"[W]e can’t rely on large digital platforms that are motivated by profit above all.... Those huge, public networks are growing riskier, messier, and less enticing by the day.... The next decade of the Internet is likely to yield more cloistered digital spaces that seek to correct the ills of Big Social Media. The looming 'post-platform' era, as it is already being called, will consist of smaller online communities connecting through group texts, Reddit forums, Discord servers, and e-mail newsletters.... [V]irality may no longer be the goal. But it may at least offer a less exploitative mode of existing online. In a way, it will resemble an earlier version of the Internet, operating on a tried-and-true principle: friends are more trustworthy than strangers."
Here at Althouse, it doesn't just "resemble an earlier version of the Internet." It is that earlier version. And it has been for 7,039 days straight. You don't have to go back. You're already here.
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57 comments:
From the article:
"...friends are more trustworthy than strangers."
Anyone who's been betrayed by a friend will dispute that.
"Here at Althouse, it doesn't just "resemble an earlier version of the Internet." It is that earlier version. And it has been for 7,039 days straight. You don't have to go back. You're already here."
I've never left. I've never done any of the other social media stuff. You've either given me shelter or stunted my growth. Pretty sure it's the former. Thank you.
I see no evidence that the internet is going in the direction the author claims it is
I do see evidence that the author is spinning some fantastical cope in response to the various obstacles that have arisen in the last year or so to her political side's oppressive dominance of social media platforms
Publishing this blog, putting up with all of the commentators, for even 100 days, much less 7,039 says a lot about Ann's strength of character. I don't always agree with her views, a few of them I find incomprehensible. But I admire her integrity and commitment to providing this public forum more than I can say.
Let's take the death of our favorite propaganda platform, Buzzfeed, and make lemonade by joining it at the hip with our old favorite propaganda platform, Twitter, which we have lost control of.
Twitter is a global platform, and a parochial snit that is an artifact of partisan politics in the United States is not going to destroy it. Ultimately Twitter is a gigantic collection of micro-blogs, where you can follow people you trust, like Steve McIntyre or Glenn Greenwald or Matt Taibbi. What's going away is not Twitter, but absolute Democrat, Neocon, and MSM power over it. I am sure that this makes a lot of people sad in the media.
I agree though, about your blog. But I expect that one day soon they will use AI to scour your comments and simply delete without so much as a "by your leave" from the host, comments that "sow discord," like those political activists arrested in St Louis. It will be the great silencing of debate, and the MSM will glory in it. During the pandemic, certain comments that mentioned certain studies seem to have been automatically deleted, taking Althouse at her word that she doesn't delete for viewpoint discrimination.
Thank you for that, Althouse. Even if I have little to say here lately I do greatly appreciate your work. You’re a compelling writer with a distinct POV and this little walled garden we meet in is, was and always will be a much better place than any social media platform.
I've been using social media for 30 years - AOL chatboards (I was pre-teen), Online forums/communities, myspace, facebook, and more.
The monetization focus, combined with the psycho-social evolution of understanding of dopamine release product design, is destroying monopolistic product. Digital media - whether buzzfeed or jalopnik or many of the others I've enjoyed - is falling apart because their product is designed to maximize page views and click throughs at the lowest possible cost per unit. Much like in retail, it is a race to the bottom.
Ironically, if you look at the internet over 30 years, almost every single product that rose to be an empire has fallen within 20 years. The sole exception to my knowledge is google, which is a true monopoly. Amazon is near monopolistic, but has actual competitors.
However, with all the others (Facebook, Netflix, etc.), they fall flat because of competitive pressures. The market evolves, changes, and creative destruction takes place. It's exactly what should happen. The next cycle - probably 5-10 years out - will emerge superior products. My guess is we'll also see superior news media emerge as well, as that product has fallen so far and now the legacy players are punching down at upstart journalists doing real news.
Ok, all that being said, I'll take this sideways for a moment: I don't invest heavily in individual software stocks because of this nature combined with their ridiculous valuations. To invest heavily in, say, Netflix is to bet against history - that a software company will maintain software dominance in it's space after 2+ decades. Meanwhile, their valuations are often based upon extreme price-earnings ratios that could only be supported with massive forward looking growth far into the future.
/End rant
Sometimes, a bit of triumphalism is in order. I never understood the attraction of Facebook, and by the time Twitter came along, I was content with Althouse, Sailer and a few other bloggers.
Dinosaurs roam free in the land that time forgot.
In contrast to what I said about the host, comment #3 is obtuse, seems to conflate the quoted text with Althouse’s opinion and offers an impenetrable miasma of unpunctuated run-on blather that fails to contribute to the discussion at hand.
