In regards to what fuels this thing, my understanding is the following:
So facebook basically invented microtargeting, based on lets say 40 characteristics of yourself. They do the matching - to sell advertisers anonymized profiles en gross - but in targeted subgroups. Analytics on those stuff pre GDPR (new european law) were through the roof, as in "very accompanying". Companies and andvertisers loved them to pieces for it - hence the death of the entire media industry. (They cant do hyper targeting, so their ad prices plummeted.)
Facebook still is mostly an advertisement company (and people are still mostly idiots, for doing their communication and family photo sharing over an advertising company
- and their dating, if it goes according to Zuckyboy ) - but the stock price is already at a level where most analysts argue, that investors have different data use priced in there already. The field where personal data based analyses just skyrocketed last year to a significant volume, was "risk assessment" (think your insurance company, banks, the state, ...), others soon to follow.
Facebook also made a carbon copy of snapchat, to capture the entire young demographic - but in doing so they allowed for a change in the usage model. Nowadays most users share, and spend time within friendgroups again, and not within the general facebook feed, where facebook sells the advertising - so currently they are on the look out for new revenue models.
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On the "dysfunctional communication" part - eh...
- The new rolemodels of an entire generation became liars, fakes and frauds, whose only qualifications were having a sexy smile, and selling out to lifestyle product manufacturers faster then the next guy. While acting very personable. (Parasocial relationship is the psychological term, if you want to look it up. Before Youtubers, it was mostly an old ladies thing - with TV ankermen..
)
I'd not call that a "communication failure", I'd call that a social hack. No one knew that most people where that shallow and dumb - but then it turned out they were. *bummer*
- The new sport of an entire generation became acting out a fake personality online, and making smartphone pictures of their food, because it didn't move. They did so, because they saw that stuff in cellphone commercials and had those great youtube rolemodels..
- Any model of life, that did not subscribe to those principals, was mostly let go of the public sphere. (Follow me, like and subscribe is _everywhere_)
- Former fringe groups, that never achieved political weight or recognition before, all of a sudden flurrished, in a new ecosystem - where everyone wanted to be seen as liberal an progressive, and faked the living S out of their motives. But that those groups are now recognized also has a real positive side to it.
(To fight for Identity politics (groups that you are born into) is "in", and thats being more and more recognized as a problem by liberal political thinkers. To talk about anything that wouldnt fit the plotline of a second grade musical, is entirely out though - partly, because it wont fit the social media landscape. (Wealth distribution, social systems, healthcare, education, ...))
- Furthermore, and also part of what we see here, people have learned how to exploit the "everyone has to behave friendly and smile" social media economy - by again - lying and farm out any and all work to others - with as little interaction as possible.
Solve this problem for me via a short message in a webforum. Do my laundry via Taskrabbit. Go somewhere else via Uber... All those "jobs" are paid much, much less then in the previous economy - where people still had to look each other in the eye, and see themselves more than only once in a lifetime. Also the idea that a webservice does absolutely nothing, and gets 30-60% of the actual profit, never was a thing in prior economies either. Fun stuff like that.
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Going back to the risk assesment thing.
Whats happening there is a tidal shift as well. In the past people were judged on metrics based on how "groups of them" would behave. The individual assessment was always seen as something not mappable via statistics - so everyone always had a "fighting chance".
In the newer metrics, your life (thanks to facebook an co
) is whats being mapped and the internal thought model of people working in those data driven assessment structures is, that they are mapping your actual chances. So bye, bye group, hello individual assessment.
This removes the concept of free will. Entirely. Which is fun.
Furthermore - the new structures are designed to be "constantly changing". Yesterdays algorithm already is old. This is done to create the notion of a self correcting system. The flipside of it is, that there can be no second opinion (scientific modeling based on a subset of data and then extrapolation) anymore - because the model itself is everchanging.
So you lost free will, and the option for a second opinion - but hopefully the algorithm decides, that your child will get a higher education at some point in life..
Btw, what is he posting on facebook these days?
I hope many vacation pictures with picturesque smiles.
And look how politically engaged he is! He fights for the right of a fringe groups idendity politics - something that will never change any of the bigger societal structures in a meaningful way.
Read a little bit about the Zuckyboys thoughts about "social stability" if you have time. Thrilling I tell you..
The thought here is basically, that those chinese model cities with a citizens social score, are partly being adopted "for the western customer". Those are todays biggest future markets. (Fitbit for a cheaper insurance plan, .. )
...
Back to the media of olden days --
Currently it has no Idea what todo. Follows gurus that tell it "we have to talk to our audiences, where they are". Facebook and Twitch should be seen as "new opportunities" to reach people. That those are entities, that cash in 30-50% of the profits should be ignored. This is what you pay for in perpetuity for them having invented microtargeting. Or having all your data. Not sure.
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Social issues that follow - well... If you only portrait a fake world with no meaningful discent, and the only tool of societal action being a social media shitstorm that by now every commercial entity knows how to deal with... Ehm. Good luck?
Thats why I asked what peoples self images in this new world were. Because by all metrics that we can look at, this is turning out to be a generation thats more conservative then their parents, as self censoring as former sovjet union countries, but at least they are willing to spend money on the spot, and not safe up - (ah the financial system...), which is why they are held in high regard by... The corperate sphere and advertising companies. Which talk to them on Instagram.
Full circle.
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Francis Fukuyama on the problem with identity politics:
h**ps://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QJ_WdBzTrU
(Interview from about a week ago.)
