The largest study ever carried out on social media deactivation has found that disconnecting lowers users political participation and also their propensity to believe misinformation
    • proudblond@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I (maybe, kinda) miss what Facebook was like in, er, 2008-ish. But then again I was also 25 so maybe I just miss what life was like back then.

      • pete_the_cat@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        Same. I got on it in 2006 and it was great up until about 2010, 2013-2014 was when the shit started to hit the fan.

        • PorkSoda@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          1 year ago

          2013-2014 was when the timeline shifted from being a chronological timeline to a feed. The algo took over and it went to shit.

          • TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            yeah. the platforms aren’t so bad in and of themselves, it’s the engagement algorithms that turn everything to shit.

            just like IG, YT, video/music stremaing etc. you could stumble upon random and interesting shit… now the algo is just trying to shove kendrick lamar and joe rogan at me none stop because that is what is ‘popular’ and whatever shitty movie that netflix is trying to promote.

            browsing is dead and search is also mostly broken. you can’t even effectively search for shit anymore.

            the only place i can freely browse anymore is my local library. and discover lots of cool things. that experience on the internet is dead.

      • Smite6645@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        It’s also real annoying when trying to look up business hours or a restaurant menu only to find all their links are to Facebook.

  • thehatfox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Platforms like Facebook have an incredible hold on some people. I remember a few years ago when the “Momo” hoax happened, an older coworker arrived at the office and started warning us about the danger of “Momo” they’d seen on Facebook. I’d already heard about the hoax (and was aware of the original creepyasta origins), and brought up a few news articles explaining it, including an official statement from the police. Everyone seemed satisfied by the truth, except for the Facebook addict. They just gave me a blank stare, and a few hours later I heard them telling another group of colleagues to beware of “Momo” getting to their children.

    I have family members and longstanding family friends who have succumbed to this. Interestingly almost all of them were decrying the internet as something that couldn’t be trusted before the age of social media.

  • CALIGVLA@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Not being stuck inside of an echo chamber really does wonders for the brain. And yes, I know the irony of saying this on Lemmy, but it’s true.

    • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Lemmy isn’t really an echo chamber. It’s like saying going over to a friends place is an echo chamber because you and your friend get along. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out with people who share your values and beliefs.

      The problem with social media are their algorithms. They aren’t designed to connect you with like-minded people, but to keep you engaged. The content that keeps people engaged tends to be terrible content.

      The recent “a man or a bear” trend is a perfect example. Algorithms love divisive content like that because it drives engagement, but it also leads to people getting really upset over nothing. Lemmy doesn’t have any algorithms driving engagement so it doesn’t have that problem.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        I strongly disagree.

        I don’t think lemmy is necessarily an echochamber per se, rather its just a place where misinformation exists and opinions are manipulated.

        Lemmy does use algorithms to show you the most engaging content, and there are absolutely bots and bad actors manipulating which content is prioritised.

        The genocide Joe / vote abstinence thing was a very clear example.

        • BlanketsWithSmallpox@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          … That’s not an echo chamber though. That’s propaganda and vote manipulation mostly by literal state actors and brainwashed rubes.

          An echo chamber is when people literally self segregate enough to the point that they no longer consume almost any media that doesn’t fit their belief. Its exacerbated by large corporations who profit from ad revenue driven through user engagement.

          Lemmy is not an echo chamber no more than the literal radio.

          Reddit is not an echo chamber.

          You can make these an echo chamber through varying degrees of ease. But places like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have been proven to drive you into one by exploiting ragebait for clicks.

          You can say they’re both fruit, sure. But one is like eating cantaloupe and the other like eating bananas laced with speed.

  • Sheridan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    My mom was permabanned from Facebook in 2020 for constantly posting anti-vax nonsense so she just went to places like Gab and Parlor. 😑