Unfortunately, my wife has a very bad habit - like a lot of people, she spends a lot of time consuming from "social" media, which is a funny name for it, since the information is largely going one way. At least at the surface level. The majority of users no longer post on these platforms that gave everyone a voice, they just consume - like at an all-you-can-eat buffet. No need to get into the kitchen and make something, no need to do the cleaning up.
Eat.
Today while we were eating lunch together, she was talking about a person account on Instagram that she dislikes but follows, and I asked why she still follows it. According to her, she just hadn't got around (in a few years) to unfollowing it. Which is of course an excuse, because while she doesn't like the content there, she still has the morbid curiosity and schadenfreude of seeing what comes through the feed. My advice,
Do it now.
So she did.
But, when she got there, was horrified that several of her friends and colleagues also follow the same account. When I mentioned that of course they do, because you follow them, she said, *but I don't comment or share their content.
It doesn't matter.
Because this is not the way it works - because share or not, your network is being leveraged and suggesting accounts to follow to other users, using your name as a glowing endorsement for why. But, you never see this, because it doesn't appear on your feed, it appears on the feed of your friends and followers and if you like it, perhaps they should like it too. I haven't checked, but it likely says in the terms and conditions that they can use your name and account for advertising purposes.
It is like wearing Nikes and them using your image on a billboard.
You bought our product, we own your likeness.
And, we don't need to be famous to be influencers, even though we aren't the ones getting paid for it. In fact, the non-celebrity network is the valuable part of these platforms, because it is through these connections that advertisers spruik their wares, through the mouths of the paid influencers. Kim Kardashian spends a lot of money, but it is all her poor followers spending small amounts on crap they don't need that makes her rich.
The thing to remember on these centralized platforms is, that while you opened it and populated it with content and activities, it isn't actually yours. You can't stop how they use your account to influence others in the network, you can't stop what data they take, or how they use it. You might know that the way social media operates is harmful for the masses, but each user is also an enabler, part of the influencing committee that they never joined, having their voices leveraged to impact on the behaviors of others.
But, most people don't actually think about this, because we are spending our time consuming what we want to consume, not what of our behavior is being used to inspire consumption by others. The convenience of the platforms is the trap, because it takes all the thinking out of what we want, so we can just sit there and infinitely scroll, feeding the mechanisms that drive the algorithms that enlist entrap others and feed their infinite scroll, and so on and so forth - rinse and repeat.
Let's face it, we don't want to think about these things because it risks bursting our little bubble in the world and gets in the way of our convenience. We'd far rather sit back and consume under the guise that we are making the decisions, that we have control over what we are seeing, because we made the choice to view it. Yet, choice depends on priming and influence, meaning that the better the advertising, the more likely we are to act on it, to behave in an expected way. And, since we are social animals, social proofing is a powerful and impactful mechanism.
If we suggest to our friends to go and see a movie or visit a particular restaurant, they are far more likely to do so. Similarly, if we say how terrible a place is, they are also likely to avoid it. In our friend network, we are trusted advisors and a friend of ours is likely to be liked by our other friends. Social networks leverage this without us being fully aware, but other than us posting something negative directly, it is all positive reinforcement, where "people like us" are suggesting to follow, or support. Yet, we don't actually know what out of our follows and activities we are supporting, because the algorithms are going to do the work for us, posting our likeness actively, even though we are passive consumers.
I don't use these social media platforms, because I get so little of value out of them. People talk about not wanting to be a "cog in the machine" as an employee, but at least employees are getting paid for their activity, unlike the massive majority of the social platforms. It is working blindly for free to earn income for the corporation - passive slavery.
It is incredible how many people support these platforms, yet haven't thought much about what they actually get out of it, the costs of using it, or the impact it makes on their lives. I suspect that if most did, they would realize that the cost of their attention is more than the payment they are receiving for it. But, try arguing that with an avid user who is adamant that they aren't wasting their time, because after all, they know their time is valuable, so why would they?
I asked my wife if she would get one of those tracking apps to see where she spends the majority of her phone time and of course, she said she doesn't need it, she knows...
I suspect she doesn't know the full extent.
It is like being in a Vegas casino without windows, so the time passes by unmarked, to keep the patrons gambling and drinking. The house always wins.
Own the fucking house.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Recently facebook started suggesting me to add some random people as my friends. We have no common friends. So why would I add them? Besides facebook is just a place to watch funny animal videos and share splinterlands battles.
Today in the bus most people were inside their phones. I just bought a Redmi 9A. But so far I am still missing my old sony xperia e3. It was simple to understand even for caveman like me. And Redmi 9A is probably not even as complicated as iphone...
Considering how crazy people are about consuming one would think that they would join hive in droves. After all here people are paid for consuming( and creating).
Really? Just randoms! :D
And they wonder where their soulmates are.
Hive should be a go-to place, yet the vast majority won't even try, even if they know about it.
