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Weigh In: Has the social media revolution devolved conversation?


misteraven

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@6Pennies sent me this article that I think is super relevant to this discussion: https://theoutline.com/post/4716/how-everything-on-the-internet-became-clickbait

 

It essentially breaks down the specific strategy the media uses to engage an audience in a very straight forward and easy to understand way. Like showing you the wizard is actually some shlep pulling cranks behind the curtain. Having been a part of a media network via 12oz and as a consultant for many years, I can tell you that what they're saying is absolutely trie and then some.

 

Being entirely honest, I've never been great at scale. My expertise was always most effective when applied highly targeted and directionally, but that said I still did okay until I gave up interest on thinking I wanted to run a big media platform. Truth is, it basically turned my stomach. Allocating resources and real effort to cover topics I didn't give a shit about or spotlight people I'd likely not even sit and sip a coffee with... Just had issues reconcile that since my goals were never the clear pursuit of money. In fact, I've always believed revenue to be a by product to a job well done and that if I'm passionate about something, I can likely do a pretty good job with it. So sitting around discussing click bait strategies like intentionally putting mistakes into stories or purposely omitting obvious data so users comment and then argue in comments so you can turn one page view into a dozen when they're refreshing the page looking at the latest comment (meanwhile loading ads that are bulk sold and monetized via impressions), was something I couldn't stomach anymore. Those stupid "Here's the Top 50 ________" stories are nothing more than a simple tool to generate cheap content that has high return rates. They purposely leave obvious shit out of the top spot so readers will debate why it wasn't added. Plus whatever that wasn't included, is the foundation for the followup, "And Here's The Pick's That Didn't Make It" post that just fans the flame of debate in the comments section so collectively, you've taken one stupid story, turned it into two and then increased it's impressions exponentially by engineering fights in the comment section.

 

Now just think if these were just basic tactics that we're being explored and deployed by stupid sneaker and hype sights, you have no idea how nefarious it gets at the main stream media level.

 

Anyhow, click the link and read it. If you get that far and it's making sense, then go listen to this podcast for a quick lesson on how the same tactics are used with little modification to keep politicians in power: http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/the-great-lie-of-dichotomy

 

*That podcast honestly should be a new thread as its an entire discussion on its own. But seriously, go listen and then get back to me with your opinion.

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As full on millennial I think I can add something to this.

 

I've had a social media account since the 6th grade, first Myspace and random forums, then Facebook then IG and Twitter. As long as I've cognitively placed importance on "social relationship" there's probably been a social network to build them on. In other words, a world with social media is really the only one I know.

 

It's impossible for me to compare to before my time, but I have watched as social has swelled to a level where it now just consumes itself. It's the sheer size and reach that I see as the problem. At some point it went from "let's connect with like minded people" to "let's connect with as many people as possible." What got lost was the value and community feel that was what made 12oz so dope.

 

I was definitely late to the peak 12oz community, probably 2007, but it still played a huge role in my graffiti and cultural up bringing. Interacting with and learning from people in partyinginportland, sketch threads, The Yard, Chanel Zero etc. felt like being part of an underground community. You can't get that on IG. It's to difficult to segment your audience on the platforms, so instead of passing through the grapevine it's shouted from the mountain tops. everyone is so eager to prove that they're in the know that keeping something lowkey has no value. Kind of ironic considering all the Privacy concerns people claim to have.

 

I'm not on Reddit all that much, but I have been able to find similar types of online communities on Twitter, mostly concerning sports. The problem there again is that you're shouting into a room full of other conversations and hoping someone hears you. It's less concentrated and in-depth for the most part, and character limits don't help.

 

The other major shift is the speed at which all of this is happening, made possible by improved internet, access, and devices. Having worked in digital publishing (including the 12oz Homepage) the rate at which content is consumed and turned over is incredible. It's made it difficult to have enough time to form real, thoughtfully constructed opinions on anything before the moment passes, meaning people are out here shooting off takes as they think of them. Sure there's more conversation and people talking, but it's less substantial. I'm reading Future Shock right now, and even though it was published in 1970 it's still incredibly prescient and relevant in talking about the rate of change and the temporary nature of modern life.

