Is Social Media Destroying Society? Former Facebook Exec Says 'Yes'

[americangenius]

yeah i seen that earlier today
didnt read
can u give tldr points he made???

Many points that we already know, but:

- Facebook has about 2.3B user spanning across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

- Mark Zuckerberg is possibly most powerful man on the planet, with 60% of voting control over the world's most popular information channels

-Facebook has the power to censor and curate their news feed and influence the distribution of information to billions

-Government allowed this to happen turning a blind eye to acquisitions which border on anti-trust violations

- FB's size has stifled innovation, investors no longer want to back innovative new social media projects due to fear of Facebook copying features/cheap acquisition

-Calls on government to step in and break the companies back up into separate entities and be regulated(this goes for other large companies Google, Amazon)

 

[nawghtyhare]

one of the best things I ever did for my mental health was delete FB and Insta

we will see the big tech companies be broken up like the Ma Bells in our lifetime, mark my words

white folks ant letting that happen
too much money in the data
and able to control narratives for that to happen

 

[nawghtyhare]

Many points that we already know, but:

- Facebook has about 2.3B user spanning across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

- Mark Zuckerberg is possibly most powerful man on the planet, with 60% of voting control over the world's most popular information channels

-Facebook has the power to censor and curate their news feed and influence the distribution of information to billions

-Government allowed this to happen turning a blind eye to acquisitions which border on anti-trust violations

- FB's size has stifled innovation, investors no longer want to back innovative new social media projects due to fear of Facebook copying features/cheap acquisition

-Calls on government to step in and break the companies back up into separate entities and be regulated(this goes for other large companies Google, Amazon)

thanks
im actually gonna read it now based on this
appreciate it

 

[hipstermike]

white folks ant letting that happen
too much money in the data
and able to control narratives for that to happen

big data and algo can pick up bad trends and provide bad conclusions

plus advertising laws being broken lol

at the very minimum Amazon splits AWS from the shop[
FB gets broken up too

I say by 2025

 

[hipstermike]

A lot of this boils down to the root definition of these platforms:

https://www.vox.com/technology/2019...speech-conservatives-trump-platform-publisher

 

[DCAllAfrican]

As you internet folks say, "Black Mirror is doing the Lord's work."

 

[sooperhooper]

Angela yee told this story about how it was her friends bday so she posted a pic of them together and told her happy bday. The friend was upset bc she didn't post a long heartfelt paragraph.

I went through something similar with a close family member and i had to explain that i don't care about fb and i never post.

My boys at work told me about issues they've had with their gf for the following reasons:

-she posted a pic and he wasn't one of the first to like/comment on it.

-he doesn't post her enough on his ig. Even her mom said something to him about this.

-of course, the Cardinal sin that could be punishable by death: liking another girl's pic and then having the nerve to put flirty emojis under it.

This is a problem to me. We're introducing an entire new set of "rules" for this stuff. It's so fake, shallow and empty. I can only imagine how much worse it will get bc people are taking it more and more seriously. People's relationship with ig account is more important to them than their real relationship. People already have comparison issues and this just amplifies it to astronomical levels.

A podcast that i was listening to was talking about how attractive women always had a huge selection of men but now there's literally millions at the tip of their fingers. This is gonna be a long yet interesting ride.

 

[ninjahood]

This is a problem to me. We're introducing an entire new set of "rules" for this stuff. It's so fake, shallow and empty.

i tell broads i deal with, "ya ma i was around before social media existed, ish is just da internet, calm down."

usually knocks em back to reality.

 

[sharpshooter718]

i tell broads i deal with, "ya ma i was around before social media existed, ish is just da internet, calm down."

usually knocks em back to reality.

Word..

 

[hand2handking]

Criminals Use Dating and Selling Apps to Find Targets for Violent Robberies and Carjackings
Exclusive: Senior police officer asks people to ‘take precautions’ amid fears true scale of attacks is unknown

A toddler was in the back of a car stolen by a man proposing as a prospective buyer in London in January ( PA )

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...mtree-carjacking-online-targets-a8855806.html

Criminals are using dating and selling apps to find targets for violent robberies and carjackings across Britain, The Independent can reveal.

Victims have been stabbed, thrown from cars and held at knifepoint after arranging to meet people through Grindr, Gumtree and escort websites.

