Re:Facebook’s Walled Wonderland Is Inherently Incompatible w...
by matt4077 on Monday December 05, 2016 @08:32AM
(#13105173)
i wouldn't blame them in the moral sense of the word. But looking at the world today, it is obvious that something has changed. From Erdogan in Turkey, to Trump, Brexit, today's referendum in Italy etc, the is a definite trend.
Now some people obviously welcome this trend, but lets just assume there are a few who see this as quite frightening.
I've been debating the causes of this with friends, and it's actually quite murky. The US is running with the "too much identity politics" and/or "economic stagnation for the white lower class" as explanations.
The problem is that these simply don't work in other places: Germany is doing better than ever, economically. And even if you're unemployed, your basic needs are not in danger. Britain was doing fine, as well. Same for Turkey.
Germany has 1 Million Syrian refugees. But the US only took 10,000 and the UK haa half that.
The one mechanism that's universal is the change in media consumption. The media used to be controlled by the elites, who generally remained within the narrow window that's sometimes called "reality". Now, it's a free-for-all and groups have started to coalesce around any possible ideological bend.
Facebook is probably the central mechanism. People always seek the approval of their peers, and it has become so much easier to get that gratification, even if it's from people you rarely see in person.
Of course it'd be possible to change all that by "not using Facebook". But we all know it's impossible to change human nature. That's why people are grasping at ideas of how to inhibit this mechanism.
Now some people obviously welcome this trend, but lets just assume there are a few who see this as quite frightening.
I've been debating the causes of this with friends, and it's actually quite murky. The US is running with the "too much identity politics" and/or "economic stagnation for the white lower class" as explanations.
The problem is that these simply don't work in other places: Germany is doing better than ever, economically. And even if you're unemployed, your basic needs are not in danger. Britain was doing fine, as well. Same for Turkey.
Germany has 1 Million Syrian refugees. But the US only took 10,000 and the UK haa half that.
The one mechanism that's universal is the change in media consumption. The media used to be controlled by the elites, who generally remained within the narrow window that's sometimes called "reality". Now, it's a free-for-all and groups have started to coalesce around any possible ideological bend.
Facebook is probably the central mechanism. People always seek the approval of their peers, and it has become so much easier to get that gratification, even if it's from people you rarely see in person.
Of course it'd be possible to change all that by "not using Facebook". But we all know it's impossible to change human nature. That's why people are grasping at ideas of how to inhibit this mechanism.