Oddbean new post about login | logout There's nothing wrong with being social online. The rage algos and ads have ruined it though. For example, I used IRC when I was under 16. It didn't fuck me up because there we no rage algorithms. We were just talking and being social.
Well, IRC is not the same as social media
Why isn't it? I posted status updates. I posted links to news articles. I posted links to pictures. I had direct message conversations and public conversations. I had a registered username. I had a biography. Social communication has just evolved over the years. From Usenet to IRC to Forums to Friendstr and MySpace, it's all social.
About a decade ago I was interviewed for a social media manager role and said the same thing. They did not approve my take and I knew they would be horrible to work with. Their concept was that all social media started with Facebook and Twitter (but even Myspace or friendster, let alone icq or forums and they didn't know what Usenet was). I said "the Internet IS inherently social media no matter the silo" and I guess that went over the head.
i used BBSes and fidonet, later usenet and IRC while under 16 that was not what fucked me up, it was more of an escape at the time but yeah things were very different, it was just socializing and sharing pirated stuff 🙂 not yet weaponized to spread hate and propaganda