The future died when Elon Musk bought Twitter :)
We can't take the marbles but we're going home
That's what this sounds like. Since they can't control it or make people talk nicely about their agenda when they attempt to dominate the conversation, all of the sudden the internet needs to be about "friends being more trustworthy than strangers". Lol, that never stopped them before.
Twitter’s struggles? Do they mean being bought by someone they don’t like? In terms of popularity and profitability, Twitter isn’t struggling any more than it ever was, but its current owner is trying to transform it and some people don’t like that. Is that what they mean by “struggles”? That it’s owned by someone who doesn’t cater to their particular niche anymore?
It would be a great thing for society if social media as it currently exists would wither away. It’s nearly impossible to compete with an established player because the key to social media is that everyone is there. Another service, however superior its platform, isn’t useful if it’s not crowded. So they are natural monopolists, with all the dangers that entails.
Blogger MadTownGuy said...
"...friends are more trustworthy than strangers."
Anyone who's been betrayed by a friend will dispute that.
There was a good line in Stand by Me about how friends can be more dangerous than enemies because friends can make you choose against your own interests.
We shall all mourn the loss of Buzzfeed. Which news services will pick up the slack and publish hard-hitting journalism like "17 Foods That White People Have Ruined" and "What Type of Grilled Cheese Are You?"
Gonna go back in time…
It's like never missing the fun of dressing like Mary Quant.
"Twitter and BuzzFeed were the popular poles of online life. Now their struggles are emblematic of where social media went wrong"
But, but.... you haven't told us about the exposé of Facebook, Google, and the Intelligence Services yet. Can we just touch on those before you hustle us on?
"Those huge, public networks are growing riskier, messier, and less enticing by the day"
Why riskier? Twitter is limiting government surveillance, so that risk is decreasing. TikTok's China ties have been exposed, so people should be more aware of the risks there. Less enticing is in the eyes of the beholder--but it's true that more free and deplorable speech makes platforms less enticing to progs used to having their way.
"more cloistered digital spaces that seek to correct the ills of Big Social Media"
The ills of social media are mainly progs losing some control. They prefer their cloisters, the digital equivalent of the MSM.
"You don't have to go back. You're already here."
Correct, and we like it that way. Except it's not "cloistered."
deepelemblues said...
I see no evidence that the internet is going in the direction the author claims it is
I do see evidence that the author is spinning some fantastical cope in response to the various obstacles that have arisen in the last year or so to her political side's oppressive dominance of social media platforms
Yah, this and nothing else…though I notice the rather conspicuous engagement with the idea of ‘Just get off Twitter’ not only from the now unverified blue checks but the host here as well. No label of ‘not worthy of engagement’. Nope.
Twits one and all…
Wow, normally I don't bother to go read leftist tropes, but I did this time because I was wondering if:
1. Buzzfeed would be mentioned WITHOUT mentioning that they cratered their reputation with the steele dossier. - check
2. Try to conflate twitter's imminent demise, ( which I've yet to see the work for ) with Buzzfeeds demise. -- check.
3. Continue showing her stupidity by not understanding that building rocket ships are hard, but somehow the very first attempt at the largest rocket on earth ( one that surpassed the goals set for it ) would be deemed a failure. - check
4. Conflate the removal of a twitter blue check mark as important. - Check
5. Continue the propaganda about twitter ( EXPLODING ) because the democrats no longer have that censorship vehicle. You have to hate twitter like you hate Fox news - check
6. Praise facebook for being "non-political" AFTER the 2016 election even though Zuckerman gave $400 Million dollars to democrat groups in the 2020 election. - check
6. Show how ridiculously lazy and myopic democrats are. -- Double Check
Huzzah!
We're back, Baby!
"You don't have to go back. You're already here."
Doc Brown couldn't have said it better.
deepelemblues said...
I see no evidence that the internet is going in the direction the author claims it is
from the WSJ Elon Musk Is Transforming Twitter, Not Killing It
Thanks to innovative new features and a trimmed-down staff, ads and money are coming back in droves.
Elon Musk is building Twitter into something better, bigger, safer and, above all, freer. Yet media headlines claim the company is “dying.”
Though many of Twitter’s top advertisers pulled their support when he took the helm, Mr. Musk says most of them are coming back.
The platform was running a $3 billion annual loss when he got there, he says, and it’s on track to hit positive cash flow this quarter. Enough said.
The New Yorker really hates Elon Musk.
I am just going to call bullshit on this essay. Not gonna happen. Sure, the platforms themselves may change- Twatter and Faceplant may fail and be replaced, but their replacements will just the be the same things under a different corporate owner.
I still love blogs. I don't have nearly do many to read now, as owners quit or get angry and turn off comments.
