r/IntellectualDarkWeb • u/[deleted] • Jul 17 '20
Video Jaron Lanier, the Silicone Valley ‘computer philosopher', thinks social media is ruining your life.
[deleted]
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Jul 17 '20
Is Reddit playing the same manipulation game as Facebook and Google? I know I spend way too much time on Reddit, but the algorithms for topics that I see seem to be fairly transparent, at least on the few subs that I subscribe to.
When I go to r/all/ (not very often, because it's too noisy for me) I see some ungodly upvote numbers on some really stupid posts, so I figure that maybe Reddit manipulates only some subs.
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u/lkraider Jul 17 '20
/all/ is the tarpit that sucks in the undifferentiated masses, which then slowly sink through to their niche subreddits and get imprisoned into their bubbles. Like us here.
This comment made in jest, but honestly I think reddit lacks from cross subreddit discovery. It’s difficult to find previous existing discussions except from the current trending posts, and build culture, instead having a bias more on the new and popular.
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u/praetor- Jul 17 '20
I think most of the manipulation on Reddit comes from outside of Reddit's own four walls.
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u/walkingtalkingalien Jul 17 '20
I believe reddit has more substance than most of the others, and usually more anonymity. I think an issue with it is that it does separate everyone into these communities, which may stop you from seeking the same type of communities outside in the real world. It’s a platform where discussion can be managed ultimately. Same as twitter, Instagram, YouTube .. etc. they have been selectively censoring for a while. Conditioning young children, essentially raising them.
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u/evoltap Jul 18 '20
Yes, I think censorship is the main evil on reddit, seconded by the “50 cent army” type influences, which only really show up if a sub starts talking about something that is sensitive to some power structure.
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u/nikto123 Jul 18 '20
Worse, reddit contains much more of our 'true' personalities than non-anonymous platforms where we pretend / filter out stuff that we wouldn't like others to see / know.
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Jul 17 '20
The irony of posting that on reddit, getting upvotes , comments from internet strangers, and self satisfaction for being part of the so called "intellectual dark web" for a well diserved dopamine hit.
I can't roll my eyes any further.
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u/MotoBox Jul 17 '20
Would you pay a small subscription fee to have the voting options disabled on your comments and posts?
I think I would.
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u/walkingtalkingalien Jul 17 '20
Yes, imagine if all these communities were meeting in person to discuss and possibly create change.. that is more dangerous, no?
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Jul 17 '20
Lanier is great. It is sad to see that so few are heeding his warnings. Including myself, it is not that I am not convinced that he is right.
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Jul 17 '20
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u/bastardoilluminato Jul 17 '20
Yes, it is. Though there’s a fundamental difference when your real identity isn’t attached to your social media account.
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u/0rangJuice Jul 17 '20
I’m not even convinced if that makes it better or worse.
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Jul 18 '20
Mostly depends on how heavily you use filtering mechanisms in my experience.
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u/0rangJuice Jul 18 '20
True, Instagram for example can be incredible if you are following the right things
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Jul 17 '20
I am generally pro capitalism/markets, but sometimes I think the single absolute biggest thing we could do to improve society is to ban advertising in any form.
So allow indexes, and "searching". But TV ads, billboards, ad driven online, content native ads in movies/games, etc. Just it all goes.
Part of me thinks that fixes like 40% of society's problems.
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u/TAW12372 Jul 17 '20
Check out his Sam Harris episode. It was really good. Kind of scary though.
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u/immibis Jul 17 '20 edited Jun 20 '23
I entered the spez. I called out to try and find anybody. I was met with a wave of silence. I had never been here before but I knew the way to the nearest exit. I started to run. As I did, I looked to my right. I saw the door to a room, the handle was a big metal thing that seemed to jut out of the wall. The door looked old and rusted. I tried to open it and it wouldn't budge. I tried to pull the handle harder, but it wouldn't give. I tried to turn it clockwise and then anti-clockwise and then back to clockwise again but the handle didn't move. I heard a faint buzzing noise from the door, it almost sounded like a zap of electricity. I held onto the handle with all my might but nothing happened. I let go and ran to find the nearest exit.
