thoughts on the predatory nature of "social" media
as a kid, i loved to go on the computer. specifically "addicting games" since they had free games, youtube, and other websites to pass the time. although innocent at first, i find myself not enjoying my time on these platform anymore. not only have they become completely brain rotted out but there seems to be a lack of personal expression from the content of youtube channels these days. i guess that is what happens when you have a generation that grew up watching minecraft youtubers and thus wanted to become youtubers themselves. they were infatuated by the platform and this seemed to create a growth mindset as a potential career option for these young people.
youtube shorts now are just slop. im not even sure who comments on these posts. probably bots, but then again, the posts themselves are AI generated. i do not enjoy my time on these platforms.
i had a long talk with a friend last night after watching Bo Burnhams "inside" special on netflix. these platforms have to be predatory. there is no other explanation for their nature. i dont think its neglecting the quality of the context as a mistake. they know the quality because they created algorithms to push such content. its not meant for us to engage in. it is curated for it to grab our attention. might seem like the same thing, but not quite in my opinion. having content to browse and watch for various reasons isnt bad. with the right SEO, valuable information is readily available. but that doesnt explain the existence of YouTube shorts. it is an infinite scroll aiming to attain the maximum amount of attention possible for advertisers. we are the product. hence why i believe it is predatory in nature.
this was mostly just a ramble to bleh out things in a way that made sense to me.