 

Can forums come back? Maybe... I know I feel fatigued and less and less interested in what is popping up on my feeds. Maybe a platform that's more focused and unique is the solution.

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This is weird.

 

Could forums come back? Sure why not. Tons of niche things have their own little communities.

 

You're always going to have people who like to drink Bud Light, but you will always have people who want locally sourced artisanal sour beer.

 

Think Reddit / Facebook being Bud Light, and this place being the Artisanal beer.

 

Smaller markets, but people who are really into it will seek it out, and gather, and make memes.

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This is weird.

 

Could forums come back? Sure why not. Tons of niche things have their own little communities.

 

You're always going to have people who like to drink Bud Light, but you will always have people who want locally sourced artisanal sour beer.

 

Think Reddit / Facebook being Bud Light, and this place being the Artisanal beer.

 

Smaller markets, but people who are really into it will seek it out, and gather, and make memes.

 

and an acquired taste

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Modern social media is taking the "drink from the firehose" approach at blasting you with things to click on.... and EVERYTHING makes money on the internet unless there is someone behind it specifically not making money.

 

I thought Myspace was cool when you could inject javascript in posts on peoples' pages to play music and make tables that were gigantic w * h and would block out the entire profile page w/ a white block basically.

 

In fact you used to be able to embed music on this forum w/ javascript lol. That was always a fun time when people would be posting saying, my computer plays this weird music every time i come to this thread, and it's only happening on page 5....

 

Lol meanwhile a few knucklehead members here that knew what was going on were probably losing their shit spilling their mountain dew and doritos. THAT is what I think is lost with the drink from a firehose social media approach. Someone mentioned here in another thread really well, "everyone is now accustomed to watching a ton of movie trailers and nobody takes the time to watch a movie anymore."

 

I think it's making society dumber to not have full conversations where people have to actually think to participate. I think it's also created the "ghosting" we see so often in society now. I'm talking about the concept where people just ignore things or other peoples attempts to communicate. I think people are so used to sifting through bs and determining that a large amount of what they're looking at is bs they don't care about.... that they kind of start "viewing the world through those same rose colored lenses." So what you get are people that have very lacking social skills in real life and are very prone to being flaky about their word. It's almost like the presence of so many "lies" online has created a society that believes in lies being everywhere and that it is normal for people to not keep their word. When you believe that "most people" are a certain way, you can feel comforted with being that way yourself because you're "falling in line". I'd like to hear other peoples' perspective on that.

 

Growing up keeping my word was a very important thing for me to learn and was instilled in me from a young age. I feel like a lot of people have lost that.

Edited by Dirty_habiT
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I think it's making society dumber to not have full conversations where people have to actually think to participate. I think it's also created the "ghosting" we see so often in society now. I'm talking about the concept where people just ignore things or other peoples attempts to communicate. I think people are so used to sifting through bs and determining that a large amount of what they're looking at is bs they don't care about.... that they kind of start "viewing the world through those same rose colored lenses." So what you get are people that have very lacking social skills in real life and are very prone to being flaky about their word.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here, from a higher education perspective, this current generation does not know how to read critically nor write effectively and they do not care to either.....

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https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

 

I have not gone any further into social media than having a LinkedIn account, so I do not really know what sort of content is out there but I very much miss the days when people got online and used fake names to talk about things they actually had expertise in, compared to using real names to spout off about everything. I used to visit another forum related to my work and it was an impressive conversation which is now extinguished, smoldering at best.

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I'm going to go out on a limb here, from a higher education perspective, this current generation does not know how to read critically nor write effectively and they do not care to either.....

