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A comment on PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN. Parent comment

Re:PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN by joe_the_user on Saturday July 11, 2020 @10:18PM (#23808156)
Basically all current social media ends up optimizing for creating outrage, spawning mobs, less thoughtful discussion and more vitriolic arguments, etc. It's becoming a real concern to me that this is going to drive us into some kind of civil war or something if we don't find some way to check it.

Outrage-driven profit models existed before social media as such. Once known as tabloids and the guttered press, this kind of media existed a while before Facebook. William Randolph Hearst was credited with starting the Spanish-American war back in the day (as fictionalized in Citizen Kane). This is to say the "outrage complex" extends well beyond social media platforms though such platforms certainly serve to accelerate it.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN by intended on Saturday July 11, 2020 @11:38PM (#23808601)
Yes.

The discussions on HN dont go deep enough to look at the antecedents of the current imbroglio.

Human brains are weak to a variety of manipulations. Media manipulations are one of the oldest, and have been going on for ever.

The 24/7 news cycle preceded the net and created the exact same issues.

Right now what we have added is mobile internet which means people can access the material all the time, and we've added algorithmic creation of inciteful content.

We've gone to the industrial complex era of outrage creation.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN by BelleOfTheBall on Sunday July 12, 2020 @06:34AM (#23810367)
Even HN has this problem where the users themselves stoke outrage in certain topics. For example, 99% of threads are see are great with in-depth discussion and nuanced opinions, even on topics that get flamed on other social media: climate change, gender issues, divisive art and personalities. However, lately I've noticed a huge disconnect between these threads and anything that mentions China/TikTok or solar/wind energy. For some reason, these two specifically seem to push people into baring their teeth.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN by sharken on Sunday July 12, 2020 @03:50PM (#23814226)
Wholly agree on the first part, HN is a great place for good discussions and insights.

For me the discussions about Corona has been the most controversial, as we simply don’t have a good understanding of it yet. It tends to lead to not very constructive discussions.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN by lamby on Sunday July 12, 2020 @07:10PM (#23815523)
> or solar/wind energy

Oh, wow, really? I'm sure it is a topic that is debated, but you would put that approximately on the same level as China/TikTok? (Not disagreeing, I just don't follow HN as closely as I used to.)

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN by ufmace on Sunday July 12, 2020 @12:56AM (#23808945)
They sure did. None of this is really new in concept, but it seems to be amplified quite a lot by modern technology. If it can already be credited with starting real hot wars, what will happen now that we've ramped up that same effect hundreds of times or more?
[ Parent | on HN ]