Social Media

[Lex]

Has anyone noticed over the last 25 years, the social media has seemingly cut people off from actually connecting with one another, Growing up I found it extremelt easy to chat and connect with so many people globally specially in forums and online chat sites talking about mutual interests.
It feels like media has effectively bottle necked connecting with real everyday people.
Not just that but redirecting them too.
Its very strange to notice.
It also feels like its slowly removing the ability to properly to discuss without creating divide, its particularly noticable if you have been without the internet growing up.

I just wondered if other people noticed and had opinions on it.

 

[Polyethelene]

due to most platforms presenting content algorithmically, intentional connection is something their design works against. the designers of these sites want to maximize how many posts a user looks at, and the best way to do that is just shove a constant stream of new stuff at them 24/7. so people don't seek each other out for conversation on such sites, as they are more of a digital equivalent of crowds rushing past each other in a train station. it sucks, and its not even really profitable, all running on venture capital and speculation that one day will run out.

 

[ShootingStar7123]

I agree with the above--I think the algorithm has really handicapped social media and made it less social in reality! We're constantly being pushed posts that the platform wants us to engage with instead of updates from our friends, which is what it was all about originally. And what you said about creating divides, I think it's also brought divisive subjects to the forefront. People are less afraid to say something rude or awful about someone from a different group. Some of that is the algorithm too, it pushes people further into niches by providing more and more extreme content.

The monetization of social media is also a big part of it. And the gamification of things like reddit, where people are trying to get upvotes. Both of these commodify the social structure instead of allowing people to just engage with the content and the community.

 

[CosmoDreamer]

Social media played a bigger part of my life in middle and high school. Once I got to college, I started valuing the personal connections much more, today, I watch about 20 or 30 minutes of TikTok a day, and might do a glance at Instagram or something, but I guess I’ve become stale with social media.


I used to tell my dad:
When you see ads, if it’s unsolicited, it’s harmful.
I feel similarly about social media. Search for the stuff you want to see conversations about, but be wary of only consuming what an algorithm determined you might like.

 

[Lex]

Social media played a bigger part of my life in middle and high school. Once I got to college, I started valuing the personal connections much more, today, I watch about 20 or 30 minutes of TikTok a day, and might do a glance at Instagram or something, but I guess I’ve become stale with social media.


I used to tell my dad:
When you see ads, if it’s unsolicited, it’s harmful.
I feel similarly about social media. Search for the stuff you want to see conversations about, but be wary of only consuming what an algorithm determined you might like.

I cant agree more.