 

I'm gonna expand on that thought. Social media creates tribes. People with the same way of thinking, same school of thought, and from how they type, their own vernacular also.

And this kind of environment creates an echo chamber. A group of people yelling out the same talking points, no real criticism, and no real valid points. This is dangerous because it breeds an extreme form of tribalism based on "us vs them" mentality, that would eventually turn to hate. 4chan is that way, facebook groups, and even some subreddits operate on that paradigm.

12oz can claim to be a tribe, but we don't reserve judgement and we call out the bullshit. We forgive and forget also. We're not a perfect platform but we don't go to extremes to defend a moot or useless point just to advance our own shit.

 

The "dumb" people we hate on social media, some of them have a massive following. That's the scary part. The people who influence others.

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I'm going to go out on a limb here, from a higher education perspective, this current generation does not know how to read critically nor write effectively and they do not care to either.....

 

There's a ton of truth to this and we've discussed it a bit via text. Honestly its such an important topic, I'm wondering if we should start a thread on just this. Lot of people don't even know what the word "rhetoric" means, let alone how its applied. Likewise, it would seem we've been conditioned to lose the ability for critical thought, rigor and analysis and especially the ability to debate subjects in the classical / scholarly sense. Now, it appears more about picking a team, blindly following the position and posturing that team subscribes to and then adhering to the dichotomy that anyone not on your team is the enemy and should thus be vilified at any and all opportunities.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

 

I have not gone any further into social media than having a LinkedIn account, so I do not really know what sort of content is out there but I very much miss the days when people got online and used fake names to talk about things they actually had expertise in, compared to using real names to spout off about everything. I used to visit another forum related to my work and it was an impressive conversation which is now extinguished, smoldering at best.

 

100% man, couldn't have said this better. Really great comment, just bumped you to VIP.

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I'm gonna expand on that thought. Social media creates tribes. People with the same way of thinking, same school of thought, and from how they type, their own vernacular also.

And this kind of environment creates an echo chamber. A group of people yelling out the same talking points, no real criticism, and no real valid points. This is dangerous because it breeds an extreme form of tribalism based on "us vs them" mentality, that would eventually turn to hate. 4chan is that way, facebook groups, and even some subreddits operate on that paradigm.

12oz can claim to be a tribe, but we don't reserve judgement and we call out the bullshit. We forgive and forget also. We're not a perfect platform but we don't go to extremes to defend a moot or useless point just to advance our own shit.

 

The "dumb" people we hate on social media, some of them have a massive following. That's the scary part. The people who influence others.

 

I almost entirely agree with what you've said here, though I do not believe that social media creates tribes. Rather, I believe that it amplifies and solidifies the tribes that are already being created in the real world. See the comment before this last one... People are bing conditioned to feel a need to join a team (tribe might be a better word). It no doubt plays into the psychology behind self identification amongst other things, but social platforms have certainly contributed in a large way and has become a primary tool and maintaining and enhancing the dichotomy. Makes it super easy to rally and your analogy of an "echo chamber" is accurate in that it allows that dynamic to build into a crescendo.

 

Again, I encourage all to listen to this podcast for a very great discussion on that very subject: http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/the-great-lie-of-dichotomy

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I'm going to try to explain why I like Instagram, and why I hate it. I doubt I will make any sense.

 

Why I like Instagram:

 

There's something novel about touching an app icon and instantly being transported to the days news with regards to all of your friends, and folks whom you admire. I suppose "news" isn't really the best word as you're not really learning anything other than seeing that your friend is in Hawaii... again. I guess a better description would be it's a great way to see the most important thing your friend did that day, unless it's Thursday, then it's what they did that day fifteen years ago. Still, it's nice to see what folks are up to in a grouped thread that I can flip through in ten minutes and be caught up. Then if I see Dana later in the week I can ask about the twelve images of wine tasting she posted (as you can tell, I might like this but I'm also slightly jaded to the content). As an artist who make a supplemental income from his art, I like that I share new work (or old) and have folks who are interested reach out with inquiries. It's kinda nice. And as a collector of art I like that I can see new works from artists I follow and have the opportunity to purchase their work.

