Life before (anti-)"social" media  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 09:22:20 pm
content: And YES, thatINCLUDESforums!

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 09:43:12 pm
content: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-almost-effect/201405/can-excessive-social-networking-harm-marriages2014

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 11:52:07 pm
content: The internet has done wonders for the world, no doubt about it, but I think if you're looking at social media on it's own, I think it's important to consider the type of social media and the context in which it's been used.For example, I personally don't consider forums like EEVblog or IRC chat rooms as the "social media" we know today. Some might disagree with me and that's fine, I can see both sides of the argument. For me, I openly tell people that I don't use social media (and for the most part, that's completely true and has been since MySpace was a thing).I first used the internet on a regular basis in 1994 and then got our own dial-up connection at home either late 1994 or early 1995. Back then, there were no unlimited plans and access was measured by time (not data volume). I think initially we paid for 25 hours per month then later that was upped to 60 hours. You had to use your time wisely. (If I remember correctly, unlimited time/data dial-up plans weren't available until the late 1990's.)Back then, I spent most of my time online communicating with friends and people from all over the world, predominately on IRC but also on ICQ. MSN Messenger and for a time AOL IM. I found it to be an extremely effective way of being social, in addition to the usual things kids did (ride bikes, visit friends etc...). I would say I learnt a lot about the world (and how much of an asshole some people can be) online.These days, I think the complete opposite is true. Outside of keeping in-touch with family who might be far away, social media has mostly turned into a mechanism for brain rot. Some, like TikTok are essentially being used as weapons. The fact that kids can access this garbage anytime, anywhere, contributes to the mental health and societal issues. Could you imagine the anxiety if you took a teenagers phone off them for 12 hours?On a similar topic, I'm finding the younger generations (I'm in my 30's) no longer "know stuff". These days, they are so used to simply "looking up stuff" and even worse, asking AI applications for the answer. In my organisation, we get quite a few interns through and I would say only about the top 10-15% or so of students aren't completely useless. The rest really don't know all that much (and that's if they show up to work at all). One example out of many happened just last week, I was dealing with the head of IT for another company, the guy who is supposed to be looking after the infrastructure. I asked him about a specific NAT/port forward rule on his firewall, the bloke had no idea what I was talking about, instead sends me irrelevant screen shots of things he thought I wanted to see.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 08:06:25 am
content: Neither me nor my wife have accounts in any "social media" outlets or even a smartphone. It doesn't feel we are missing anything. The cons severely outweigh any pros.

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 09:35:07 am
content: Social media has always been a part of the internet for me. I was on mailing lists and newsgroups as it's where you found out about stuff in the era BG (Before Google).I enjoyed it then and made some good friends, some I have met, and done events with. But I was loner and have always been one. But over the past few years I have struggled with stuff, I'm now 40 and I would love to say it's just a midlife thing but my work as much as I love the subject does get me down due to a lack of money/time to do the stuff I want to do. I get a lot of stress from it at times as I am expected to do all the things a Head of Lab needs to do but also do most of the work onsite. This caused me to retreat from social stuff but that in part is becuase of the amount of hate that people project especially around P*litics. I have now cut ties with the mailing list I was a part of for 25 years and removed all my "friends" from faceache with only family remaining. I only inhabit a few places in the internet and may drop away from more future.Social media has been a prop for my social awkwardness but it has only been temporary solution.

author: Buriedcode
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 04:58:39 pm
content: As far as I'm aware, using social media is optional. It isn't for everyone, but you don't have to use it. It's like watching films or videos you dislike only to complain about them - why?

author: Karel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 05:38:31 pm
content: Quote from: Buriedcode on April 16, 2023, 04:58:39 pmMaybe because now, people expect you to have/use whatsapp?For many people, not having facebook and whatsapp, equals not having internet at all.Or in, in C language,Code:internet == (facebook && whatsapp)

author: strawberry
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 05:51:25 pm
content: facebook in general is egoistic narcissistic pointless psychology experiment , dont know exact social media definition but it should share and solve problems

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 06:24:22 pm
content: Actually we had the same issues already In the era of BBSs and Fidonet, but it was limited by the relatively low number of participants and the low speed of distribution. Today, with much more users and nearly realtime distribution things became also much more visible, and the sheer amount of messages simply overwhelms our capability of processing all that input. So the reasonable solution is to reduce the amount of input to a convenient level.

author: strawberry
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 08:10:03 pm
content: recently google reported first time decline in search activitypeople are getting bored/exhausted, or just more homeless who cant afford internet

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 08:27:26 pm
content: Quote from: Buriedcode on April 16, 2023, 04:58:39 pmSadly many if the masses moved over to it so if you want to find out when a shop opens or even contact then you need it. Charities I volunteer for, moved a lot of the chat and event organising over to it. Back in the day it was mailing list and forum now it's mostly facebook. So by not being a user you miss out on what is going on. I have mostly left as I didn't like the way my data was being sold off, the way the algorithm was manipulating me by showing my content that annoyed me rather than the nicer stuff. Then there is the way users are manipulated to stay there, notifications for stuff you have already seen etc. The hate that was being pushed at me almost drove me over the edge.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 08:33:05 pm
content: I'm more of a social media influenzaAOL Newsgroups were the reason I added a Stone Age ISA modem card to my then Windows PC. Those were the good old dial up days - when the phone line was still used for conversations. It took minutes to download images but, you could pretty much download any 'high-res' image, in GIF format.Today I was asked what anInstagram Hotelwas? I had to look it up. Other than having a lot of of mirrors in the rooms, you really don't want to go any further (unless you're auditioning for MAFS Australia). An alien researcher viewing the internet might conclude the human race has recently evolved into a species with over sized abs, bubble butts, trout pouts and glowing teeth.I think the real revolution came when they put cameras on phones. From YouTube to TikTok, Instagram to OnlyFans, we can all be famous, for just 15 minutes of data analytics.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 09:23:40 pm
content: Quote from: strawberry on April 16, 2023, 08:10:03 pmGoogle is currently in "panic" mode. In case anyone missed that.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/25/alphabet-google-third-quarter-revenue-reportI'm sure the war on TikTok has nothing to do with it.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 09:34:25 pm
content: whoever has the 20 minute videos has information

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 09:35:23 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on April 16, 2023, 09:34:25 pm

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 01:28:27 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on April 16, 2023, 09:23:40 pm"Analysts say..." ... My mind shuts off.