I made a list of my old faves:
Kausfiles
Sullivan
Althouse
Ace of Spades
Patterico
Allah is in the House
Politburo Diktat
Iowahawk
Cathy Seipp
Science Based Medicine
Education Bubble
Housing Bubble Blog
InDC
Grand Rounds
Calculated Risk
Zero Hedge
No Left Turns
Vodkapundit
Dr Helen
Amy Alkon
Angry Pharmacist
Right on the Left Coast
Janes Lilek
Insty
Volokh
LGF
Free Republic
Jim Treacher
Rantburg
Blogging in the past. Just my kind of thing. I only follow five blogs consistently, and only comment on two (90-95% here).
Don't ever change.
who knew trite listicals and fraudulent dossiers would be a bad thing,
ben smith has already gone on to semaphor, another money laundering operation by sam bankman fried, just like the sendlers put up propublica,
You're already there? That's the problem with the past, it's already happened, and it is very hard to change it.
Substack is just blogging with a bigger tipjar.
As for the predicted changes that are happening and will happen in the internet, I suspect this is one more attempt to schedule a funeral for Twitter before it has, you know, actually died. Liberals understand everything but themselves, and that is a fatal flaw in understanding the world.
Reddit forums and Discord servers gather people who share a purpose (or a topic). Twitter is a place where no one has a reason to assemble except to provoke the others who assembled.
Interesting that an article about the changes occurring in the internet's large platforms, mentions nothing about AI coming in to elbow humans from the participation. Or to corral us into precisely what it wants to corral us into. This from a magazine that probably won't be here when the Boomer generation trails off into the sunset. Sometimes they never see it coming.
Also interesting that, at the bottom of the page in the mag, was the line telling me I was reading my last free article and that henceforth, payment must be made. For a special price of only $6, plus a special tote. I see they're undercutting Elon. And who could resist a 'special tote'...whatever that means.
And apparently I must be a very serious drinker, because I only recently joined Twitter to enter the free fray with my fellow humans. I don't miss any 'blue checks' because I never worshipped them to begin with. A relevant opinion, or a highly expert one does not need to be accompanied by a blue mark of any sort. Though, I suppose for the academic class, it's similar to the University Club ID card. It keeps that wall of outside rabble (and their notorious opinions) on the lawn outside, peering in.
As for the Althouse Blog, it's like the Mackinac Island of the blogosphere. Like stepping back in time. It feels good. You can ride your bike, and eat a ton of fudge. Play croquet on the massive lawn at the Grand Hotel. Take a horse drawn carriage around the island. Well...maybe it's not that old feeling. But it does feel unchanged by all the hoopla surrounding it all these years. Why...it's almost like coming home. Without the smells.
Cal Ripken was the Ann Althouse of Baseball.
A close second is my GP. The man has to be in his mid 80's yet still works a full schedule. He has been at the same location since 1969, one year before I was born.
"[W]e can’t rely on large digital platforms that are motivated by profit above all.... Those huge, public networks are growing riskier, messier, and less enticing by the day..."
I can certainly understand the concern of the writer. It's got to be troubling for him when people who have different ideas than he does are allowed to express them as opposed to in the past when they were just censored so he didn't have to see (or... God forbid- think about) them.
On the plus side, he doesn't have to use these platforms if they're too challenging to his worldview. I'm sure there's got to be a safe space someplace with puppies and crayons nearby that he can use.
Over the years the Instant-man has often cautioned against (paraphrase) leaving blogs for the walled gardens of FaceBook and Twitter, and his group is still going strong, too.
deepelemblues: "I see no evidence that the internet is going in the direction the author claims it is
I do see evidence that the author is spinning some fantastical cope in response to the various obstacles that have arisen in the last year or so to her political side's oppressive dominance of social media platforms"
Perfectly stated.
And why are we still linking to The New Yorker, a publication which lost its culture cache 8-10 years ago?
.
'And it has been for 7,039 days straight.'
And you've been a woman all this time : )
Predictions are hard, especially about the future.
The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in ‘Metcalfe’s law' becomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.
Paul Krugman (1998)
"Blogger Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
In contrast to what I said about the host, comment #3 is obtuse, seems to conflate the quoted text with Althouse’s opinion and offers an impenetrable miasma of unpunctuated run-on blather that fails to contribute to the discussion at hand.
4/23/23, 10:04 AM"
I was referring solely to Kyle Chayka
When I refer to the owner of this blog I call her by her name or as "the professor"
And I am deliberately not using commas in this comment to poke at you for your own obtuseness
"Blogger Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
In contrast to what I said about the host, comment #3 is obtuse, seems to conflate the quoted text with Althouse’s opinion and offers an impenetrable miasma of unpunctuated run-on blather that fails to contribute to the discussion at hand.
4/23/23, 10:04 AM"
I was referring solely to Kyle Chayka
When I refer to the owner and publisher and writer of this blog I call her by her name or "the professor"
And I am deliberately not using commas in this comment to poke at you for your own obtuseness. Others seeemed to have no trouble discerning my meaning
You failed to use a comma after "Althouse's opinion" by the way
tim in vermont said...
