By "social media" we mean any large computer network that allows people to interact in shared communities. The big ones of course are Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram, but we can't forget newer platforms like Discord and Slack.
Dedicated video sites are off-topic here and YouTube has its own separate thread
.
What we should discuss in this OTC topic are news items, business operations, and activities by the networks themselves, not specific things posted by users. Those should go into threads appropriate to the subjects of those posts. For example, if an actor tweets about a film, we'd discuss that in the Media forum topic for the film, not here. If Facebook changes its policies, that could be discussed here.
The politics, motives, competency and wider business activities of the owners and leaders of social media companies (e.g. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg) are also off-topic — except in situations where they are directly making specific policy for the platform.
Talking about a particular Instagram policy change (or a high-profile ban on a specific user) directly announced by Mark Zuckerberg would be acceptable in this thread, speculating about Zuckerberg's wider motivations wouldn't be.
The thread's also not about "dumb thing [public figure] said on [social media platform]". If there isn't a specific thread related to the subject of the statement (e.g. US Politics), then it's probably gossip and not worth talking about.
created back in 2020 that we never opened. Unfortunately, it's a little stale, so bumping it isn't going to work very well, but I would like to restart it. The reason I'm doing so is that the Computer Thread seems to have become the de facto place for this sort of talk, and it's a big tonal clash with talking about computer tech.
The hot topic of the day is Elon Musk's bid to acquire Twitter. We first discussed it in the Computer Thread, starting roughly here, and I am not going to rehash the entire discussion. Instead, I am going to resume from the last post:
CNBC: Twitter is reportedly taking another look at Musk takeover bid
Twitter's board is reportedly meeting with Elon Musk and may seek to negotiate on his buyout offer. Musk claims to have secured $46 billion in funding to buy the company at a valuation of $43 billion and is preparing to make a tender offer to its shareholders.
While the board has passed a poison pill, it could be facing resistance to that from groups of shareholders and will want to talk things out rather than face a hostile takeover. It's also possible that Twitter's stock could crash if the offer fails to go through.
Another possible topic was originally posted here.
Ars Technica: EU to unveil landmark law to force Big Tech to police illegal content
Following on from the recently passed Digital Markets Act, which requires large tech companies to unbundle first-party software from hardware platforms, the proposed Digital Services Act will require medium and large social media platforms and search engines to police hate speech and disinformation while adding additional protections for children against targeted marketing.
It also bans "dark patterns", which manipulate or trick people into clicking on ads or other content. The article doesn't explicitly say what that means, but I assume it includes things like disguising ads to look like parts of a site's user interface, hiding "close" buttons, and such.
For large companies, the requirements would go into effect immediately. For medium companies, they would have a grace period to implement the changes.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, has warned that Big Tech has become “too big to care.”
This phrase, "too big to care", intrigues me. It's an indictment of the idea that these companies have decided that growth and engagement metrics overwhelm any sense of social responsibility.
In my opinion, a law like this would be impossible in the United States, since it would be challenged (likely successfully) on First Amendment grounds.
Edited by Mrph1 on Dec 12th 2023 at 11:24:56 AM
Oh, bother.
The problem is focusing on the kids and not the adults when it comes to social media addiction.
It's like living with an alcoholic parent, except at least most alcoholic parents don't force their kids to drink with them.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Redmess
Didn't I just say that? And no one is blaming the kids here.
Optimism is a duty.
Oh, bother.
But all the measures suggested by the vid target children and their use of social media.
Nothing there about dealing with adults' use of social media.
And I wouldn't describe it as "coddling" either. The problem is more neglect and using children for social media points.
So yes, it's blaming children as the problem.
Edited by M84 on May 7th 2024 at 8:35:55 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
"Proposed solutions are to stop coddling kids so much, ban smartphones before high school, ban phones from schools, and ban social media before 16."
As a parent, I pretty much did that anyway (I got them flip phones they could carry around with them for emergencies, even at school). They had no independent access to the internet before 14.
The real problem is that even kids from their schools aren't available to hang out with, because they are all online, so I couldn't limit their access without isolating them. Nowadays, they both have friends that they met online, and have now known for years. Despite my best intentions, the rabbit hole got them.
And I don't use social media.
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
Do the TV Tropes forums count as Social Media?
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I think the answer is technically yes, but TVT is notably different from any Big Social so it does not suffer from many of its issues.
Edited by Risa123 on May 7th 2024 at 2:52:31 PM
I don't think of it that way. It's just a forum board.
Honestly, the word "coddling" always raises an eyebrow when I see it in this context.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on May 7th 2024 at 3:42:52 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
I actually wanted to be Resileaf
Also we're sort of coming out of a worldwide pandemic that exascerbated the whole isolation problem and pre-pandemic normalcy hasn't returned yet, and that's assuming it ever does fully return.
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
Do forum boards count as Social Media?
Redmess
What else should I call it?
Team Rocket Boss.
As someone who does babysitting because of contrived reasons, I’ve found that social media is mostly used by the ones I look after to chat with their friends over long distances.
But certain people would have you believe that the only thing kids use social media for is to scream and whine about progressive ideals that are making them “the pussy generation” and that it allows them to stay in echo chambers that won’t show them “real”(TM) manly traditional ideals you need to get by in life in order to succeed hence why coddling in these contexts usually is a dog whistle to get their real message out under the guise of caring for the children.
You Tube grifters do it all the time. Using your concern for your children’s future to take your money.
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
In the broadest possible sense, social media are mediums for socializing. Talking face to face could be argued as being a social medium, but at that point the term just becomes a synonym for 'communicating', and not useful.
By the academic definition, a social medium is an interactive technology that facilitates the sharing of content. Forums absolutely count under that.
Edited by Anura on May 7th 2024 at 5:12:39 PM
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
Owl House / Infinity Train / Inside Job Fan
TikTok has announced it is suing the US government over the shut down bill.
The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.
Associated Press article for the above, for reference.
Movie and TV Goddess
Can Tik Tok sue the US?
I love animation, TV, movies, YOU NAME IT!
Disasturbator
They can certainly sue someone but it all depends if a judges actually wants to hear the case
New theme music also a box
Movie and TV Goddess
I wonder how many social media cases the judges have heard at this point...
I love animation, TV, movies, YOU NAME IT!
You can sue the US goverment, but you cant recover damages from the US goverment.
It just forces them to overturn the decision if you win.
Honestly them sueing isn't that unexpected, but just because you can sue doesn't mean you will win.
"What else should I call it?"
Societal and institutional pressures
Don’t people hate Tik Tok? Wouldn’t we benefit from its loss?
Granted, if it comes into fruition, I worry what the government will do to other parts of social media.
Surrounded by weirdoes
It did get that big for a reason, so it's likely more divisive than anything else. And some people are likely to yell "Censorship" or whatever at all of this, even if it's a tool of someone the USA is side eyeing.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Stop Killing My Titles
I'm hearing that the chief issue with Tiktok is its unreliable safety measures and that it could be used as a spying tool for a hostile power. (that being China)
I'm also hearing that in a rare bipartisanship moment, the congresscritters outright stated "yeah, we're banning it because there's too much pro-Palestine content", which is certainly an endearing choice of words. God forbid anyone hears about the special military operation going down there.
grah
Yeah, that's an additional problem for the US. At least we don't seem to have that problem in the Netherlands. Still plenty of parks and such for kids to go to around here.
Optimism is a duty.