That’s a problem. Absolutely. It’s not the problem though. I’m not sure the problem can be summarized so succinctly. This is the way I’ve been putting it:

These are the top reasons humanity needs successful, decentralized, open social media platforms:

1. Collecting and selling user’s private data is dangerous and unethical.
2. Using that data to intentionally and directly manipulate user’s thinking is even worse.
3. All of the major centralized social media companies have been proven to either allow these illicit information campaigns or coordinate them directly. TikTok is the focus right now but Sophie Zhang exposed Facebook for doing exactly what TikTok has been exposed for recently. Can you recall any meaningful consequences for Facebook? Do you think Facebook is now safe to use?
4. It’s clear that most political leaders are either too ignorant, too corrupt, or too inept to meaningfully legislate against these problems.
5. The concerned public can’t shut Pandora’s box. No one is coming to save us from big tech or the monied interests and nation-states that wield it.
6. The concerned public can’t easily and legally audit the platforms big tech builds because they are closed and proprietary.
7. Personal choice is not enough. Not using centralized social media increases personal safety but does little to curb its influence otherwise.

These are listed by order of intuitive acceptance rather than importance. I find it aids the conversation.

The best reasonable answer to these problems I’ve seen proposed is for the public to create an open and decentralized alternative that’s easier to use and provides a better user experience.

Will that kind of alternative be a force for pure good? I’m not sure. To your point: I’m not convinced social media of any kind can be more than self-medication to cope with modernity. Then again I’ve had incredible and meaningful conversations with close friends after passing the bong around and spent time on Facebook/Reddit, and now Mastodon/Lemmy/etc, doing the same. Those interactions were uplifting and humanizing in ways that unified and encouraged all involved.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. We need to take care of each other, refuse pure hedonism, and protect the vulnerable (and we’re all varying degrees of vulnerable). At the same time: humans aren’t happy in sterile viceless productivity prisons. Creating spaces for leisure which do no harm in the course of their use isn’t just a nice idea… It’s necessary for a functional and happy society.

it drains our energy and motivation

All this time, I thought the daily grind of employment - consuming 8-12 hours of my day for someone else’s profit - was what exhausted my free time, limited my opportunities for socializing, and drained my enthusiasm for local organizing. Turns out it was the fifteen minutes of free time between meetings checking current events that was to blame.

It’s like digital weed

So its palliative care for our lack of comprehensive healthcare, but even less effective at the job?

Nah man, Social Media Companies are at an evil genius level of greed. They are the ones creating the feeling of consuming a “digital weed,” as you call it. Blaming the users is tantamount to saying the world is polluted because people love cars, as if the oil and gas lobby isn’t cultivating that and profiting massively off of it.

Barkbarkbark

TikTok is designed to make you consume and not meaningfully engage. As complex as the algorithm is, users’ ability to participate in discussions is severely limited.

ByteDance is capable of writing software that predicts what you want to see next, but it can’t write comment sorting, or basic threading like Reddit?

The severe limitations in communication are deliberate. You’re not supposed to engage meaningfully, you’re supposed to look at it, feel something, and then scroll.

One of the reasons I like seeing new social media startups (like Lemmy) is that the current offerings are harmful to us, and any challenge to them as the potential to make positive change.

Bark

I got this email 5 days ago and nothing since

Hi @Fitik, We’re thrilled to welcome you to Loops.video! We’re in the process of onboarding all our new users, and we can’t wait for you to experience the magic of short looping video. Keep an eye out for another email from us later tonight or tomorrow (depending on when you signed up). It will have all the details you need to get started, including how to create your first Loop. Welcome to the Loops community! Regards, The Loops Team

I got an email that said to keep an eye out for another email lol. Glad I’m one step ahead of everyone else

Thought I put in the wrong email or something and was super confused for a while myself 😁

Not yet… Just waiting

Nice profile picture!

big Pete why are you so BIG

The waiting list is still very long at this point. Probably don’t expect to get in for like 2 weeks…

It’s comin’ right for us!

I hope it has its own instance for it, just like lemmynsfw.

OnlyFeds

Yes. It comes preloaded with porn. But it will be short porn, not the kind our wives like where the characters have to meet each other at the gym or the pool and then have a drink and yada yada yada… Nah, this will be jump a little, pants fall off. Jump again, it’s over and the hair is all messy and glued together for some reason. Porn.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, though. You can assume them stupid, but nobody would use these forms of media if they viewed them the same. It’s just world moving on and leaving us greybeards behind, muttering about how stupid the new things are. Like the generation of our parents did for our interests, and theirs before them, and theirs before them, and so on.

So, you’re being negative about an alpha release of someone’s hard work without checking it out first?

My biggest problem with short form content is I want to pick what I’ll watch based on the uploader, title and thumbnail, not be algorithmically fed videos I may or may not be interested in. All of the video providers are going straight for the algorithm so I have zero interest.

The algorithm won’t know what kind of content I’m in the mood for so I want to be in control to choose. The algorithm also likes to try to feed me content by some creators who aren’t worth my time and I don’t want to watch one second of their videos

Same

Short form content ruins people’s attention span. I’ll pass.

We are literally training the future AI that will suppress mankind by our social media chats.

Nice.