General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFriends, don't use the tools of the enemy.
Social media is a plague especially Twitter and Facebook
Your Facebook friends are not real friends. You speak to real friends. You can text them your pictures. Or even take a good one and turn it into a card. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.
Facebook is run by a billionaire who loves to spread whatever disinformation as long as it makes money and doesn't care about the consequences.
Twitter is endless nonsense set up to waste your time. You won't miss it. It's run by Elon Musk, enemy of the American people.
I, like many, used to use Twitter regularly to keep up with what's happening. But it's all bullshit that is shown to you by an algorithm to keep you scrolling and wasting your fucking time. Time that could be better spent learning something. Spending time talking with family and friends, and helping your community.
Don't give these assholes anymore of your time.
Thanks for reading.
Adios!
leftstreet
(36,313 posts)Go after corporate non-interactive media instead
erodriguez
(731 posts)I thought they were owned by billionaires and corporations. I don't get it.
leftstreet
(36,313 posts)Ndp5
(82 posts)Twitter is now basically just endless volleys of outrage, which is what get clicks. And, because sleazy Elon is manipulating the platform, also swarms of bots and porn videos.
Facebook is a cesspool of rumor and misinformation. And Zuckerberg has done next to nothing to stop the networks of pedos operating on his platforms, as the traditional media have reported.
Social media contributed to this outcome and they are indeed owned by billionaires, who are not your friends. The OP is right.
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)I got a bridge to sell ya.
Coventina
(27,918 posts)Oh, stop.....my aching sides!!!
peregrinus
(333 posts)it is a brainwashing tool used by corporations to herd people into desired outcomes, mostly buying useless crap.
Voltaire2
(14,729 posts)Mastodon and Lemmy, for example are part of the 'fediverse' of federated social media open source non-commercial platform systems, one for twitter-like messages, the other for reddit like link aggregation.
People new to either, but especially Mastodon, are uncomfortable with the experience if they migrated from the equivalent commercial platform (xitter) because there simply is no 'algorithm' stuffing their 'feed' to maximize gaze farming. You have to organize your feed, and that is apparently not providing the same addictive hit that xitter gives people.
I think the obvious fact is that facebook and xitter and tik tok are addictive, and as amply demonstrated by the election campaign, if the algorithms are manipulated by the owners to achieve desired political outcomes, really dangerous to the preservation of republican democracy. We've allowed an almost entirely unregulated array of addictive substances to spread through the population, and also allowed the suppliers of these substances to abuse their addict populations for their own purposes.
littlemissmartypants
(25,622 posts)Voltaire2
(14,729 posts)However, at some point they are going to have to attempt to monetize the platform. At that point the simple fact that it is a private enterprise that can do whatever it decides to do will make it, like facebook twitter tiktok etc, a dubious proposition.
alarimer
(16,598 posts)What I want is Twitter, without Elon, in a chronological timeline. I want the people I follow to be all in one place.
John Shaft
(802 posts)that's interesting.
The Wandering Harper
(693 posts)when what you see was filtered by an algorithm
SoFlaBro
(3,354 posts)Response to leftstreet (Reply #1)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
SO NAIVE
CousinIT
(10,266 posts)Mastodon or BlueSky for example.
erodriguez
(731 posts)CousinIT
(10,266 posts)I don't know WTF I'd do without DU!
Amanita Pantherina
(5 posts)For the masters tools will never dismantle the masters house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. Racism and homophobia are real conditions of all our lives in this place and time. I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lives here. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices.
― Audre Lorde
taxi
(1,989 posts)The tools used in recent conflicts against us may not have dismantled the master's house, but instead have repeatedly sent the master packing.
Like many of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous quotations, these words echo through the ages. They offer hope and give rise to a sense that progress toward freedom, equality, andindeedjustice is inevitable.
But the arc of the moral universe is anything but. It does not bend towards justice on its ownno, it only does so because people pull it towards justice. It is an active exercise, not a passive one.
