This is not a piece on politics -- ie, it doesn't take a position on some political issue or advocate a political cause. Instead it is about technology, news, and opinion.
There's an interesting angle I think the author misses: with thousands of sources all talking at once, the cognitive load on the individual has increased at least ten-fold from previous paradigms. Probably most of what we see in "clanning" and echo-chamber forums is simply an effort to reduce the cognitive load.
If, instead of building something people want, we build something that helps them think/sort, there could be some continuing opportunities for startups here. (Note that helping me think isn't showing me what a bunch of other bozos like today -- it's filtering what's important for me to consume given my knowledge-base and world-view. There is a difference. It's also not simply providing me with me-too news articles. Ideally it would challenge the consumer and help them grow.)
There's an interesting angle I think the author misses: with thousands of sources all talking at once, the cognitive load on the individual has increased at least ten-fold from previous paradigms. Probably most of what we see in "clanning" and echo-chamber forums is simply an effort to reduce the cognitive load.
If, instead of building something people want, we build something that helps them think/sort, there could be some continuing opportunities for startups here. (Note that helping me think isn't showing me what a bunch of other bozos like today -- it's filtering what's important for me to consume given my knowledge-base and world-view. There is a difference. It's also not simply providing me with me-too news articles. Ideally it would challenge the consumer and help them grow.)