Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]
Groups > alt.comp.os.windows-10 > #180650
| From | Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | alt.comp.os.windows-10 |
| Subject | Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? |
| Date | 2024-12-17 09:03 -0500 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <vjs0aa$1p06e$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | <c701mj1ok5mue46nmiedj4ve1qcindpiqm@4ax.com> |
On 12/16/2024 2:46 PM, micky wrote:
> I'll get back to everyone who posted in my previous thread, but I need
> to know if you all think Usenet is social media?
> Or Social Media? Which?
>
> And would you answer the same for Reddit?
>
To my mind, usenet is not really social. Socializing is
"off topic". It happens around the edges, in the form of lonely
old men asking frivolous questions or bickering.... or even just
adding provocative "signatures" without ever taking responsibility
for their outbursts. (See John Hall's post, scorning those who
don't work out as wastrels. :)
I don't use any of the mainstream social media. TikTok,
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, NextDoor.... How social are they?
Is it socializing to post one's 2 cents and try to increase
"followers"? Is it social to post a short paragraph about Kim
Kardashian's ass or Travis Kelce's shirt? I'm afraid that many
young people view that as all of social engagement, but in that
capacity it's really just serving as an artificial peer group, so
that one knows what to think about Kim Kardashian's ass.
Facebook started out as a social medium. What is it now?
Google news on acid that people can't pull away from because
it's still where they hear about parties? Instagram? What is that?
Facebook for illiterate people?
It seems that seeing a reflection of oneself in a cellphone
screen is passing for social relationships in many case. So
what is social media?
Reddit is the only site I use. The voting is childish, and many
of the groups are tightly controlled. On the other hand, many
usenet groups were ruined by lack of control -- taken over by
spam or antisocial cliques.
I don't know of any site other than Reddit where one can
actually take part in discussions. There are a lot of serious
people in those discussions. There are topics where I can be
helpful. And when I need help, I often find it. Just about any topic
is covered.
Some of the groups, like home repair, are run by weird fascist
cabals who tightly control the discussion. That's unfortunate.
And of course the Linux groups are frequented by the usual gangs
of anti-social Linux devotees. But in general I find that it works
and it's useful. The old.reddit.com version is surprisingly well
designed so that one can follow the back and forth of discussion.
On the down side, Reddit recently partnered with Google. It's
become tricky to even log in. They're enforcing tracking. The site
was seemingly invented by teenagers. The up/down voting, the
awards, the "avatars".... It's all childish. But I'm often impressed by
the sincerity of posters.
It would be nice to see something like Craigslist social -- a site
not existing merely as a profit strategy that could serve as a
meeting place. But maybe the very notion of a meeting place
online is faulty. None of it substitutes for actual relationships.
Of course, I haven't made friends or got dates on Reddit. Maybe
I could if I gave up anonymity, but I find it too public for that. So,
is discussion social? Can online ever truly be social when both input
and output are primarily designed to keep people scrolling? When the
young father from Tennessee stormed the pizza parlor to save children
from Hillary's sex slavery ring, he believed that the world he knew
online was the real world. But people are using that world to conduct
group fantasy, and he didn't see the distinction.
I was reading yesterday that Bill Gates, self-appointed genius, finally
said something intelligent. He recommended a book by Jonathan Haidt, who
was co-author of Coddling the American Mind (Atlantic Monthly) and is
one of the few voices speaking for human values in an intelligent way.
Apparently Haidt has a new book analyzing the implications of a
generation of kids raised by screens, who only see the outdoors when
they're being punished for misbehavior by having their screens taken away.
So we have an ongoing laboratory of "social media". It seems to be
producing brittle personalities who find real life to be "unsafe"; young
people who don't want to live without supervision, to make sure that no
one can "gaslight" them or make them feel unsafe. People who need to
consult their psychotherapist before accepting a social date. People, in
short, who only know life in a shopping mall -- a world owned by exploitive
commercial interests that's been curated to keep them coming back.
I guess that leads to the next level of such a question. A more
existential
exploration: What matters in life and what is the role of social
connections?
Back to alt.comp.os.windows-10 | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread
Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-16 14:46 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-12-16 14:22 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-16 16:12 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-12-16 16:30 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2024-12-16 23:56 +0100
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2024-12-17 10:20 +0200
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-17 06:33 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-12-17 10:21 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-18 23:23 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2024-12-19 08:24 +0200
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-12-19 03:50 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-12-19 11:31 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2024-12-19 17:00 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-12-19 11:27 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-22 07:33 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-12-22 08:32 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> - 2025-02-07 14:32 -0800
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? clams casino <cc@invalid.cc> - 2024-12-16 13:24 -0700
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2024-12-16 15:48 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> - 2024-12-16 18:04 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2024-12-17 10:14 +0200
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-17 06:22 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> - 2025-02-07 14:36 -0800
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? John Hall <john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> - 2024-12-17 09:41 +0000
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2024-12-17 09:03 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? John Hall <john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> - 2024-12-17 16:49 +0000
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2024-12-18 23:35 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2024-12-19 08:37 -0500
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-12-19 11:18 -0600
Re: Is Usesent (and/or Reddit) social media? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2024-12-17 18:38 +0100
csiph-web