Hey Taraz, I need a little advice. I've written a financial piece and would like to start being present on Leofinance. I see you posted in that community on this post. Did you post this via leofinance.io?
I have only ever had a FB account, no tic toc, or instagram and I have a barely used account on twitter. I suddenly deactivated my FB account a couple years ago when I realized every single minute I spent there was fraught with conflicts, fear and anger. I do not need all that, so I cut that particular source of those things out of my life. It was sooooo easy. There is much better information on Hive, and regular folks generally do not harass accounts with viewpoints that conflict with theirs. We sort ourselves out a bit better here.
Put down your phones. They are your enemy's weapons. I need a bumper sticker that says that.
Yes I did. They have quite a nice posting interface there too.
And yeah, those platforms are a trap! So many conversations where people are arguing about something start with "I saw on FB, Twitter, Instagram..." Goes to show how serious people actually are about this life...
Thanks!
Most centralized platforms are being used to sort us into opposing camps, 50-50. Or at least to give us the impression that we are divided 50-50. They are extremely dangerous for both privacy reasons and zombification reasons. I am so happy I got out!
I still have my accounts. I doubt I will ever get rid of them. I don't really use them that much. I know that doesn't really stop the cycle, but it something I am willing to deal with. At least until something easily accessible comes out on Hive. We need more short form stuff. I don't think people care about long form content as much as they used to and I wouldn't want to bore them with my blog posts. Oh by the way, that blog post I promised is up now.
I agree. I wonder if there will ever be a time where people are willing to post on Hive without expecting a reward?
I doubt that. I guess if things get so locked down maybe. We need something as smooth as Insta. I know there are some projects like Liketu out there, but I haven't messed with them too much.
It is quite an adventure to live in these times of social networks, platforms, massive information and why not opportunities?
Paying attention to what happens in them and our way of responding to their influences, from my point of view, is what will determine our relationship with these addictive inventions.
I know that at some point in our fast-paced lives we must stop and evaluate how much more we need to do to improve as people and act accordingly. If someone, in our social media environment, feels that it is good what they are receiving, and if somehow that influences some kind of growth, good for them.
Maybe, maybe not. Just imagine if this is what people did throughout history - What if Einstein was watching cat videos instead of doing physics, or medical researchers and practitioners. What happens when the pool of practical talent and intelligent minds shrinks to near nothing?
Right, the use of such social platforms except video sharing has been decreased for a few years. However, I think video consume has been on trend recently, perhaps they are what your wife watches for hours by skipping from one to another :)
It is possible that is what she watches. Most of it is crap though! :D
A lot of people are into the Linkedin and they kind of judge each other based on that profile. I worked many years without linkedin profile. And I never found value out of the same. But new world is where people prefer having it around. Having following, linkedin account and also having the clout works for some people. I am not one of them lol. I try to bring in value and get what I can for the return.
LinkedIn is mostly crap too, but it likely has some usecase when used appropriately for things like prospecting and in recruiting. My wife is a recruiter and uses it often to find people. However, when people are sharing corporate crap there with no original thought, they aren't going to get any traction.
I think I have also seen so many people who follow the social media account of someone that they do not like. I would not say that they are trying to monitor what is going on in their lives but I don't know why you should still follow an account of someone who you do not like.
Most people who have a lot of followers are being followed by people who do not like them. The fact that e have so many followers does not mean that they love us. This is why we need to stay away from depending on them.
Keep your enemies close - so you can pick on everything they say.
Social media has drawn us in such a net that most of us can't get off social media and are addicted to it even though we get very little value out of it.
People think they are getting value, but they don't seem to actually know what that value is.
I still have some of my web2 accounts, and check one of them occasionally to stay up with old friends and relatives, but never post anything. I can tell you I don't spend much time on it checking because the advertising destroys the experience.
There are a lot of things people don't really realize until it's pointed out to them. In a way, the follower number doesn't matter that much to me because there are a lot of fakes because some accounts that have millions of followers but almost no engagement. I think there are a lot of people who end up forgetting about some of the people they follow and they don't unfollow until they are pushed too.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
That's the magic words.
"Own the fucking house and dominate it".
I have to confess that I was on Instagram some years back and Facebook too. I was active in those social forms but, I can't remember when last I log on to any.
I do not have Instagram and Facebook apps on my phone anymore and it has been so for 2 years and some months. I don't fancy a centralized app. I only joined Twitter some months because of Hive. And my contents there are Hive related. That's how it has been.
People find it easy to consume those social networks because they get entertained without thinking too much. It is the same analogy as watching TV to release the stress of your hard day at work.
In the case of your wife, you make her finally unfollow the person she does not like.
While I recognize I spend more time than I should on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, most of it is just scrolling thru the numerous memes my partner and friends have shared with me. I post minimal stories (none in the case of TikTok since i do not even give camera & microphone permissions) and mostly use Twitter for promotion of my Splinterlands and Electronic Dance Music coverage depending in the account.