Social Media Algorithms and the Cultivation of a "Look-Away" Culture

power gem

Bronze
Joined
Dec 8, 2022
Messages
109
Reaction score
614
Awards
69
i agree that the algorithm wants to keep us scrolling but i disagree that it does this by presenting us with inoffensive and likeable content. a generic post that is liked by the majority of viewers - a funny cat video, for example - doesn't generate that much engagement. there's nothing to say about it beyond "lol" or "cute" or whatever. the ultimate engagement bait is a highly controversial and polarizing topic that induces people to argue in the comments section for months on end. for example, a week or two ago i couldnt go on any social media site without reading some rando's hot take on a hobo being choked to death on a subway. the algorithm optimizes for controversy because controversy stimulates more comments and views. it also creates social division and discontent, but the algorithm doesn't care about that. lesswrong and ssc are lame but this is a relevant post i think.
If you just read a Scissor statement off a list, it's harmless. It just seems like a trivially true or trivially false thing. It doesn't activate until you start discussing it with somebody. At first you just think they're an imbecile. Then they call you an imbecile, and you want to defend yourself. Crescit eundo. You notice all the little ways they're lying to you and themselves and their audience every time they open their mouth to defend their imbecilic opinion. Then you notice how all the lies are connected, that in order to keep getting the little things like the Scissor statement wrong, they have to drag in everything else. Eventually even that doesn't work, they've just got to make everybody hate you so that nobody will even listen to your argument no matter how obviously true it is. Finally, they don't care about the Scissor statement anymore. They've just dug themselves so deep basing their whole existence around hating you and wanting you to fail that they can't walk it back. You've got to prove them wrong, not because you care about the Scissor statement either, but because otherwise they'll do anything to poison people against you, make it impossible for them to even understand the argument for why you deserve to exist. You know this is true. Your mind becomes a constant loop of arguments you can use to defend yourself, and rehearsals of arguments for why their attacks are cruel and unfair, and the one burning question: how can you thwart them?
 
Virtual Cafe Awards
Virtual Cafe Awards
i think endless scrolling does make a lot of people (i.e normies; those more susceptible to propaganda, advertising, etc.) calmer in that it desensitizes you to all the ills of the world. after however many hours of daily scrolling i think you start seeing everything as memes with little real world consequence (you can see this with some zoomers not knowing 9/11 like- actually killed people after memeing it, and with how insensitive and soon memes are after real world tragedy.) i think were seeing a blending and a confusion of the internet and the real world in a lot of peoples' minds; the lainification of society, if you will (i haven't actually seen lain.)
 
it desensitizes you
"A Single Death Is a Tragedy; A Million Deaths Is a Statistic.", whoever ever said that [1].

also, MKUltra has it going on... project Mockingbird or whatnot <3 /s.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

leo_boom

Internet Refugee
Joined
Jun 10, 2023
Messages
2
Reaction score
5
Awards
2
The only metrics that matter relate to engagement:
  • What are you looking at and for how long?
  • What do you 'like'?
  • What do you comment on?
  • What do you share?
Stick all that into a big vat of statistics and spit out content with varying probabilities that you will look, like, comment, share, etc.
Then take some of what those metrics suggest (likes, dislikes, political affiliation, spending patterns), combine it with your demographic info (age, location) and whatever other data they've got to sell targeted eyeball space to advertisers.
Every X posts/videos/tweets/whatever they deliver an ad to your face. The longer you're there, the more ads, they serve -- it's pure volume.
Because their primary concern is advertising, most platforms are fairly content-neutral. Moderation extends as far and wide as possible before advertisers/shareholders start retreating. The platforms then adjust moderation policies to make that content net wide (more creators/users) while maximising advertiser spend.
Does Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/etc care how you feel? Only as far as it relates to time spent and ads served.
 

InsufferableCynic

Well-Known Traveler
Joined
Apr 30, 2022
Messages
495
Reaction score
1,247
Awards
120
The general consensus seems to be that scrolling more makes you MORE angry, not less. Even in that case, your theory still fits, it just needs tweaking.

People DO seek out what they want to see. But people want to see bad news. Nobody knows why, but people seem to enjoy making themselves miserable. Social media empowers our ability to do that by a massive degree. Because now we can read horror stories from across the world instantly.
 

manpaint

̴̘̈́ ̵̲̾ ̸̯̎ ̴͓̀ ̸̳͝ ̸͈͑ ̴̡̋ ̸̞̂ ̴̰̚ ̵̨̔ ̸̭̎
Gold
Joined
Aug 11, 2022
Messages
807
Reaction score
1,435
Awards
182
Website
manpaint.neocities.org
People DO seek out what they want to see. But people want to see bad news. Nobody knows why, but people seem to enjoy making themselves miserable.
People want to be part of a story, even if it is a tragedy.