Police said some victims are too embarrassed or intimidated to come forward, meaning offenders cannot be tracked down.

Recent weeks have seen a spate of attempted carjackings at meetings arranged using the LGBT+ dating app Grindr in Greater Manchester, with one victim stabbed several times for his car keys.

Other violent robberies have taken place at locations where victims thought they were meeting escorts, or prospective buyers for vehicles or high-value goods sold online.

Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Boycott, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for robbery, urged people to “take precautions”.

“Criminals are very resourceful, and it is an opportunity if someone is meeting them in a dark or quiet place,” she told The Independent.

“My advice is to take three simple steps – know who you’re meeting as much as possible, let somebody know who and where you are meeting, and meet somewhere in daylight that is very public.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...gers-charged-yardley-birmingham-a8848116.html
Ms Boycott stressed that robberies only make up a “tiny minority” of dates or purchases arranged online but admitted that the number of incidents is not being recorded nationally.

There are fears some victims may not be reporting crimes because they are embarrassed by the circumstances.

“It’s important that we know about these incidents and have an opportunity to investigate,” said Ms Boycott.

“I would really encourage people to come forward either through police or Crimestoppers, and not to be embarrassed about it at all. Those channels enable us to understand what’s going on and also offer help and support.”

The most recent spate of attacks came in the Manchester area, starting on 25 March.

Police said the first known victim, a man in his 50s, was threatened in his own home “by a man armed with a knife who demanded he hand over his car keys”.

An hour later, a man in his 40s was held at knifepoint by a man who again demanded his car keys and cut his throat, back and arm.

The following day a man in his 20s picked a man he met on Grindr up in his car and was stabbed several times after the passenger demanded his car keys.

Grindr was used earlier in March to target men who believed they were going on dates in Birmingham.

“The victims were separately attacked and robbed by a group in Yardley after being contacted for potential dates,” a spokesperson for West Midlands Police said.

Chief Inspector Sarah Tambling told a public meeting she was “convinced there have been a lot more than three” attacks and encouraged any other victims to come forward.

In London, police believe several people have been robbed after arranging to meet escorts.

Sakyle Brown, 20, was jailed on 25 March after he admitted robbing a man who thought he was visiting a woman in London.

“As he arrived at the planned location, he was approached by Brown and another male suspect,” the Metropolitan Police said.

“Brown then pulled out a meat cleaver from his jacket pocket and threatened the victim, ordering him to, ‘Give me everything you’ve got’.”

The victim handed over his possessions, cash and a debit card, which was used to withdraw “a large amount of cash” before he was let go.

Sakyle Brown, 20, was jailed for robbing a man who arranged to meet a woman on an escort website in London (Metropolitan Police)

DC Dan Jenkins praised the man’s “courage and fortitude”. He added: “We believe that there may be other victims out there who have been subject to a similar type of robbery and we hope that this sentencing encourages them to come forward.”

Gumtree has been used to target vehicles in several robberies, with a manhunt launched for a toddler who was in a car stolen in London in January.

Seventeen-month-old Maria Tudorica was later abandoned by the suspect who has never been found.

Her father said the robber, posing as a prospective buyer for the £4,650 vehicle, asked to take a test drive before he “jumped up in the driver’s side and – boom – straight away he went”.

Several robbers have been jailed after using Gumtree to set up meetings with unsuspecting victims.

Abdullahi Ahmed, 18, launched six attacks in London last April to steal items including designer shoes, laptops and phones at knifepoint.

In Dewsbury, 25-year-old Shezan Shabir arranged a “test drive” in a £9,000 Audi A3 that was being sold on Gumtree.

“But he tricked the owner into looking at a mark on the roof and drove off,” Bradford Crown Court heard.

A week later, he arranged another test drive before telling the student “he had to get out of the car because he had a knife and he was going to kill him”.

Shabir then opened the passenger door and pushed the car owner into the road.

Gumtree said it lists safety advice online and works with police and other authorities, while people using the site are advised to meet during the day in public and take someone with them wherever possible.

 

[hand2handking]

It Was Like a Zoo’: Death on an Unruly, Overcrowded Everest



https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/world/asia/mount-everest-deaths.html

NEW DELHI — Ed Dohring, a doctor from Arizona, had dreamed his whole life of reaching the top of Mount Everest. But when he summited a few days ago, he was shocked by what he saw.

