There is an interesting thing about mainstream "social media" that people don't seem to full appreciate - which is that it isn't social. Yeah, I know everyone "knows" that, but there is more to it than the voyeuristic consumption of content, because the content doesn't matter in terms of engagement, because engagement doesn't matter. It isn't about people connecting, it is all about people consuming.
This is why they choose to highlight views as important.
Views aren't engagement.
Engagement is when two people talk to each other somewhat directly. It is where two people are connected for some period of time, So views aren't the metric to highlight this, interaction is. People can drive past a car crash and view the scene with the police cars and crumpled remains of the accident, but they do not engage with it. They do not stop. If they were the first on the scene though, perhaps it would be an engaging event, that compels more interaction than a view.
And the comments on a lot of mainstream social media content is pathetic. For instance, I was reading an article today about some teen (19) who was "fooled" by interaction with an AI account - thinking it was a real person. Easy to do perhaps these days, but what is more interesting is the examples of what made her think she was interacting with a person. I will highlight some of them here.
“One day I posted on my notes on Instagram, ‘I need a f***ing cigarette’, and then she put on her notes … ‘Lilly’s right’ or something like ‘Lilly spits facts’.”
Ms Davis said she responded to the account’s post, thanking her for making her feel “special”, to which the account responded back: “You’re always special”.
The teenager then commented on a recent video of a girl posted by the account, calling her gorgeous. “(The account) replied to my comment being like ‘not as gorgeous as you’, and then someone replied to my comment saying her account is AI,” Ms Davis added.
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“I was with my best friend and I was like, ooh … am I f***ing stupid?”
Yes!
Not because she was fooled by an AI, but because these kinds of inane, useless, pointless, basic comments were enough to make this girl feel special. To feel anything at all. Even if it was a real person, it is coming from a stranger on the internet that has shared a few very short sentences with obvious mirroring, that provides no actual value to the conversation.
And apparently...
"Many social media users were in disbelief at how AI is able to mimic people’s accounts so well."
“How is that possible?,” one said.
“Oh this would creep me out omg,” another added.
A third said: “The fact that AI has advanced so hard that it can just fake being a person we can follow and develop “acquaintance” with on social media is SO dystopian like we are gonna be living a sci-fi nightmare really quick.
What these people really should be asking themselves is; if this kind of interaction is mimicking people's accounts so well, what the fuck is wrong with us? If this kind of interaction is making me feel special, what the fuck is wrong with me?! This isn't some hardcore advanced AI that is passing the Turing Test, it is a pathetic interaction that would fail a primary school project to write a script for a play.
But it doesn't matter
Because it is about views. The content, whether posts or comments, are about maximising the amount of individuals who "view" the content as they scroll past and get fed more ads. The content is just to provide something to scroll and a range of content that can be measured as interest topics, as they track every aspect of a users behaviour, from the active clicks and taps, to the more passive speed of scroll and whether a user slows down on some types of posts over others. And then they use that data to push targeted content and ads to give more Time on Site metrics to up prices for advertisers and what not.
For the platform, it really doesn't matter what the content is, whether it gets engagement, or if it is all generated by AI, as long as the individual user keeps on scrolling. They don't care about social interaction at all. Even shares are less vital now, because the algorithms are pushing content out to network groups anyway.
I keep highlighting the "individual" user, because that is what the platforms actually encourage. Individuals. It isn't about build a social network, it is about targeting individual people to buy a product or an idea. That individual can be the most introverted, voyeuristic user who has never interacted with any other account on a platform, but that doesn't matter. As long as the platform can leverage them as a consumer, job done.
A lot of people think Hive should be more like the other social medias, because that is where people are. But it is more akin to a mass grave, where interpersonal interaction goes to die. The creator accounts there are just trying to drive the algorithms and care very, very little for any actual engagement. Accounts with millions of followers, but how much engagement with the creator? It is just a lot of individuals (as well as AIs and bots) commenting on a post, to get a feeling of connection - even though it is all one way.
The median engagement rate for brands on X in 2025 is only 0.015%. For influencers, the average rate in 2024 was 0.09%. These figures mean that the vast majority of posts receive minimal interaction.
Shouting into the void
This is a term I have used to describe mainstream social media for over a decade at least, and it is evident in the reaction to the AI account quoted above. People are so unaccustomed to getting real interaction on or off the platforms, that they are reacting to the most basic kinds of comments, as if they are being served gold, on a silver platter.