Twitter is a global platform, and a parochial snit that is an artifact of partisan politics in the United States is not going to destroy it.
Most folks in America - and especially those in the Acela corridor, truly do not comprehend the global reach of Twitter.
I've mentioned before that I follow a handful of people/sites related to Korean dramas. Yesterday someone posted that one of the "talent" agencies in Korea bought their "gold" checkmark ($8K per month, I believe??). Netflix Korea - w/over 1MM followers) has bought their "gold" checkmark.
Elon doesn't plan to recover his investment with the blue/gold check program. Twitter will be profitable as it expands into new markets (Japan recently took over the 2nd biggest user country from the UK) by expanding globally - especially if it invests heavily in translation technology.
I've been on the internet since before the WWW. Way way before. Althouse's contribution in her fields is one of the most significant aspects, where intellectual rigor is important.
Never mind her flaws. Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.
The smaller platforms have existed, one way or the other, since usenet preceded the internet.
Censorship amd comment moderation are perfectly fine on blogs and similar things such as the comment section on substacks. The problem lies when blogger attempts to do the censorship instead of the blog writer, who we refer to as the hostess here, but really, blogger is the host. Althouse.blogspot.com never advertisedd as a free speech platfom for eveyone to communicate on.
Facebook did. Even today- it wants everyone on Facebook so they can all connect. But then- it wants to decide WHAT we can talk about and how. It wants organizations to make their meeting announcements and such on Facebook for all see, but may at any time, throw out members of that organiation for posting unacceptable comments.
FOr example- take what I linked today: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11982039/Face-masks-raise-risk-stillbirths-testicular-issues-cognitive-decline-study-says.html
The headline attached: "EXCLUSIVE: Face masks may raise risk of stillbirths, testicular dysfunction and cognitive decline due to build-up of carbon dioxide, study warns"
A mere 18 months ago posting anything negative about masks would get you a permanent ban for posting misinformation. There are other reasons I suspectmaks are a net negative for health- but this particular headline wasn't one of them. I blame masks for the two sinus infections I got during the covidiocy- since both conpsiculously followed a multi-day period when I was in places with mask Karens who enforced their prescence on the face.
In the comment section here, many were banned for other things, but never for misinformation- that any of us other then Ann know about in any event.
I was never on twitter, though I opened a profile on it. Never appealed to me. Obviously I do have a Facebook account, and a still active and never used myspace account. And I opened up accounts on other platforms when Facebook started censoring covid REAL information as misinformation, and censoring the real news about Hunter's laptop. Not enough people migrated to evermake any of them worth checking out- all my accounts are still there, untouched.
No one can predict the future of social media- as no one predicted the rise of the different social media platforms. Only a few foresaw the total disruption of the retail marketplace by Amazon. Sears could have been Amazon. Instead- they're gone. And now, Bed Bath and Beyond is gone. Walmart is competing against Amazon. Successfully.
Computers, smartphones, social media, like AR-15s, are nothing but tools. They can all be used for good- or for bad. By individuals, or the all encompassing state. As fara s state involvement in social media grows, I think their hand should be light. With the one overriding regulation being- if a platform purports to be universal- no censorship- and with it, the platform owns no responsability for what's posted. Let the user control the content they want to see.
The problem wasn't the social platforms but the moronic cancel culture.
culture cache
That was an 80s band wasn't it?
Iirc John Ringo on Baen's Bar recommended Instapundit on 9/11. Don't remember how long it was till Instapundit recommended Althouse. Hasn't been many days since then that I haven't at least skimmed those blogs.
To the guy who emailed me (?) about my list of blogs - most of them don't exist anymore.
Those were from the golden age of c
blogging.
Buzzfeed was never popular. People always considered it base clickbait even before they started considering slanted clickbait.
Facebook, by contrast, it took time for people to hate...
The longevity of your blog reminds me of an accounting joke:
What are the three methods of inventory accounting?
FIFO = First In First Out
LIFO - Last In First Out
FISH - First In Still Here
Stephen - Nice accounting humor! Bob Newhart would love it!!
@Fred Drinkwater
+1
The problem with communities with more restricted access is that employers and others demand to see public social media presence, and in its absence assume the person has something to hide. I am glad I don't have to worry about job hunting in 2023 [knocks wood]. For people who care about such things, they'll have to maintain a banal and inoffensive public social media while saying things they really want to say behind the wall
The problem with communities with more restricted access is that employers and others demand to see public social media presence, and in its absence assume the person has something to hide. I am glad I don't have to worry about job hunting in 2023 [knocks wood]. For people who care about such things, they'll have to maintain a banal and inoffensive public social media while saying things they really want to say behind the wall
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