

Something is wrong with my generation, i.e. what happened to the social network - irollboozers
http://www.pressbuttongoboink.com/post/31616496909/something-is-wrong-with-my-generation-i-e-what

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bpatrianakos
This is something I've been silently observing and thinking about for a long
time and I know I definitely have at least part of the answer.

It's that people use their social network of choice to make others believe
they have interesting, fascinating, exciting lives whether it's true or not.
The more effort a person puts into this the less interesting they actually are
in real life but you wouldn't know it by looking at their Facebook page.
Insecurity plays a big part in this. Some of the most shallow, hollow, unhappy
people I know have Facebook timelines that make them seem as though they are
living the dream when in reality they truly hate themselves. I'm not trying to
disparage them - they really do hate themselves, they've told me so and see
therapists about it.

Now that we have Internet celebrities who've built a brand everyone wants to
do it too. And it's not hard. All you need is any common smartphone. It's
about building a fantasy life. On the web it's easy to play pretend and give
off certain impressions. Some people take it to the point where they believe
their own myths. These are the most uninteresting people in the world with,
ironically, the most interesting social network profiles in the world.

~~~
dwc
I've also noticed and observed this for a long time. There seem to be a lot of
"this isn't new" and "who are you to say what's interesting" comments here,
but they are wrong and I can tell you why...

As we all do, I know people in person with whom I'm connected on social media.
In person, they know there's a social contract and they abide by it. They
refuse to drone on with detailed trivia, because there'd be a price to pay,
socially, and they're rather not pay it. But they check in on foursquare,
relay that to twitter. They post what they're having at chipotle, which is not
a unique gourmet experience. Ad nauseam.

They would not dream of doing this in person because it would make them a
boor. Yes, a boor. Let's not mince words. They know it. We all know it. The
only people who do this in person actually _are_ boors.

But somehow it's OK if it's on social media? No, it's not OK. It's still
boorish.

~~~
irollboozers
Exactly. Bringing down the barrier of being a boor is not advancing my
experience of your product.

Also, this is a perfect example of the kind of shit that's permissible in on
Quora, but not permissible in a room filled with 500 people. Sure it's great
intended use of the website, but is it intended use of the user?

[http://www.quora.com/Seattle-WA/Who-are-some-
entrepreneurshi...](http://www.quora.com/Seattle-WA/Who-are-some-
entrepreneurship-groupies-in-Seattle)

------
fecklessyouth
>However, for the first dish we had a goodly porker, with a garland upon him,
and puddings, goose giblets, lamb-stones, sweetbreads, and gizzards round him;
there were also beets and houshold-bread of his own baking, for himself, which
I would rather have than white; it makes a man strong, and I never complain of
what I like. The next was a cold tart, with excellent warm honey, and that
Spanish, running upon it. I eat little of the tart, but more of the honey; I
tasted also the red pulse, and lupines, by the advice of Calvus, and several
apples, of which I took away two in my handkerchief: for if I bring home
nothing to my little she slave, I shall have snubs enough: this dame of mine
puts me often in mind of her.

\--from the Satyricon of Petronius, a Roman satirist of the 1st century AD.

People have been talking about food for a long time...only the medium changes.

------
OzzyB
What did you expect? Most people are normal and normal people are boring.

The majority of folks' lives, outside the small percentage of people you
_would_ actually want to follow, are just: Eating, Shitting & Fucking.

Shitting == Too gross to document unless it's a prank. Fucking == Too
exhibitionistic for most & social networks' TOS seem to frown on that sorta
stuff.

That leaves Eating... Nice, safe, normal. Boring.

~~~
irollboozers
Well then why are we spending all this time and effort to 'gift' these
glorious tools and platforms to 'normal' people. It's certainly not for their
benefit.

Or maybe we're all (aka any app ever made) just projecting how people should
behave. If you think this is about food, then I think you're missing the
point.

