Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by jcadam on Monday April 30, 2018 @08:10AM
(#16957843)
I was born in 1980, and for a time was embarrassed to admit I met my first girlfriend via a local BBS. Now, I was a bit unusual in that I grew up with access to computers (mother is a programmer) -- though back during the early-mid 90s you were 'offline' most of the time, and only connected to services to check mail a few times a day (with the occasional overnight software download).
This always-online stuff is good and maddening at the same time. And I still don't "get" social media and probably never will (I don't want to either, it's a giant time sink - my wife is always pecking at her smartphone. Seriously, we're in the same house, stop texting me).
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by andai on Monday April 30, 2018 @09:55AM
(#16958565)
hey its me your wife
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by dkarl on Monday April 30, 2018 @10:46AM
(#16958938)
I feel like that doesn't explain the amount of effort people put into earning karma on Slashdot. It started as a way to highlight good posts and condemn bad ones to well-earned obscurity, but people worked hard for that karma. Why? Was it because it represented something to them? Because people have a drive to maximize any score publicly connected to an identity they, er, identify with? Addiction to internet points seems to have happened as soon as internet points were invented, no mobile device required. Although I'm sure there's an exception whose "failure" might be informative.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by rtkwe on Monday April 30, 2018 @11:55AM
(#16959653)
At a first pass there's a pretty simple explanation to this. It's an outwardly displayed and quantified of group social acceptance and value. High karma posts are pushed forward and get a lot of attention and high karma users are seen as valuable members because they've brought quality content/commentary to the communities. I think most points that work are like that, they're an expression of positive attention and praise which we know lights up all sorts of low level reward centers in the brain.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by ModernMech on Monday April 30, 2018 @11:50AM
(#16959602)
Look at /. as more of community. As with any community, they have their own ideas on what confers status in the group. Something as silly as a low ID number there gives you great weight in the community. Karma gives you the ability to judge others, and also to act as against the group (I have a lot of karma, so I feel I have the standing to say something unpopular and get attacked for it).
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by ddingus on Monday April 30, 2018 @01:10PM
(#16960333)
This is why people accumulate it.
Agency, fuck you points.
I have a low uid, and a ton of karma. One comment, and I get mod points.
I rarely participate these days, but when I do, it's always noticed.
These dynamics were discussed when the mod system and voting were being put together back in the day.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by scardine on Monday April 30, 2018 @02:21PM
(#16960939)
You can ask the same about stackoverflow reputation.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by whatshisface on Sunday April 29, 2018 @11:29PM
(#16955501)
Wouldn't all the overstimulation harden them to dopamine attacks? Normally if you're exposed to something you get used to it, especially if it's a pleasure.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by pavs on Monday April 30, 2018 @12:27AM
(#16955731)
That's a common misconception of how dopamine works.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/2017...
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by Zeklandia on Monday April 30, 2018 @09:48AM
(#16958511)
Is your name short for Pavlov?
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by godelski on Sunday April 29, 2018 @11:48PM
(#16955582)
> Normally if you're exposed to something you get used to it, especially if it's a pleasure.
Heroin, nicotine, sugar... People just increase dosages.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by ghostcluster on Monday April 30, 2018 @01:40AM
(#16956050)
Wouldn't all the heroin harden the junkie to the effects of heroin? ;)
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by ryanlol on Monday April 30, 2018 @05:06AM
(#16956981)
Yes, heroin tolerance is a thing.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by jamiethompson on Monday April 30, 2018 @06:26AM
(#16957343)
Yes, but crucially it doesn't cause the user to use less heroin.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by siavosh on Sunday April 29, 2018 @11:38PM
(#16955544)
I think that’s only true if it’s a predictable reward function; if you add a random variable, in the words of Mr. Miyagi, “no can defense.”
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by oblio on Monday April 30, 2018 @03:46AM
(#16956607)
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2018/01/12/birdcage-liners/
> How do we prevent extinction? By only giving treats some of the time. So the dog learns something more subtle. When my master says come and I obey, I might get a treat. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. That way, if I obey and don’t get the treat, I shouldn’t panic. I should still always come when he says come because that’s still the best way to get the most treats. Intermittent reinforcement works better.
> This sounds like what Facebook was doing to me.
Re:“Lifefaker.com makes faking perfection easy”
by ModernMech on Monday April 30, 2018 @12:20AM
(#16955695)
Sure, but that doesn't stop you from seeking the pleasure still. Ever been to a casino? In the worst case we call this behavior addiction.
Kids who grew up in the 80s were too early to have had the internet at all. But kids who grew up in the 00s, notably after the iPhone came out in 06, grew up very differently. The internet wasn't a precious resource, but an always available utility ready to be consumed at will.
This generation is growing up in a never ending onslaught of advertisements and peer pressure the likes of which we didn't experience. They are all guinea pigs for the Facebooks of the world, subjects of the A/B psychographic targeting grind. Their dopamine receptors have been primed since birth to go crazy at the sight of a like.
Anyway, that's my take on it as someone who grew up in this tiny golden era of the internet.