Also, when it comes to AI taking over, it shows how it doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't even have to be great, it just has to be more active than humans. And that is something that we can't beat it at in the digital space. The only way we can beat AI in this area, is to get off the mainstream medias and engage with real people in meaningful ways. And that has to spill into the physical world also. More time should be spent with real people, face to face, than through screens. Because if that happened, the internet interactions wouldn't trigger a positive emotional response, when all they offer is;
“You’re always special”.
If you feel special because a stranger (or AI) on the internet says, "You're always special" - you need to fix your life.
Taraz
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I have been seeing this since year...not with AI but pretty aware about all possibilities) i am referring to consumption. The social media addicted people visit so many places even some sacred spaces too bjt not for the purpose to attain or learn something. But they wanted to record or make content for views on social media. Whenever I visit any temple , I see people trying to record in their mobile, but they forget thay such places used to be perfect for something else. Earlier people visit such places to sit in quite and meditate but now the focus is to make content...feeling pity for these soul and and also how they spoil others...I had few argument over this on many occasions. But disrespected by them with abusive words.
Dont you think recording or taking pictures makes memories last longer?
It does...but not in middle of worshipping...it creates distraction...you have ample time.in hand to click as much as possible..
i agree, with point on worship
I don't think so. When people are taking so many pictures, there is no memory of the experience of the place itself. It is a record of being there only.
But sometimes i find myself scrolling through pictures on my phone and find myself smiling cos the pictures take me back to when i took those pictures or help me remember that particular point in time more fondly. Dont you think?
Many people tend to just go to places to get a photo or video of it, without actually experiencing any of it. I don't believe it is for memory, because most will never look back at it. They record out of habit.
People place too much emphasis on what others think of them. I understand it's natural, and I'm certainly guilty of it, but it's true. We worry constantly about the opinions of strangers, while the genuine connection with our closest friends and colleagues often takes a backseat. These are the people we impact daily, not just through our online presence. ...not sure where I was going with this, but that is how my brain works in the evening...
This is what irks me these days. And then the same people complain about having no "real" interactions.
Yeah, well, I can almost relate asI have been sucked down that rabbit hole. Luckily I crawled out.
I think what you see is that general level of intelligence in human population is pretty low. And that goes for any country around the planet, so this basic interaction is what humans are capable of so it is no wonder that you can replace majority of humans online and in the workplace with AI already...
I don't know. I think that even the basic interaction in real life is richer than this. I think one of the issues is that people use their phone to write comments too. I use a laptop. When I am on my phone, my comments are shorter, and simpler.
It does seem crazy, but honestly those are the kinds of interactions kids are having these days. I can look at my nieces latest post and I guarantee at least two people will say "slay" or whatever they say in place of that now, at least two will reply "queen", etc. It's all so superficial.
Yes. Superficial is the word for it. And I think that this becomes their model for real life interaction too.
Social networks are supposed to be generators of anxiety and depression in this Moderna age and we fall into the instinctive and animal world of social networks.
Before our world revolved around work, cooking, chatting with friends or neighbors but now everything is a message, an emoji or a phrase nothing more... Addiction to technology if there is one, I think we are all there, but we must disconnect for a while, give way to face-to-face conversations, I say this for me, because I have been diagnosed with anxiety, thank God medicated and a lot of therapy, it is difficult to live it in these times and I never thought it would happen to me.
Empty.
Do you think the anxiety would be as bad if there was no screen or digital life?
The way people find validation in AI responses shows how deep our online connections are, or how shallow they might be. It is obvious that we should focus more on real-life interactions instead of all the digital distractions.
Obvious yes. But how come so few do it?
You are very correct about views being meaningless. A view is just someone passing by, not someone stopping to listen. Most social media platforms keep rewarding noise, not conversation. That’s why shallow comments without meaning thrive they’re fast and require no thought. Actual interaction is slow, and this does not do well for ad-driven platforms. So instead of fixing that, they just redefine success as “views” and hope no one notices the difference.
It is like having a shop on the side of a highway. Lots of traffic, no one stopping to buy.
AI technology is currently affecting various social media platforms so much that sometimes one has to face a dilemma as to which is real and which is fake. Sadly, rumors are spread on many social media platforms using AI technology and various types of misdeeds are created. For example, a few days ago, a person was murdered here and scenes of conversations between various politicians and the murderers using AI technology were spread in the media and people believe them, but in reality there is no truth to them. Which is really sad.
People will believe anything these days.
Digital interactions should augment real world interactions and vice verca. Like a feedback loop 😊
Unfortunately, many are only interacting digitally now. And when they are in the real word, they treat people poorly.
Thanks