No one knew this better than Dr. King. His famous words are divorced of their broader context. Before delivering this famous line in his sermon at the Temple Israel, Dr. King acknowledged to reach the promised land, some people might get scarred up or even face death.
https://shontelbrown.house.gov/media/in-the-news/arc-moral-universe-will-bend-toward-justice-only-if-we-pull-it
erodriguez
(731 posts)These assholes unleashed their platforms on the American people. They set the agenda.
taxi
(1,989 posts)We continued trying to reason with people, to convince them that they could have better furniture. They don't want better furniture. They want what they have. Sometimes when you show a friend his shortcomings, he may correct them and never forgive you. It seems that many here have finally realized that trying to win votes from indecisive, opinionated people is a pipe dream. The first red baseball cap that they see brings them right back to square one. We reach out again and pat ourselves on our backs, thinking we have made a difference. The only difference has proven to be an increased risk of hurting our elbows.
maxrandb
(15,915 posts)was filled with Donnie Dipshit and Leon "or whatever the Fuck Musk his name is" positive clips.
It was so FUCKING obvious.
Despite going down hundreds of recipe, home/auto repair, funny cats and dogs and rock and roll "Rabbit Holes" on Facebook, and NEVER ONCE clicking on ANYTHING associated with Donny Dipshit or Tesla, suddenly the Reels that were showing up on my feed were full of fascist love clips of Musk and his new pet.
Autumn
(46,397 posts)was in an anti republican post.
radical noodle
(8,686 posts)then they give you more of the same. For the last year or so, all the reels I've been shown are dogs, cats, and traffic accidents. I watch them and get more. I never saw a single trump or musk reel this entire year, but I've seen a lot of dogs and cats and a few traffic accidents.
LexVegas
(6,580 posts)Autumn
(46,397 posts)don't fucking use it.
erodriguez
(731 posts)You can pretend you are siloing yourself from the rest of it but it's all the same system.
Autumn
(46,397 posts)you look for and what you allow. I have friends and family only. I control ads that I see.
erodriguez
(731 posts)Autumn
(46,397 posts)relayerbob
(7,036 posts)As the other side.
EllieBC
(3,375 posts)Instead you have placed yourself as some kind of expert on how DUers ought to spend their free time.
GoneOffShore
(17,615 posts)Amanita Pantherina
(5 posts)https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-facebooks-systems-promoted-violence-against-rohingya-meta-owes-reparations-new-report/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html
I have peoples numbers. I can call them if I want to talk.
Autumn
(46,397 posts)I can see them AND talk to them with a click of the mouse .
Amanita Pantherina
(5 posts)Your privacy is worth more than your convenience. Fight for every right you still have while you have it.
I highly recommend to do not allow Facebook permission to access your camera and microphone.
Autumn
(46,397 posts)relayerbob
(7,036 posts)Learn to use them and stop preaching to others what they should do.
Or to quote someone I rather like, Mind you own Damn business
Emrys
(7,975 posts)What I won't do is waste my and everybody else's time on this here social media site lecturing other folks on how they should spend their time online or elsewhere. It's beyond being a tired argument.
Listening to you, it seems you think everyone should just be glued to DU all the time if they're not out doing what you consider good works. If that happened, this would be a pretty boring place, and even more of an echo chamber than it is now.
I do use Twitter a lot, in a very calculated way which I reckon actually costs Musk money and gives me a lot of benefit. I never post there, and my main activity beyond reading a few select Twitter lists is blocking users and content I don't want to see. By using those lists, I steer clear of most of the algorithmic effects, as Twitter was never designed for users like me.
If I post a tweet here, it's valueless to Musk because advertisers only pay per view of their ads, and I don't post Twitter ads here, and nor does anyone else. If I hotlink a Twitter image, I and everyone viewing it are stealing bandwidth from Musk, so click away.
The only conceivable way Musk might benefit very marginally from anyone posting Twitter content here is in terms of Musk's overall site traffic. It's going to be a minuscule drop in the ocean, and given how many bots there are on Twitter, the days when raw traffic stats could be used to lure potential advertisers are long gone.
As long as there are worthwhile sources of information posting on Twitter, I'll keep on using it because it's a more effective use of my time than the ages I used to have to spend scanning MSM sites, blogs, forums etc. to gather information worldwide. If I find it's no longer useful, I'll stop using it.
erodriguez
(731 posts)They got you.
Emrys
(7,975 posts)Somebody's certainly wasting time, and it's not me.
relayerbob
(7,036 posts)Emrys
(7,975 posts)Last night (in my time zone) I posted two OPs.
One was in Latest Breaking News, about the long-awaited outcome of Gallego's senate contest in Arizona: Democrat Ruben Gallego wins Arizona US Senate race against Republican Kari Lake https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143338113
It seems it was good and worthwhile news to a number of DUers.