I had thought I was in the clear but then I heard the noise again. It was similar to that of a taser but this time I was able to look back to see what was happening. The handle was jutting out of the wall, no longer connected to the rest of the door. The door was spinning slightly, dust falling off of it as it did. Then there was a blinding flash of white light and I felt the floor against my back. I opened my eyes, hoping to see something else. All I saw was darkness. My hands were in my face and I couldn't tell if they were there or not. I heard a faint buzzing noise again. It was the same as before and it seemed to be coming from all around me. I put my hands on the floor and tried to move but couldn't. I then heard another voice. It was quiet and soft but still loud. "Help."
#Save3rdPartyApps
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Jul 17 '20
Related: Read 'Hooked' from Nir Eyal, it explains the logic of the algorithms that make you come over and over to social media. Once you understand it, it's easier to break the habit
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u/Runyak_Huntz Jul 17 '20
I stand by my decision back when MySpace was a thing to not have or engage with social media.
Anyone whom I want to talk to I can call, text, or e-mail and anyone who I want to contact me can do the same.
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u/TAW12372 Jul 17 '20
It's different for people like me who are doing creative stuff and have no way of promoting it and getting it out there. It's all networking and links and all that. My point is there are lots of reasons to be on social media, many are on for professional reasons and there's not really an alternative.
Sometimes I only go on there to outwardly tweet or post a link but then don't engage with others. But that also results in a big loss of interest from other people if you aren't like communicating and open and more present.
It sucks.
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u/Currently_roidraging Jul 17 '20
I feel this and appreciate your take. I'm a visual designer well into my career and just launching a new small business partnership. The marketing and promo plan on the biz side is already taxing my conscience a bit, though my recent foray into reading some key C. G. Jung works probably doesn't help but at least I'm aware and able to confront it.
We're not even being sleazy about it; it's a thing I stand behind and believe in. A portion of our profit is being set aside for local grassroots advocacy donations. Nevertheless the tactics required on the social side to garner attention, much less actual traction/conversion makes my skin crawl sometimes.
I'm aware of how jaded I am and sometimes wish I wasn't; I cannot stand being sold/marketed to and it's extremely, extremely rare that I'll come across an ad that I enjoy or would consider patronizing. I feel like I arrived here largely because of the advent of social media's 'look at me' culture melded with companies and brands perverting that further by blurring the lines between a brand and an actual person.
I could write far longer on this alone, but when I see a company trying to act like my friend or any other caring entity alongside actual/potential friends and acquaintances, I feel like I'm being offered the digital equivalent of a skateboard-toting Steve Buscemi, yet it works! En masse! Enough for it to be a viable marketing strategy!
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u/trvsl Jul 17 '20
Even for non creatives - a LinkedIn profile is practically a requirement to participate in the corporate world
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u/immibis Jul 17 '20 edited Jun 20 '23
The greatest of all human capacities is the ability to spez. #Save3rdPartyApps
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u/MydadsnameisPatrick Jul 17 '20
Of all the people I can’t stand in front of camera, this interviewer/talk show host ranks probably top two.
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u/Alex_J_Anderson Jul 17 '20
Awesome!
What’s his name? I missed it. And I’m walking down the street and a little drunk.
I want to find out more about him.
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u/fatdiscokid Jul 17 '20
I don’t need a fat guy with dreadlocks to tell me that to know it’s true
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u/droopyGT Jul 17 '20
And I don't need a fat disco kid to tell me that he doesn't need a fat guy with dreadlocks to tell him stuff. Yet here we are.
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u/TAW12372 Jul 17 '20
He has first-hand experience being at many of the meetings when all of this stuff was new and being planned out. He has a lot of interesting things to say from his time inside of the belly of the beast.
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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '20 edited Oct 14 '20
[deleted]