~~~
drivebyacct2
Because as it turns out, boring people have money. I think that a lot of
people build products that don't necessarily elevate humanity to some higher
altruistic plateau. I think they see a market where a boring person would
enjoy sharing their boring life and fill that void.

~~~
irollboozers
I'm not even going to list all the apps and services that claim to improve the
way you ____, or bring you closer to ____, or make ____ exciting and fun,
or...

We need to stop seeing social networks as a way augment real life, and more a
way to capture life as it is. We're so connected to the internet now anyways
that there are very few places left where the internet provides any honest
solitude. Even gaming is changing like this with professional circuits,
tournaments, yet there are high ranked gamers who don't want to participate
because they don't want to be in the public.

I just happen to be a recent college grad. Go back a few years and instead of
food pictures, it's drunken party pictures.

Same exact thing, except a bunch of 18 year old kids goofing off with a camera
and alcohol.

But if you go back a bit earlier, when Facebook hadn't yet _blown up_ , the
content was very different. There were status updates on relationships. People
helping eachother with homework. News articles that people liked. Conversation
threads. Funny jokes. All of it without fear of judgement.

This could be the fact that I've grown up and many of my cohort don't have the
same time for those activities. And also the fact that a real identity has
much to do with it. But I think it's just that the way we view social networks
has changed. And not in the direction that most founders/investors/really big
socially connected visionaries realize. Yet that's where they promise big $$.

I want to see someone giving to a project they like on Kickstarter. I want to
see someone learning something new. I want to see someone build something. I
want to my friends meeting new people and where they met them. I want to see
people's accomplishments. I want to see someone vote. I want to see people's
fears. I want to see if someone's life has been impacted. If I'm on a social
network for my life, I want to see real life.

I don't really want to see pictures of food.

~~~
rdtsc
> We need to stop seeing social networks as a way augment real life, and more
> a way to capture life as it is.

But we can't. It is like the Heisenberg principle for social life. As soon as
we start recording and observing things and post them on Facebook, Instagram,
Foursquare etc. it changes and becomes different. People start doing things
just to post and broadcast to others. Others react by changing their behavior
based on what was posted by others.

~~~
irollboozers
If anything, this thread has given me the idea that it is possible. If someone
can build a true to life platform where behavior isn't changed as a factor of
the medium...

brb, give me a few years. Once people have fatigued from the social norms of
current social media sites, I should have this app finished.

------
wisty
1) Food is an easy subject to photograph. It doesn't move, it's attractive
(chefs try to present good looking food), it's close-up (so you don't need a
big lens to get bokeh / blur; and you don't need to zoom so it's steadier).

2) Food is fun to look at. Mmm, foood.

3) It hits the lowest common denominator. Everybody eats.

Yes, it looks a bit boring and shallow. It's broadcast, so it has to be. I bet
the OP has some really interesting IM conversations with real friends, but
anything in the newsfeed is going to be crap.

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jblock
The author never talks about this "meaningful content" he wants to see on
social networks.

Why can't people just impulsively think that their food is photogenic and cool
and take pictures of it? The author has no right to determine what is
meaningful because that is the point of the social NETWORK. The rest of the
population determines what they think is meaningful, and they shove it down
everyone's throats. It's not a status symbol. It's just how people talk on the
internet nowadays.

------
jakejake
People want to present themselves in their best light. There's nothing new
about that - it's just that on a social network you can be much more selective
about what you present. We're not stupid - everybody knows what's going on.

What do you expect, am I going to post a picture of myself sitting and
watching TV so you can see the "real me?" Post about my insecurities? Or
should I only post when I've discovered a cure for cancer, or some other event
of great importance? Sounds boring to me.

Some people like food. Some people like cars. Some people are obsessed with
their kids. Some are political. Some people are amateur sports commentators on
Facebook. Whatever is cool with me, I get to see what you're all about. If I
personally find your posts boring or obnoxious then I put you in the
"important updates only" category.

~~~
rdtsc
> What do you expect, am I going to post a picture of myself sitting and
> watching TV so you can see the "real me?" Post about my insecurities? Or
> should I only post when I've discovered a cure for cancer, or some other
> event of great importance? Sounds boring to me.

The interesting thing here (to me at least) is that there is an implication
that you _have_ to post.

~~~
jakejake
Not really my point that anybody _has_ to post or participate at all. More the
opposite, that the OP has no right to suggest to people when they should not
post. By his standards some people shouldn't be posting on Facebook at all.

------
holman
This seems pretty silly. A lot of people — myself included — use photos as a
way to remember something. Occasionally I'll take a photo of food or the
restaurant or something around me just to remind me of that experience;
reliving my life through photos is one of the reason I cherish having such a
large Aperture library these days (and geotagged to boot).

I think there's an assumption here that 1) everyone taking photos are posting
them to a social network (I probably only post 5% of my photos anywhere), and
2) that this is inherently distasteful. People like food, and people like
sharing experiences with their friends.

This is basically telling a story. Remember that Instagram or Foursquare will
tag where you at- I think a lot of times it's not about "here's what I ate"
and more "check out where I am". A lot of discussions can be had surrounding
the story of _where_ rather than _what_.

------
bkirkby
i was looking at some petroglyphs at zion's national park a few months ago
when i realized that they were drawing pictures of the same things we take
pictures of today.

the only difference is we take pics of our food after it's prepared while they
drew pics of their food in it's pre-prepared state.

------
hetman
Not sure why he's picking on the Asians. In my experience this phenomenon
doesn't seem to be restricted to any specific ethnic group.

