alt Hacker NewsWe could communicate more effectively 20 or so years ago. Communication technology had already matured, but we didn’t have these engagement-driven social media platforms. The goal of these platforms isn’t to communicate, it is to sell ads and pick engaging posts to re-broadcast.
What gets people engaged is stupid anger. Even stuff I agree with on some fundamental political level, the social media version is just stressed out, to the point of being ineffective and often wrong in detail.
Centralized as driven social media can’t go out of business fast enough.
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Communication was more effective 20 years ago? I remember using a Skypager when I was a Reuters journalist. I also remember processing film in bathrooms at news events then having to scan negatives using a suitcase-sized scanner and computer and it being 30-60 minutes to get photos onto the wire. Now it’s instant.
Saying communications were more effective 20 years ago is highly debatable and certainly an argument tinged with nostalgia.
Sure, but if nobody is on the platform or other end of the line, who cares?
I think you're mixing a few things here. There's social media (TikTok, Instagram, X, viral crap) and then there's social media (organize parties, facebook marketplace, Whatsapp, etc).
They may share a technology platform, but they are not the same.
If you have children you'll see social media (#2) is incredibly useful and facilitates greatly in communication. We're much more connected than our parents were thanks to these apps.