The other was in General Discussion, about the Kremlin denying Trump delivered a warning to Putin about Ukraine: Kremlin Denies Reports of Putin-Trump Phone Call Over Ukraine https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219707200
Both were sourced from Twitter, like much of the content I post on DU. I may not always post tweets, but I'll post from sources tweets have led me to. For example, pretty much everything I've ever posted on Editorials & Other Articles was found via Twitter because I use it as a filter, relying on accounts on there I've developed reason to trust over a considerable span of time.
In the first case, it was the Associated Press. The current guidelines in LBN state: "The Forum Hosts have decided to use the Associated Press as the gold standard for election calls. Once a race has been called by the Associated Press, the story may be posted in Latest Breaking News."
The second came from a number of different sources, but in the end I opted for an OP based on The Moscow Times, "an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper" (from Wikipedia), branded by Russia as "an undesirable organization". The same story, updating earlier widespread trumpeting of Trump's first brave stand against Putin, has also been covered by a number of reputable outlets.
Would I have found that information elsewhere eventually without Twitter? Maybe. But possibly much later, and at the cost of a fair amount of effort. Some of my Editorials & Other Articles content I doubt I'd ever have found at all otherwise, which is why I've posted it.
Without outside information, DU would just be a circular talking shop. How people find that information to post is less important than its reliability and relevance.
Elessar Zappa
(15,993 posts)But thanks for your opinion.
relayerbob
(7,036 posts)I would never have guessed it without you.
And btw, my friends on FB ARE my friends and family, I properly use the tools to select them, so tell you what, GFY.
evilhime
(333 posts)Marc Elias and several others have been moving here from twitter
I signed up today and think it might be a good answer instead. I dropped twitter years ago, though will read a post if someone sends it and if Muskox allows a non member which generally he does.
EllieBC
(3,375 posts)You sound like one of those psycho authoritarians.
If I want to waste my time scrolling sports and celeb news on Twitter I fucking will.
Ill also comment on pics my friends and family post of vacations and weddings and shit their kids are doing in FB and IG.
But thanks for trying to tell me how to live my life.
what was the uproar about banning books all about?
now I'm getting don't read/use this or that............
I think I'll make my own choices too. like I did when I voted for Harris.......
now I'm getting don't read/use this or that............
It's very interesting, isn't it?
littlemissmartypants
(25,622 posts)Protest information sources and their access while telling people not to access information of their choosing.
I'm pretty sure we're all grown ups, this is still America and DU doesn't exist as an advice column but a discussion board.
Our experiences are as varied as our opinions here. They deserve consideration and respect.
Plus, trying to direct behavior here is not just futile but way harder than herding cats. It doesn't go very far in winning friends either.
But nice try, erodriguez.
Adios!
❤️
ancianita
(38,702 posts)Bettie
(17,169 posts)indeed people I know in real life.
A few are from interest groups of people who I have things in common with.
I also have a group of women I met on a mailing list when we lost our first child nearly 26 years ago. We've all been raising our kids together even though we live all over the place.
Some are people I've kept up with from CafeMom.....and have met in person since then.
My "friends" list is carefully curated to make it non-toxic. Most of my family isn't even on there.
drmeow
(5,300 posts)judge me and tell me who my friends are based on your reality.
Response to erodriguez (Original post)
Skittles This message was self-deleted by its author.
sakabatou
(43,125 posts)Now, get off your high horse before someone shoves from the saddle.
Skittles
(159,642 posts)they're addicted and do not fucking care
erodriguez
(731 posts)John Shaft
(802 posts)Response to erodriguez (Original post)
Skittles This message was self-deleted by its author.
GenThePerservering
(2,630 posts)That's how social media works, if one actually understands it.
erodriguez
(731 posts)I have a very clear understanding of how these companies make money off of you.
They rely on your engagement. The more you're on the more they make from you.
They learn your likes and dislikes. They learn what keeps you on their platform. They then sell that info to others. They have learned that enraging people is good for engagement. They profit off of lies and hate.
While maybe some of you have carefully curated your experiences to show pictures of your family and friends, there are a large number of people who share hate and unchecked lies.
For those of you who think that you are going to use their systems to fight the power, think again. Trump was elected off lies spread on social media and into the lives of Americans. Your fight to change the system within the system amounted to nothing.