 

Why I hate Instagram:

Selfies, photos of your pets, political and social soap boxing, and content I'm too old to understand. I get it... you love your dog more than anything in the world, but do you really need to post the same fucking photo of it laying on the floor in the sun every other day? As mentioned above, the Tribes siding has become so important that if you haven't chosen which Tribe you belong to then you should be wiped from the earth. Some folks use social media to be extremely hateful and disruptive, and it's kind of boring. No amount of rational reasoning reaches them and it eventually leads to threats on your life... which is awesome.

 

If it weren't for my art I wouldn't be on Instagram at all. I've grown so bored with it.

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@Joker more interesting points, though I disagree with some of it this time around. I used to freakin hate when people posted pictures of their food. As if what they're eating matters in any way 99.9% of the time. Selfies were another that could easily get under my skin most of the time. Now I actually yearn for those days because just when I thought social media couldn't get any worse, we find ourselves in the era of "political and social soap boxing" as you so eloquently put it. Looping back to my my last couple posts in here, and again referencing that great lies of dichotomy podcast, I think it's super troubling that people are foregoing actually reading into or investigating a topic or event, before joining the mob that aligns with whatever tribe they've decided to attach to. I'll take the same pictures of a pet lying in the sun every day of the week and 3x on Sunday over reposted memes on social / political issues that at best are far too shallow to ever hope to encapsulate most subjects and at worst (and often most likely) are just agenda driven misinformation, half truths or all out lies that are engineered to pull on heart strings and compel people to join the mob and further fan the flames of discontent and division.

 

But that being said, this thread is making me realize with more clarity that a large part of my frustration (and I can only assume the frustration of many others) could stem from the fact that we've allowed ourselves to believe that social media was a replacement for the social dialogue and the deeper online discussions we raised ourselves on when in fact, its two totally different things. Because one came to over shadow and nearly make extinct the other, we embraced it as a replacement, when looking back now its becoming more clear that they share little in common. Especially in regards to maintaining meaningful relationships and engagement with people we've gone out of our way to try and stay connected to. Very ironic when you consider it like this.

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@misteraven I can agree with you on that. I'd rather skim past twenty dog photos than skim past one political or socially charged post.

 

I love what you said about people not doing any research into what they've read, but instead blindly reposting and standing up for something just because it falls in line with their beliefs. This is one of the biggest reasons I quit Facebook. A handful of friends, and a few family members, constantly... fucking every day, several times a day, posted the most politically and socially hateful shit against Trump, Obama, Hillary, or whomever, or something related to terrorism, terrorists, wealthy white men, African Americans, or Latinos... you name it, they posted it. Every time I was kind of blown away by the 'articles' and they always seemed so unreal, just full of bullshit. I would always do some research online because I couldn't believe what I had just read, and always found out that the shit was completely fabricated, and almost always using images from something unrelated (half the time from another country) to engage the reader. When I would call them out on their posts it would be crickets in response. I would share links to factcheck.org or a number of other fact checking websites that would debunk their posts. Eventually one friend reached out through the FB instant messenger and asked to me to stop replying to his posts with my bullshit, that he and his friends don't appreciate it. I always replied that I was just looking for the truth... it's not that hard.

 

I've found that if the story sounds way too fucked up to be true, it usually is. They always seemed to be a skewed story that further ignites the poster's agenda. No one wants to do the leg work anymore...

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@Joker, yes indeed. I don't even trust half the fact check sites if any, after fining that one of the main ones often referenced was owned by a couple that were also fund raisers for HRC. Found articles talking about how they really had no directly hired staff and mostly ran the business from their kitchen table. As I looked a little deeper into it, it seemed that they chose to mostly focus on debunking stories that all pointed towards benefitting HRC, so threw in the towel on even bothering with third party fact checking. Instead, I've consolidated down what I care about and chose to take a stand on and learn as much as I can about that specific subject. I don't generally give much thought to editorial opinion, pro or con and instead drill down to the source of where the data comes from and how the data is gathered. I'm simplifying it a bit, but point is nobody can follow all these topics and then investigate all the angles to each.

