This wasn't the post I was going to make today, and I had to cut and paste my 500+ pending words into wordpad so I could share this video.
It's a true reflection on what Social Media is doing to us and finally some of these creators of social media platforms are fessing up.
To be honest I've felt this way for awhile but this video summarises a number of interviews that reinforce the notion that Social Media Platforms aren't what they seem.
Anyway here's the video so judge for yourself.
Spread the word.
Stay true to our path.
And let's make sure Steemit never heads down this road.
Zuck's totally knows it too. And Facebook allowing under 13's access shows how desperate this guy is to control the minds of this entire planet.
Facebook, is one big data suck and the only way they make money is to sell our data to the highest bidder.
Haven't been on fakebook in over 2 years now, I think i still have an account there, but I'll be buggered if I know the password or anything to it.
The account that I had under a nick that I used for the administration of a page I was a part of has been dead for over 2 years that I know.
What killed it for me was the sickos who were so obsessed with the "Likes" and so on... and the people without a life who literally lived there, who have lost touch with reality.
Yeah, I avoided it for a long time, until someone suggested it was good for business. I very, very rarely post anything personally, if ever.
I still have a phone, people can text or call me.
It isn't just taking data in, they are also influence, intentionally, perceptions.
They actually did studies in which they showed people happy stuff and another group sad stuff. They found people they showed sad stuff to got depressed and the happy stuff got happier.
So it is within their power to influence how you feel based on what posts make it to your front page. And what is worse, they have shown a willingness to do this.
I dunno. I have actually made friends on Facebook. I don't notice ads. I don't post much personal detail, and I pretty much only hang out in a few closed or secret groups and interact with people who generally challenge me in a healthy way. It's a tool, neutral unless you use it for evil or good.
Possible ways to ensure Steemit stays on course:
Upvote value content only.
Never vote for something because the author/creator voted for me.
Never upvote anything I write.
Unfortunately I upvoted my first 3 comments on Steemit. I thought I was voting for the posts.
Does anyone have any more ideas?
Displaying the post $amount is a feedback loop that probably isn't too healthy, especially when that STEEM price keeps going up :-D
I thought this exact same thing. It turns into a money game instead of taking the time to post good content and also spend time reading posts instead of just posting, posting and posting some more just for the rewards. Having the $ on each post is such a double edged sword. I started on here in 2016 and went off for a while due to work stress but also because you'd see many average posts getting huge amounts while mine were getting very little. Makes it you wonder if it's worth the time until I personally discovered I like to type and share as well as read other people's posts.
It's all about quality, original content. That's what will really drive the value of Steem.
social validation feedback loop... wow
This is why I don't mind social media networks which don't pester you for personal information and are what one could call free speech zones. On Reddit for example I hang out only at places where the mods are extremely lax and it's amazing how much people will actually complain about people they don't like posting there.
The Ancap sub is a perfect example of this, frequent complaints by anti-capitalists about actual white nationalists posting there and then complaints by various others including white nationalists about anti-capitalists being able to post in the Ancap sub. All conveniently ignoring the fact it's not even their sub to begin with and it's because the mods are so lax they encounter these people, zero appreciation for the lack of censorship because they're so used to their safe spaces where the mods immediately ban people with opposing opinions.
What social media has done is simply become a reflection of our actual society in the west. Here in the UK I've had a culture shock because I've realised just how bad the problem is, I'm pointing the finger particularly at the left because they're the worst offenders. They're building entire communities both online and off where they do not allow dissent or at the very least don't talk about other opinions at all beyond being snidely arrogant and dismissive about them and then wonder why everybody on the outside has voted differently from them or disagree with them.
Yes, sorry, lengthy post, this set me off but I'm not surprised somebody managed to manipulate this kind of behaviour online and use it as a way to make money. It's really interesting seeing these ex-employees come out in the open about it though.
It's censorship and bubble communities that have caused these problems, I don't think social networks by themselves are necessarily bad things, but when you combine it with the kind of social ostracising and censorship of a Communist dictatorship that's when you get serious problems.
I know a lot about this sort of behaviour because I've grown up in a left wing shit hole and people really do just virtue signal amongst themselves and have no idea how people in the real world can think so differently from them.
Lengthy post appreciated. :-P
If these people who started Facebook had these thoughts back then, we can assume the people still there do now.
But for them its business as usual.
Social media platform demographics age over time, so this is why Facebook bought Instagram, to access a younger demographic.
God only knows what they are doing with their Whatsapp data.
Well the good news is there is a lot of rebellion in the younger generations over this sort of thing, people hate shit like social justice. Which is what social media networks like facebook are peddling so these sites are all going to go the way of myspace soon enough.
Unfortunately, Facebook is so big now I doubt they're going anywhere. They'll just buy the next big social media app, rinse and repeat.
No, wait we are the next BIG social media app and we can NEVER be bought :-P
PS: You have some insightful comments I'm now following :-D
I closed my Facebook account about 4 years ago. When I wrote to my followers to explain why, I gave several reasons and then added, "besides, I think Mark Zuckerberg moved to the dark side".
lol. Wasn't he always on the dark side.
