Re:What Ended Indie
by fractionalhare on Sunday March 14, 2021 @02:39PM
(#26457622)
Eh...Facebook's use the word "friend" as a verb has not eroded my deep and meaningful sense of the word as a noun. It's just another use which has been added to our cultural context. It's up to you to let it change your perspective on friendship.
And what of liking things?
For me, functions dual use, though grammatically both are similar enough that it operates significantly via context.
Re:What Ended Indie
by fractionalhare on Sunday March 14, 2021 @10:08PM
(#26461848)
I don't know...what of it? I still like people, I still like things. Thumb and heart icons on social media haven't changed how or what I like.
Semantically, I generally understand a person who says they "liked" a thing to mean the social media verb. Context also makes it pretty clear.
However, do not be surprised about co-opting. Co-opting by venture capitalists is normal. Many industries co-opt things as well, and redefine them to be mean something more “efficient”.
Example: The terms friend and like were co-opted by Facebook. Now people say friend me and “please like my stuff” as a throwaway statement. These terms used to mean something deep and genuine up to 15 years ago. That’s what capitalism does - cheapens things and commoditizes them. Often, that is useful but sometimes it cheapens things you used to value highly.