 

Plus I personally maintain a purposefully independent position of skepticism. My belief is that virtually everyone has an agenda (myself included) and that government power is taken directly from individual freedom. There's few that can argue that politics and the process of governing doesn't boil down to being about power over people. The pursuit of power is a dynamic system, constantly in flux. You either take it or give it up, but it rarely maintain in equilibrium (subject for another thread). My agenda is to simply spark conversation and promote evidence based exploration and thought, as well as non-emotional, intelligent and insightful discussion and debate. I honestly don't care what side a person sits on, even if its opposes my own position, so long as they take the time to genuinely understand the topic and can put forth a reasonable argument based upon actual, unbiased evidence. I believe we can agree to disagree and still respect each other as human beings and as fellow Americans and that honest dialogue and debate benefits all of us. Which circles this conversation back to why I think its important to revive this forum and why its also valuable when we sit here and truly explore and discuss important topics out in the open.

 

It really scares the shit out of me to see what things have become... How completely divided people are these days, while also being completely ignorant to the true catalysts behind so much of the discourse they're all so busy fighting over. The fact that the concept of "fake news" even serves to dilute questioning and hide shit in plain site. It's interesting to note how closely it parallels the coining of the "conspiracy theory", which was promoted after the assassination of JFK to helped quell the questioning of the *official record* released in the Warren Report. How effectively they got the nation to stop questioning the narrative being released or be accused of being a tin foil hat wearing *conspiracy theorist*. I see "fake news" as the exact same thing, even though if you were to actually look at it, most of the time its actually editorial opinion published by news organizations owned by individuals that are very actively political.

 

Anyhow, I'm straying off topic, but there's definitely overlap.

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@Joker, yes indeed. I don't even trust half the fact check sites if any, after fining that one of the main ones often referenced was owned by a couple that were also fund raisers for HRC. Found articles talking about how they really had no directly hired staff and mostly ran the business from their kitchen table. As I looked a little deeper into it, it seemed that they chose to mostly focus on debunking stories that all pointed towards benefitting HRC, so threw in the towel on even bothering with third party fact checking. Instead, I've consolidated down what I care about and chose to take a stand on and learn as much as I can about that specific subject. I don't generally give much thought to editorial opinion, pro or con and instead drill down to the source of where the data comes from and how the data is gathered. I'm simplifying it a bit, but point is nobody can follow all these topics and then investigate all the angles to each.

 

Plus I personally maintain a purposefully independent position of skepticism. My belief is that virtually everyone has an agenda (myself included) and that government power is taken directly from individual freedom. There's few that can argue that politics and the process of governing doesn't boil down to being about power over people. The pursuit of power is a dynamic system, constantly in flux. You either take it or give it up, but it rarely maintain in equilibrium (subject for another thread). My agenda is to simply spark conversation and promote evidence based exploration and thought, as well as non-emotional, intelligent and insightful discussion and debate. I honestly don't care what side a person sits on, even if its opposes my own position, so long as they take the time to genuinely understand the topic and can put forth a reasonable argument based upon actual, unbiased evidence. I believe we can agree to disagree and still respect each other as human beings and as fellow Americans and that honest dialogue and debate benefits all of us. Which circles this conversation back to why I think its important to revive this forum and why its also valuable when we sit here and truly explore and discuss important topics out in the open.

