Spend a few days in some large Facebook groups or on any active Twitter thread and one comes to this conclusion very quickly: online semi-anonymous interaction does not scale. Cannot scale. Putting aside the concerns about the dark patterns brought by the companies seeking revenue from it, I just don't think human beings are capable of working in these kinds of mediums in a way that doesn't degrade to a lowest common denominator of shitty behaviour.
There's just no way to get enough moderation in place and get people to behave respectfully, and then it just gets ugly.
I remember BBSes back in the 80s degrading to uncomfortable useless places simply because of a few bad trolls or assholes getting in the mix. Now it's just ridiculous.
Small, comfortable social networks and a feed that I can fully control, that's what I want. Facebook and Twitter began their misdeeds the moment they rolled out algorithmic suggested content that I did not explicitly subscribe to.
I've mostly just retreated into a few discord channels for family and friends at this point, with forays into Mastodon here and there. Oh, and way too much time on this orange site.
There's just no way to get enough moderation in place and get people to behave respectfully, and then it just gets ugly.
I remember BBSes back in the 80s degrading to uncomfortable useless places simply because of a few bad trolls or assholes getting in the mix. Now it's just ridiculous.
Small, comfortable social networks and a feed that I can fully control, that's what I want. Facebook and Twitter began their misdeeds the moment they rolled out algorithmic suggested content that I did not explicitly subscribe to.
I've mostly just retreated into a few discord channels for family and friends at this point, with forays into Mastodon here and there. Oh, and way too much time on this orange site.