Subj : Re: Computer Kits
To   : boraxman
From : Jeff
Date : Fri Jan 28 2022 18:24:44

On 29 Jan 2022, boraxman said the following...
 bo>  Je> Regulation and control... like banning people who refuse to follow th
 bo>  Je> rules? Remember when I said to hold that thought about people being c
 bo>  Je> off from friends and family by being banned? Here we are. People don'
 bo>  Je> just get randomly banned. They get banned because the platforms are
 bo>  Je> exercising the regulation and control that you believe they should ha
 bo> Silicon Valley is quite ideological.  Government regulation is at least,
 bo> in part, democratically controlled.  You have recourse, limited ability
 bo> to change the form.

Hmm. I would argue that Silicon Valley is more democratically controlled than
government regulation. Government tends to react to small numbers of people
who complain loudly (or, more often, donate generously). Silicon Valley
seeks to maximize profit by getting as many people as possible to use their
service. If something is making a lot of people use their service less, they
remove that thing (or person, or behavior). Silicon Valley also seeks to
avoid government regulation and therefore removes things that pose a threat
to them legally.

 bo> Private companies can decide to do what they like.  

More or less, but they do want to continue to make as much money as possible.

 bo>  Je> This assumes that social mediais a problem. If social media is not a
 bo>  Je> problem, then this is irrelevant.
 bo> I think we are getting off track.  My argument is that social media is a
 bo> poor form of inter-personal communcation and is likely a net negative. 
 bo> Look at how it has influenced politics and discourse, you're happy with
 bo> that outcome?

I think that it is becoming self-correcting over time.

 bo>  Je> I don't know that mine will, either. It's never guaranteed.
 bo> No, but we owe it to them to do our best to give them a better world. 

Yep. But they're also going to do their own thing, and we have to let them.

Jeff.

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