
What will next-gen social networks look like? - danfang
https://medium.com/@dfang/what-will-next-gen-social-networks-look-like-a5fda90cffb7
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Porthos9K
We already have the technology to create the "next-generation" social networks
Daniel Fang describes. What's wrong with private mailing lists?

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danfang
I'd say for the same reason Dropbox was a good solution even when people had
rsync and scripts to do the same thing. The average consumer expects a more
seamless experience that excels at managing a lot of different social
interactions, like building groups and sharing different types of content
easily.

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Porthos9K
The average consumer, if recent OECD data on adult skills is to be believed
[1], makes my _cats_ look computer-literate. They expect the software they use
to do everything for them because they aren't capable of using a computer to
perform complex tasks on their own. Without a GUI that treats them like
learning-disabled five-year-olds they're lost.

[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/a-quarter-of-
adults-c...](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/a-quarter-of-adults-can-t-
use-a-computer/)

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danfang
So... to extrapolate, if you're implying that current solutions are too
complex for the average user and make people less happy & fulfilled, do they
not deserve better ones?

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Porthos9K
I think they deserve better. I also think they need to _be_ better. However,
my idea of better isn't the same as yours. My idea of better involves taking
tech that worked in 2000 (the open web, IRC, plain-text email with mailing
lists) and improving upon it. My ideal internet is one where everybody who
wants to can run their own web, gopher, IRC, XMPP, SMTP, IMAP, etc. daemons
out of their own homes without fear of getting pwned and having their
computers made part of some channer's botnet.

By all means work out the bugs and make it more accessible to people who
aren't sysadmins and have no interest in becoming sysadmins. But we shouldn't
throw power users under the bus just to cater to the ignorant. Instead, we
should be gently encouraging the ignorant to learn how their tools work and
become power users, if not developers/admins. If we aren't willing to help
people run their own computers, we might as well just centralize everything,
break out the cannabis, and become priests of the Temples of Syrinx.