I remember losing a friend because I never accepted a friend request. Apparently, I had set up an account and forgot about it. Then Facebook, tried the old 'is this your friend', 'is this your friend' routine on him he said yes and I never replied.
Never heard from him since.
Have you seen the Southpark that made fun of Facebook, so good and so on point. :)
No, but I'd like to. Any idea what season/episode? There are so many.
Season 14 ep 4 "You have zero friends" It's really good.
Amazing friend
I think it's inevitable things like these happen on every platform that enables mass social interaction. On fb and twitter etc, our reward system is triggered by likes and retweets, on steemit, it's triggered by big upvotes. It's a flaw in our psychology but a platform like steemit is only better because it doesn't harvest our data and sell for money. Every social platform even the Internet generally demand our attention and can eventually become addictive but the question is do we have enough presence of mind to not get carried away and also do we get remuneration for our attention? This is why I am only active on steemit since I found it, if I'm going to spend my time, at least, I will get paid for it.
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Good post
Good thoughts to share, thanks! The whole thing that made me sign up here is that there is a totally different vibe here. But I couldn't believe that bots weer allowed on here! :( At least they say they're bots. But its reasonable to think they're resulting in the promotion of more vacuous content - i.e. if your content is good you shouldn't need bots to promote your posts. And if you're doing it for the posts and not the votes you shouldn't even care in the first place.
Mate.. never use facebook, but missus does for keeping track of people and what not, why? because everyone else does (which is what put me off, haha). Now that I have Steemit, not going anywhere else. Cheers
It would be fine if you could just check your friends and leave, but Facebook sucks you down the rabbit hole really quickly with its notifications prompting more and more user interaction.
I was told by a Buddhist friend many years ago that Facebook was silly and he would never go on it. I realise many years later how right he was and how much it has changed my brain over the years. Simple things like posting art and getting very little feedback actually stopped me from enjoying my passion! How crazy is that!
I never thought anything could get into my head until I realised it already was in there and having a negative effect for so long. Now I'm in the process of 'powering down' my Facebook and will eventually bow out altogether. The only thing that stops me doing it right now dead in its tracks is my family but I will get there.
It's hard to continue the practice of mindfulness when you're busy poking around into the lives of others.
Steemit is based on a decentralized blockchain system and therefore cannot fall into the same kind of path facebook has taken. That is the power of a decentralized system in a nutshell. I highly recommend reading this article, which should shed more light on this subject https://www.google.com.pg/amp/s/www.coindesk.com/can-blockchain-save-us-from-the-internets-original-sin/amp/
I too have been thinking along these lines for a long time. I am not a youtwitface, ever. No facebook. No youtube channel. No twitter account. I had friends who no longer friends because I would not join these groups. I did not see what value joining these groups would add to my life. Steemit is adding value at this point in time. Will it continue to? I certainly hope so. Resteemed you post.
Thanks for the Resteem. And you're right, they add diddly squat to your life. And the promise of meeting friends and expanding your social network is all BS. I've had more connection here on Steemit in the last few weeks.
Denzel makes a great point here. If you don't think you're addicted than turn off your social media for a week and see if you can do it. 10 years ago that would be laughable, but think of it now, ou can leave the home and forget your wallet and be like "meh, whatever", but if you forget your cell phone, the only option is to go back and get it.
Yeah, totally. We are addicts now.
I'm just addicted to Steemit :-P
I too didn't open facebook in last 2 years. I think it is safe to say that it's beyond superficial and fake
Smart move.
That video was a little shocking. But not overly surprising. Social Media has a lot to answer for. The amount of damage it is doing to our younger generations is shocking. I'm so glad that I grew up in a time before the internet was even a thing.
Now the Internet is a 'thing' what's you next move. hehe
Just hang out on Steemit and avoid FB at all costs. :D
Imagine being such a sxxxhead that you know something is wrong and manipulative and hurts people, yet you do it anyway.
That bullshit stunt he pulled with hot or not, when he was just getting started was a real indication of who he would become. Not a social justice bone in his body.
He's a special kind of special.
special kind of c.... I don't believe all the mythology about one guy coded Facebook in his pyjamas, the whole project was Darpa all the way through, no way all these guys knew all this stuff about dopamine and human psychology at the time unless they were mingling with some heavy duty behavioural sociologists and psychiatrists which means something like the CIA/Darpa behind it. There's a lot of conspiracy stuff online about Zuckerberg being David Rockefeller's Grandson. Conspiracy stuff often turns out to be true, whether it is or not, Facebook was not something that was coded by one guy in his pyjamas.
Resteemed.
Oh boy the cynical stance of the corrupt elite - at least some of their consciences have been pricked and they are speaking out - now.
Time to step up and shine bright and expose all the manipulative behaviour's of those at the top who wish to enslave us all.
xox
Ha and we've been too distracted by the threat of robots taking over the world to even notice the manipulation and control had already begun.
There's rumor that Zuckerberg might roll out a FBCoin soon. This might be the best or worst thing to happen to the decentralized landscape since Ethereum dropped. I think it could be good if they moved to a decentralized model and gave people back control of their data. I'm really doubtful that they'll do this but perhaps Zuckerberg might go on a righteous streak!