TechCrunch Argues Social Media News Feeds 'Need to Die' (techcrunch.com)

"Feeds need to die because they distort our views and disconnect us from other human beings around us," argues TechCrunch's Romain Dillet: At first, I thought I was missing out on some Very Important Content. I felt disconnected. I fought against my own FOMO. But now, I don't feel anything. What's going on on Instagram? I don't care. Facebook is now the worst internet forum you can find. Twitter is filled with horrible, abusive people. Instagram has become a tiny Facebook now that it has discouraged all the weird, funny accounts from posting with its broken algorithm. LinkedIn's feed is pure spam.

And here's what I realized after forgetting about all those "social" networks. First, they're tricking you and pushing the right buttons to make you check your feed just one more time. They all use thirsty notifications, promote contrarian posts that get a lot of engagement and play with your emotions. Posting has been gamified and you want to check one more time if you got more likes on your last Instagram photo. Everything is now a story so that you pay more attention to your phone and you get bored less quickly -- moving pictures with sound tend to attract your eyes... [F]inally, I realized that I was missing out by constantly checking all my feeds. By putting my phone on 'Do Not Disturb' for days, I discovered new places, started conversations and noticed tiny little things that made me smile.
He concludes that technology has improved the way we learn, communicate, and share information, "But it has gone too far...

"Forget about your phone for a minute, look around and talk with people next to you."

Comments

Yes, they do!

[DaMattster]

Social Media Newsfeeds need to die an ugly death! They do distort reality and are really psychologically toxic.

Re:Yes, they do!

[thinkwaitfast]

When you figure it out, it's easy to manipulate rating systems. I used to do this for fun on reddit. I got bored and haven't done it in a while, but on a thread I was able to do things like get both top and bottom scores using the same comment, get massively high scores and massively low scores. A lot ha to do with understanding how memes and beliefs (the sacred cows) are used. Timing is also very important.

It was fun and I could get just about any karma I wanted, but also somewhat scary in how easy it was to swing opinion...almost like people had none of their own and had to be told what to think.

Re:social media is garbage

[DontBeAMoran]

Zuckerberg called them "dumb fucks".

Here's the quote for the "(citation needed)" readers:

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks