Really wild that there was a moment in like 2011 where we believed that social media, and Twitter specifically, were going to lead to a new golden age of democracy and human rights.
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As soon as anti-science groups started growing on Facebook, I realized that social networks will be responsible for the breakdown of society. Not to mention Zuck & Elolf's gross manipulation of public opinions.. 😒
Bluesky is an exception, of course. It was purpose-built to avoid those pitfalls.
Nope ... never thought any of it was good ... generally not a pessimist but it felt terrible from the beginning ... was released too fast without thought ... just like AI is coming at beak-neck speed with no forethought of the damage it will cause ... I like your optimism tho!
Perfect timing. I was just thinking about cults. It was one of my specialties as a shrink. Usually total control of victims is necessary in order for them to be brainwashed. But social media allows indoctrination simply through the bubble of information control that it creates. Clever, huh?
To be honest it did. The Arab spring wouldn't have been possible without Twitter. Ukraine and Palestine utilized the platform too. What we're seeing now is the retaliation. A lot of folks think Elon bought it to silence it.
Did anyone really believe that though? I feel like the dark side was always present. The promise of the internet being a bastion of knowledge, truth, and connection died sometime in the 90s.
Dunno. In 2012, when Putin demolished the RF's constitution, I was reading about 2005 and 2008, about Putin's first attempts to use the social media for his ends, was looking at how social media first helped and then crushed the Arab Spring
It was clear then, it's a tool and the rich got the handle
You should check out the book Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks by Yuval Noah Harari. Fascinating, fun, super engaging material. In the book, he shows that every new information technology is heralded in this way but never quite pans out. Explains all the reasons/theories why
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still part violent ape men
with new brains -
like a kid with a sports car - reckless
Bluesky is an exception, of course. It was purpose-built to avoid those pitfalls.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Performance_Computing_Act_of_1991
Wasn't Facebook the platform of choice during Arab Spring?
It was clear then, it's a tool and the rich got the handle
Capital is only one tool out of many.