~~~
andreyon
Exactly. Picking on any specific category makes me sad about human kind. For
example I like to joke about Italians and their food obsession, but I'm not
laughing AT them, I am not viewing myself as superior. Most times cultural
differences are awesome to observe, none is better than the other.

It's so easy, in case things go bad and, say, a war starts, to fight against
other categories. Think cartoons making fun of jews in the 1930's -> the
holocaust.

------
lowboy
> If you are young 20 something, have asian friends, and on any sort of social
> network

Absent supporting data, the bit about asian friends seems a bit prejudiced.

~~~
drivebyacct2
It's not even just a single off-hand mention either. This post already felt
like a rant, and the asian prejudice doesn't help. (Nor, in my experience, is
it even an accurate stereotype)

------
radagaisus
“This is me, this is how I have fun, and look at how cool I am.” - That always
was and always will be what people want to convey about themselves. For some
people it will be a feed of food and cars and partying, for some it will be
tweeting complex gists in functional languages.

"we were supposed to be sharing meaningful content" - What, who decided that's
what we are supposed to do?

------
ktrgardiner
I don't know about everyone else, but I've tweeted/shared pictures of food
before. It's almost always food I've made. I grew up in a family where food
meant contentment and happiness. Food was made with joy and love. And
sometimes, when I get that warm fuzzy feeling over food I've made, I just want
to express it.

------
evilduck
Pshh. NakaMats has been photographing every meal for decades!
[http://news.3yen.com/2005-10-07/wonderous-old-fraud-dr-
nakam...](http://news.3yen.com/2005-10-07/wonderous-old-fraud-dr-nakamats-win-
ig-nobel-prize/)

------
majormajor
None of this is unique to social networks or new. Giving people a new way to
communicate with each other doesn't change what they want to communicate. Most
people want to impress other people.

Why would communication with friends through the internet would be any more
meaningful than communication with friends through other means? Why was it
better that people in the 90s showed off their new toys face to face instead
of face to face _and_ on Facebook?

Maybe "look at how much more sophisticated I am than the 'normal' people" is
the insecure-hacker version of "look at what a cool lunch I had."

------
noonespecial
You're either having fun or trying to convince everyone that you are having
fun. They are mutually exclusive. If you're having actual fun, you're not
thinking about stopping to tweet it.

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xarien
Food has become a trending social topic. Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily.
If you observe the cultures around the world, food has always brought people
together. In the age of connectivity, it's still bringing people together
although at a much larger scale but unfortunately sometimes a bit
narcissistic.

I think if you look around you'll still see plenty of people who very much
enjoy food without feeling the need to snap pics, even if they Asian ;).

------
noahth
You're using "i.e." incorrectly in the title.

------
pwim
Sharing pictures of food is the small talk of social networks. Not all
communication needs to be profound.

------
mikeash
People have been shallow since the beginning of time. This pointless rant is a
useless as the photos it rails against. Everyone who upvoted it should be
ashamed.

~~~
rdtsc
> People have been shallow since the beginning of time.

That's not the only point though. People are shallow and over time due to
cultural conventions they have been conditioned to tone it down. People who
yell "Hey everyone, I just ate a $30 hamburger! Check out how awesome I am!"
in a group of friends in real life will quickly find out they don't have many
friends left. So there is a bit of feedback and regulation of this tendency.
Online social networks don't have that feedback, everyone broadcasts shit
nobody cares about but they is usually no feedback (say body language) that
would let the person know "yeah nobody cares, stop bragging, it is obnoxious".

There have also been some interesting comments here that I enjoyed, so I don't
quite get the "ashamed" part.

~~~
mikeash
The social pressures are still there. My social feeds aren't crammed with
pictures of food, because I will hide, unfollow, unfriend, etc. anyone who
does such stupid crap if they don't respond to a gentle request asking them to
stop.

Are social networks enabling this bad behavior to a greater extent than
before? I doubt it.

The threads here seem to be a combination of uninformed, speculative, and
pointless. The irony of engaging in shallow internet discussion to complain
about people using the internet for shallow activities appears to be lost on
basically everybody.