 

It really scares the shit out of me to see what things have become... How completely divided people are these days, while also being completely ignorant to the true catalysts behind so much of the discourse they're all so busy fighting over. The fact that the concept of "fake news" even serves to dilute questioning and hide shit in plain site. It's interesting to note how closely it parallels the coining of the "conspiracy theory", which was promoted after the assassination of JFK to helped quell the questioning of the *official record* released in the Warren Report. How effectively they got the nation to stop questioning the narrative being released or be accused of being a tin foil hat wearing *conspiracy theorist*. I see "fake news" as the exact same thing, even though if you were to actually look at it, most of the time its actually editorial opinion published by news organizations owned by individuals that are very actively political.

 

Anyhow, I'm straying off topic, but there's definitely overlap.

 

 

That's what's missing in discourse today, actually fucking research. I believe you understand this more than others, raven, that, when stupid people argue, it's really just because they're defending their idol. No real thought or research is put into the argument. There are entire groups who blindly follow and barf out what their idol says. They'll just repeat talking points that are easily debunked.

 

And it's annoying as fuck that the only retaliation these people have is "fake news". Buzz words and a newspeak, basically a language they made up where they only talk in "talking points". Tribal fraternity shit, that's the only way they are able to communicate today.

 

Lingua Tertii Imperii

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@misteraven I can agree with you on that. I'd rather skim past twenty dog photos than skim past one political or socially charged post.

 

I love what you said about people not doing any research into what they've read, but instead blindly reposting and standing up for something just because it falls in line with their beliefs. This is one of the biggest reasons I quit Facebook. A handful of friends, and a few family members, constantly... fucking every day, several times a day, posted the most politically and socially hateful shit against Trump, Obama, Hillary, or whomever, or something related to terrorism, terrorists, wealthy white men, African Americans, or Latinos... you name it, they posted it. Every time I was kind of blown away by the 'articles' and they always seemed so unreal, just full of bullshit. I would always do some research online because I couldn't believe what I had just read, and always found out that the shit was completely fabricated, and almost always using images from something unrelated (half the time from another country) to engage the reader. When I would call them out on their posts it would be crickets in response. I would share links to factcheck.org or a number of other fact checking websites that would debunk their posts. Eventually one friend reached out through the FB instant messenger and asked to me to stop replying to his posts with my bullshit, that he and his friends don't appreciate it. I always replied that I was just looking for the truth... it's not that hard.

 

I've found that if the story sounds way too fucked up to be true, it usually is. They always seemed to be a skewed story that further ignites the poster's agenda. No one wants to do the leg work anymore...

 

I totally agree...and for some reason it's only been happening now

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There's a ton of truth to this and we've discussed it a bit via text. Honestly its such an important topic, I'm wondering if we should start a thread on just this. Lot of people don't even know what the word "rhetoric" means, let alone how its applied. Likewise, it would seem we've been conditioned to lose the ability for critical thought, rigor and analysis and especially the ability to debate subjects in the classical / scholarly sense. Now, it appears more about picking a team, blindly following the position and posturing that team subscribes to and then adhering to the dichotomy that anyone not on your team is the enemy and should thus be vilified at any and all opportunities.

 

Tons of stuff out there discussing the loss of civil discourse and civil debate. I

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And it's annoying as fuck that the only retaliation these people have is "fake news". Buzz words and a newspeak, basically a language they made up where they only talk in "talking points". Tribal fraternity shit, that's the only way they are able to communicate today.

 

Lingua Tertii Imperii

 

yep, and the left throw out the charge of "racism" to silence their opponents....

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@JokerI'll take the same pictures of a pet lying in the sun every day of the week and 3x on Sunday over reposted memes on social / political issues that at best are far too shallow to ever hope to encapsulate most subjects and at worst (and often most likely) are just agenda driven misinformation, half truths or all out lies that are engineered to pull on heart strings and compel people to join the mob and further fan the flames of discontent and division.

 

 

not to mention all of the uber-vegan and super-conspiracy shit too....

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iOS 12 will allow users to manage notifications from the lock screen, another Android feature. It will also make it possible for notifications to be grouped by app or send notifications directly to the Notification Center, which Apple is calling instant-tuning. Another Android feature recently announced by Apple is the ability to limit how much time you spend on an app using an app called Screen Time.

