg and his kin, the Wokesters will see right thru them.
Social media is the worst thing to happen to this country since slavery.
To the entire universe itтАЩs a terrible terrible illness
I don't agree. Social media is what you make of it---use it or don't. What's problematic about social media is what the OP writes today: that it's used to repress views that differ from those of our alleged "moral superiors." Force Big Tech to drop their "publisher" hats to be the neutral platforms they claim they are, and let the debates begin.
I fear it might leave more people dead than the U.S.тАЩs Civil War if people donтАЩt wake up to the polarizing nature of social media all to drive dopamine driven engagement.
It has some really great potential but I donтАЩt know if the upside balances out the downside risks.
The Hutus and Tootsies coming soon to a neighborhood near you!
It doesn't. Or rather, the people that use it don't have ANY potential.
SM would-a been GREAT to form small communities. When they got billions and everybody HAD to be on them, it all went sour. Even small knitting-hobby groups turned woke. I guess it figures.
What happened was that people could engage in flame wars without fear of the embarrassment that would ensue if anyone saw their faces. Anonymity is a curtain of darkness, and an opaque one.
Much has been written and researched about what people do when they have power: they exercise it. Having a little power and anonymityтАФergo no repercussionsтАФmakes someone dangerous. Potentially extremely so. And thatтАЩs much of todayтАЩs internet.
See: Stanford Prison Experiment, William GoldingтАЩs Lord of the Flies, MilgramтАЩs Experiment, Jared DiamondтАЩs The Third Chimpanzee, the list goes on and on.
But there are lots of people that don't resort to this type of behavior - who stay calm and rational and polite. So, not everyone exercises power in a toxic way.
Exercising power isn't something I've every been comfortable with, myself. Was awkward when I became head of computer dept. and it worked to my disadvantage a LOT, and to my advantage some.
Have on/off relationship with people exercising power over me. Fact of life.
What i ATTEMPT these days, is to exercise the one power that is exclusively mine, always available, and does the most good: (You probably guessed:) Over myself. Fail daily.
I dunno if I have FEAR, or DISGUST, or mebbe even some ENVY of people that even WANNA have power over others. I just turned out that Way. Not sure why.
True statement, that. But enough do to make blanket empowerment dangerous.
Consider that giving in to someoneтАЩs tantrums reinforces that behavior: it tells the person that thatтАЩs the way to get what they want. If the person has a mean streak, you can see where thatтАЩs going to end up. Lots of people have significant mean streaks.
No one had a problem with тАЬgood GermansтАЭ in the тАШ30s and тАШ40s. They werenтАЩt the ones who built the camps.
TYTY. Yeah, You got it. Anonymity and power.
Never heard-a Milgram's or Jared Diamond, but get Your drift.
But you're familiar with the idea of the "power behind the throne."
Yeah, I catch the drift. May look into others when free time. (haha, like THAT ever happens. ;)
In some ways it is slavery. We are addicted to it(myself included). It owns us.
It's like any addiction. Me? Nicotine. You can't do it by NOT wanting to smoke. That works against You. You gotta WANT to skip cigarettes. You train the brain for dopamine hits for doing the right thing, it's a LOT easier. (Most days fail, but still tryin'.)
I spend time reading books, and I just forget about 'em. That's just me.
Wishing luck with breaking the smoking habit
TYTY, it'll take a LOTTA it.
I quit over 10 years ago by using e-cigarettes.
Oops. Forgot my TYTY. Sheesh on ME!
Ah. May come to that. Rather ditch the nicotine without 'em. That's just me. If Chantix doesn't work, may try that. (Generic. Chantix off market now.)
No. Modern Democrats are the worst thing to happen to this country since slavery, and they control social media.
If you try to shut down my Instagram feed of golf highlights and Eastern European women I will fight you!!
ЁЯШВЁЯШВ
Strong take. Not necessarily agreeing, but I definitely am not disagreeing.
What can you possibly disagree with in David Sacks comments? Seriously?
My comment was a response to other reader stating social media is worst thing in U.S. since slavery. It was not a response to or directed at David Sacks' sage statements in the interview.
Sorry I misread your comment. It wasn't clear to me.
I should have been clearer!
I agree, particularly with your last paragraph. My theory is that we have had very technologically advanced societies on earth before and that when the pace of technology outpaces humanity societal collapse occurs.
Lynne, "we have had very technologically advanced societies on earth before". Probably not. Most evidence of an advanced society would disappear rather quickly. However, some would last for millions even billions of years. Mining operations would be detectable for a very, very long time. So far, no traces of prior mining have ever been found. Isotope ratios would also last a very, very long time. However, they could be interpreted quite ambiguously.
тАЬSocial media is the authoritarianтАЩs best friend.тАЭ
тАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФтАФ-
The Babylon Bee and Trucker Convoy came from social media, just to name two. Countless others.
I want to remind everyone who is most vocal in their criticism of the evils of social media. ItтАЩs the Democrat authoritarians who want to control it. The only criticism of social media I have heard from Republicans is aimed at stopping the authoritarian Democrat takeover.
This is how they operate. They call things racist to create a justification for controlling them. They are calling social media evil for the same reason.
DonтАЩt fall for it.
Call everything тАЬracistтАЭ until you control it. CRT 101.
Works on systems and individuals, sadly.