Climbers were pushing and shoving to take selfies.

The flat part of the summit, which he estimated at about the size of two Ping-Pong tables, was packed with 15 or 20 people.

To get up there, he had to wait hours in a line, chest to chest, one puffy jacket after the next, on an icy, rocky ridge with a several-thousand foot drop.

He even had to step around the body of a woman who had just died.

“It was scary,” he said by telephone from Kathmandu, Nepal, where he was resting in a hotel room. “It was like a zoo.”

This has been one of the deadliest climbing seasons on Everest, with at least 10 deaths. And at least some seem to have been avoidable.

The problem hasn’t been avalanches, blizzards or high winds. Veteran climbers and industry leaders blame having too many people on the mountain, in general, and too many inexperienced climbers, in particular.

Add to that Everest’s inimitable appeal to a growing body of thrill-seekers the world over. And the fact that Nepal, one of Asia’s poorest nations and the site of most Everest climbs, has a long record of shoddy regulations, mismanagement and corruption.

 

[sooperhooper]

It's wild to imagine that there was a time fb didn't have a like or comment button. I wish they would have trolled everyone this year and took them away for a few hours. People would've legit been on suicide watch and I'm serious.

I watched a video and dude made an insightful point: every picture posted isn't a statement, it's a question. Basically asking do you like me, and every like is a vote.

 

[bigjny88]

 

[hand2handking]

YouTube to Remove Thousands of Videos Pushing Extreme Views

Content “alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion” and videos denying that violent incidents occurred will be removed, YouTube said Wednesday.
Credit/Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/business/youtube-remove-extremist-videos.html

YouTube announced plans on Wednesday to remove thousands of videos and channels that advocate for neo-Nazism, white supremacy and other bigoted ideologies in an attempt to clean up extremism and hate speech on its popular service.

The new policy will ban “videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion,” the company said in a blog post. The prohibition will also cover videos denying that violent incidents, like the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, took place.

YouTube did not name any specific channels or videos that would be banned.

“It’s our responsibility to protect that, and prevent our platform from being used to incite hatred, harassment, discrimination and violence,” the company said in the blog post.

The decision by YouTube, which is owned by Google, is the latest action by a Silicon Valley company to stem the spread of hate speech and disinformation on its site. A month ago, Facebook evicted seven of its most controversial users, including Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and founder of InfoWars. Twitter banned Mr. Jones last year.

The companies have come under intense criticism for their delayed reaction to the spread of hateful and false content. At the same time, President Trump and others argue that the giant tech platforms censor right-wing opinions, and the new policies put in place by the companies have inflamed those debates.

The tension was evident on Tuesday, when YouTube said that a prominent right-wing creator who used racial language and homophobic slurs to harass a journalist in videos on YouTube did not violate its policies. The decision set off a firestorm online, including accusations that YouTube was giving a free pass to some of its popular creators.

In the videos, that creator, Steven Crowder, a conservative commentator with nearly four million YouTube subscribers, repeatedly insulted Carlos Maza, a journalist from Vox. Mr. Crowder used slurs about Mr. Maza’s Cuban-American ethnicity and sexual orientation. Mr. Crowder said that his comments were harmless, and YouTube determined they did not break its rules.

“Opinions can be deeply offensive, but if they don’t violate our policies, they’ll remain on our site,” YouTube said in a statement about its decision on Mr. Crowder.

The back-to-back decisions illustrated a central theme that has defined the moderation struggles of social media companies: Making rules is often easier than enforcing them.

“This is an important and long-overdue change,” Becca Lewis, a research affiliate at the nonprofit organization Data & Society, said about the new policy. “However, YouTube has often executed its community guidelines unevenly, so it remains to be seen how effective these updates will be.”

YouTube’s scale — more than 500 hours of new videos are uploaded every minute — has made it difficult for the company to track rule violations. And the company’s historically lax approach to moderating extreme videos has led to a drumbeat of scandals, including accusations that the site has promoted disturbing videos to children and allowed extremist groups to organize on its platform. YouTube’s automated advertising system has paired offensive videos with ads from major corporations, prompting several advertisers to abandon the site.