 

https://hypebeast.com/2018/6/apple-ios-12-preview-wwdc-2018

 

Screen Time provides users with detailed information and tools to help them better understand and control the time they spend with apps and websites. Daily and weekly Activity Reports show the total time spent in individual apps, usage across categories of apps, how many notifications are received and how often iPhone or iPad are picked up. Screen Time also gives parents access to their child’s Activity Report right from their own iOS devices using Family Sharing in iCloud, and allows them to schedule times to limit when a child’s iOS device can be used, such as during bedtime.

 

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/06/apple-previews-ios-12/

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not to mention all of the uber-vegan and super-conspiracy shit too....

 

More stuff that is manipulated... As I understand it, the concept of "Flat Earth / Flat Earth Society" originated from a workshop held at a tech conference that was partially sponsored / supported by the NSA. Story goes that as part of the seminar on social engineering was an experiment on the viability and logistical complexity of establishing social consensus or at least a mob like mentality regarding a subject that was laughably ridiculous. So after some brainstorming, they chose the topic as "Flat Earth" as the subject and established the "Flat Earth Society" as the execution to see if it might be possible to sway people into believing something profoundly ridiculous. Clearly, the experiment worked and that workshop execution took on a life of its own that still has people arguing with each other and believing nonsense to this very day.

 

Again, finding new ways to hide shit in plain site, manipulating the populace and encouraging division.

 

Divide and rule

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_and_rule

 

Weak Points and Strong (And excerpt from the Art of War by Sun Tzu. A heavily studied military treatise that actually contributes greatly to modern military and political strategy. Note this was written in 5th Century BC)

https://suntzusaid.com/book/6/14

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More stuff that is manipulated... As I understand it, the concept of "Flat Earth / Flat Earth Society" originated from a workshop held at a tech conference that was partially sponsored / supported by the NSA. Story goes that as part of the seminar on social engineering was an experiment on the viability and logistical complexity of establishing social consensus or at least a mob like mentality regarding a subject that was laughably ridiculous. So after some brainstorming, they chose the topic as "Flat Earth" as the subject and established the "Flat Earth Society" as the execution to see if it might be possible to sway people into believing something profoundly ridiculous. Clearly, the experiment worked and that workshop execution took on a life of its own that still has people arguing with each other and believing nonsense to this very day.

 

Again, finding new ways to hide shit in plain site, manipulating the populace and encouraging division.

 

Divide and rule

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_and_rule

 

Weak Points and Strong (And excerpt from the Art of War by Sun Tzu. A heavily studied military treatise that actually contributes greatly to modern military and political strategy. Note this was written in 5th Century BC)

https://suntzusaid.com/book/6/14

 

The conspiracy theories are a glue that hold these fringe groups together...Social media fucking propogates that shit to an obscene amount.

With the conspiracy theories, it gives reason for people to act paranoid, justify certain actions, and to, weirdly enough, make friends.

But beliefs don't necessarily go hand in hand with actual facts.

 

I'm glad you brought up the divide and rule school of thought...with groups marginalizing themselves, there's no cohesive collective of people to keep political forces from taking over.

Splitting votes for fringe politicians, dividing already existing parties into smaller groups. It's weakening the republic.

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What happened when I clicked this thread:

 

Oh this is great, lots to read just like in the old dayssssszzzzz.... *glazes over everything*.... "oh shit seeks posted".... scroll scroll scroll... click on page 2... scroll scroll scroll... "Tesseract!"... scroll scroll scroll... jump directly to page 4, scroll directly to last comment.

 

My ability to read longform internet is absolutely fucking destroyed. I am super interested in reading all this thread in depth and yet I immediately felt assaulted by text. This is like learning to ride a bicycle all over again, holy shit.

 

I will return to this once I get my bearings.

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