This is one of the main reasons why I treat Democrats like shit. TheyтАЩve already called me racist, which is the worst thing you can call someone. IтАЩm just responding proportionately.
IтАЩm not looking for a middle ground with scumbags and imbeciles.
What about Democrats like Bill Maher who constantly get called racist by other more far left Democrats?
At the end of the day, Bill Maher will always vote for any Democrat regardless of policy. Once in awhile, it looks like he is waking up but he always goes back to sleep.
I would not be surprised if he would rather see 200,000,000 die than vote for a Republican.
He has a complete misunderstanding of the concept of тАЬconservativesтАЭ in much the same way a 3rd grader would.
Bill Maher talked on Ben Shapiro's podcast about how he's voted Republican in the past.
Well IтАЩm certainly not going to criticize him when heтАЩs right. I recently heard him say
тАЬWell the right plays identity politics too with the MAGA movementтАжтАЭ
so IтАЩm not going to give him too much credit for understanding what is going on.
As the authoritarian dictator controlling the implementation of this approach to discourse, I reserve the right to carve out space arbitrarily for Democrats when it serves my purposes.
ЁЯШВЁЯШВ
I get it. PRACTICALLY speaking, tho: If Ya want Repubs to win ELECTIONS, You wanna allow a space for Dems to cross over, right?
The Democrats you encounter on the internet are not swing voters.
I hear Ya. But there ARE some. Me, for just one example.
Okay but we get along because your Democratness is very non-psycho-hack.
If you start telling me that BidenтАЩs dignity and experience is what we need to heal our racist freeways then IтАЩll probably respond with pottymouth.
ЁЯШВЁЯШВ
I'm not disagreeing. But they PROGRAMMED the things, DESIGNED them to BE addictive, early on. You're selling them Your attention, and then paying for it by buying useless junk. Surely there's nobody out there who thinks those things are free, right?
And dopamine addiction is a really cursed addiction to have. Same thing that makes Ya overeat, overspend... (Dunno dopamine involved in smoking, but it's evil on it's own either way.)
Ahh yes itтАЩs not really Democrats itтАЩs a pox on all of us.
Your opinion is that this is a тАШboth sidesтАЩ problem because of a hypothetical where Republicans run social media and they also invert all of their policies and are trying to aggressively expand the power of the state?
Fairly ridiculous.
тАЬFairly ridiculousтАЭ is an absurd and unserious place to draw the line for what qualifies as тАЬclasslessтАЭ, which means you really just wanted to lob the тАШclasslessтАЩ pejorative at me. IтАЩm fine with lobbing pejoratives itтАЩs just hypocritical.
I donтАЩt disagree with your argument. ItтАЩs not an argument. It is vaporware based on an unreality where Parler, which does not delete leftists, is the king of social media and decides to start deleting leftists, the people whose slogan is тАЬOwn the LibsтАЭ decide they donтАЩt like arguing anymore, and Tom Cotton signs on to the Biden Sanders Unity Taskforce.
These disingenuous тАШboth sidesтАЩ arguments generally come from two places. Mainly, it is just an attempt to deflect blame from Democrats. The other version is what Jonah Goldberg does where, like itтАЩs a tick, he will reflexively couch all Democrat malfeasance in both sidesyness as a way of seeming even-handed, well considered, and generally just hovering above it all, as if thatтАЩs an option.
The only actual тАШboth sidesтАЩ problem we have right now is with regard to war mongering. IтАЩm sure you have many good arguments on other issues. This just wasnтАЩt one of them. Cheers!!
"Both Sidesism" simply reduces the will to fight against the woke tyrants. Conservatives are defective humans also, but they do not have an ideology that loves to concentrate power as the Woke left does. The Woke totalitarian ideology came from the left, and the concentration of power appears extraordinarily strong.
Well now you are just lying.
Your entire argument is fairly summarized
тАЬDemocrats are only doing this because Democrats own the social media companies and Republicans would do the exact same thing so a pox on both houses.тАЭ
Suggesting that the above is just a тАЬhintтАЭ of both sidesism represents a level of dishonesty that actually is indecent. Unlike тАЬfairly ridiculousтАЭ which is probably the mildest and most gentle criticism IтАЩve ever personally dealt out online.
Then you adopted the strictly left-wing ploy of accusing someone who explained why your argument is terrible of being тАЬtriggeredтАЭ. This is a typical smear that misuses the term knowingly in an attempt to paint the other person as enraged and thus irrational. This reeks of concern trolling.
Additionally, you appealed to the better and more dignified times from which you emerged in all of your glory, letтАЩs say the 60s, when everyone was either a hardcore racist wife beater or a Weather Underground bomber having unprotected sex in a field with multiple teenage girls and dropping acid.
What people really donтАЩt like about the internet is that they get called out on their horsepoop.
ЁЯШШЁЯШШ
Kevin Durant? -it appears you have rightfully called out a person now named "deleted." Ha!
Excellent explaining the two places "bothsidesism" comes from: deflecting blame from the Dems, and the "above the fray" of the Jonah Goldbergs. There are quite a few of us here who understand this. I love the new word "bothsidesism" - perfectly defined as "an attempt to shield one from the Woke Tyranny." Unfortunately for Jonah Goldberg and his kin, the Wokesters will see right thru them.
Yeah, I get Your drift right in the FACE. Dunno how it could miss! (Dunno You wanna look ahead in Transhumanism. Pretty scary stuff.)