this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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Social media divides us, makes us more extreme and less empathetic, it riles us up or sucks us into doom scrolling, making us stressed and depressed. It feels like we need to touch grass and escape to the real world.

New research shows that we might have largely misinterpreted why this is the case. It turns out that the social media internet may uniquely undermine the way our brains work but not in the way you think.

This video is sponsored and contains an ad.

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[–] ultratiem@lemmy.ca 67 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (11 children)

Why are people weaving social media and the internet into a single thread? The internet is so vast, social media makes up a tiny sliver of it.

The real problem with the internet isn’t Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, it’s the fact the entire experience is pretty much controlled by Microsoft and Google. As they shape your content, lock you out of areas and generally dictate what’s “legal” or even what gets found during your searches.

It’s no longer an information superhighway but rather turning into a giant storefront. And that’s the problem. I search for anything and the first 3 pages are Amazon link backs. Or fake websites with AI generated content used only for ad impressions.

Facebook and the like definitely erode some parts, but as a whole, there is way more fuckery going on by big tech.

And this isn’t even mentioning the tracking and fingerprinting and violations to privacy and security we are all promised.

[–] 0xtero@kbin.social 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The real problem with the internet isn’t Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, it’s the fact the entire experience is pretty much controlled by Microsoft and Google

I think the real problem is that the entire Internet is basically just a dozen multi-billion Big Tech companies and the entire "Internet economy" is so tightly weaved into advertising money.

[–] ultratiem@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah what a future! Literally everywhere you look or turn, there’s someone yelling in your ear for cash. Can’t wait 🙃

It’s honestly wild that our species has gotten here. When are we setting up on Mars again??

[–] 0xtero@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago

What's really wild is that you don't have to go that far into the past (just ca. 20 years) when the Internet was all about Information wanting to be Free. It was hopeful time of people coming together around new technology. There were a lot new businesses with wild innovations.

And then, just in a decade it was all gone. Replaced by unregulated behemoths that merged until there's a dirty dozen left, controlling most of global money and information.

Enshittification of the Internet.

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