The kind of content that will be prohibited under YouTube’s new hate speech policies include videos that claim Jews secretly control the world, those that say women are intellectually inferior to men and therefore should be denied certain rights, or that suggest that the white race is superior to another race, a YouTube spokesman said.

Channels that post some hateful content, but that do not violate YouTube’s rules with the majority of their videos, may receive strikes under YouTube’s three-strike enforcement system, but would not be immediately banned.

The company also said that channels that “repeatedly brush up against our hate speech policies,” but don’t violate them outright, would be removed from YouTube’s advertising program, which allows channel owners to share in the advertising revenue their videos generate.

In addition to tightening its hate speech rules, YouTube announced it would also tweak its recommendation algorithm, the automated software that shows users videos based on their interests and past viewing habits. This algorithm is responsible for more than 70 percent of overall time spent on YouTube, and has been a major engine for the platform’s growth. But it has also drawn accusations of leading users down rabbit holes filled with extreme and divisive content, in an attempt to keep them watching and drive up the site’s usage numbers.

“If the hate and intolerance and supremacy is a match, then YouTube is lighter fluid,” said Rashad Robinson, president of the civil rights nonprofit Color of Change. “YouTube and other platforms have been quite slow to address the structure they’ve created to incentivize hate.”

In response to the criticism, YouTube announced in January that it would recommend fewer objectionable videos, such as those with 9/11 conspiracy theories and vaccine misinformation, a category it called “borderline content.” The YouTube spokesman said on Tuesday that the algorithm changes had resulted in a 50 percent drop in recommendations to such videos in the United States. He declined to share specific data about which videos YouTube considered “borderline.”

“Our systems are also getting smarter about what types of videos should get this treatment, and we’ll be able to apply it to even more borderline videos moving forward,” the company’s blog post said.

Other social media companies have faced criticism for allowing white supremacist content. Facebook recently banned a slew of accounts, including that of Paul Joseph Watson, a contributor to the conspiracy theory website Infowars, and Laura Loomer, a far-right activist. Twitter bans violent extremist groups but allows some of their members to maintain personal accounts — for instance, the Ku Klux Klan was banned from Twitter last August, while its former leader, David Duke, remains on the service. Twitter is currently studying whether the removal of content is effective in stemming the tide of radicalization online. A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the study.

When Twitter banned the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones last year, Mr. Jones responded with a series of videos decrying the platform’s decision and drumming up donations from his supporters.

YouTube’s ban of white supremacists could prompt a similar cycle of outrage and grievance, said Joan Donovan, the director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at Harvard. The ban, she said, “presents an opportunity for content creators to get a wave of media attention, so we may see some particularly disingenuous uploads.”

“I wonder to what degree will the removed content be amplified on different platforms, and get a second life?” Ms. Donovan added.

 

[alchemist iq]

Smart move by Google.

 

[sharpshooter718]

Smart move by Google.

??? Now Google gets to decide what you watch... Lol y'all just love the 1984 lifestyle ..

 

[youngogjosh]

??? Now Google gets to decide what you watch... Lol y'all just love the 1984 lifestyle ..

 

[hand2handking]

 

[sharpshooter718]

But that's what it is... Google will be apart of the beast system that decides what is real and what isn't without a second opinion. They've already begun , in 20 years no one will realize that Google has the keys and we can't get rid of them because they got rid of everyone else

 

[youngogjosh]

But that's what it is... Google will be apart of the beast system that decides what is real and what isn't without a second opinion. They've already begun , in 20 years no one will realize that Google has the keys and we can't get rid of them because they got rid of everyone else

 

[sooperhooper]

Sean Parker showing signs of the God complex in this story, talk about cocky, sheesh.

Phones already have a strong-hold on us. Everywhere you go everyone is on it. Go into any break room and hardly no one is talking. I just wonder how much worse can it get.

 

[sooperhooper]

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Happy couples post less about their relationships on social media - Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/hap...y-dont-need-to-seek-that-feeling-externally-4

 

[sooperhooper]

I figured that a few ago when the girls that were obviously dying over a brother were posting pics with their man daily.

 

[sugafree]

Never did Twitter Facebook or Instagram..I never liked other people that much to wanna see their lives online.