[HN Gopher] Fixing Social Media with Data Trusts
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       Fixing Social Media with Data Trusts
        
       Author : machinerychorus
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2022-06-01 12:13 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theatlantic.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theatlantic.com)
        
       | arrosenberg wrote:
       | Just turn it off. Are we really losing anything (besides
       | shareholder value) if FB, Twitter, Tiktok, LinkedIn and Instagram
       | all disappear?
       | 
       | What positive have any of those platforms delivered that
       | outweighs the tremendous burden they have externalized on
       | society?
        
         | 0des wrote:
         | As you can tell, words like this only anger those still under
         | the spell. Im gonna sprinkle a little grisgris on the keyboard
         | in hopes that it helps you out, but no promises.
        
           | shapefrog wrote:
           | > words like this only anger those still under the spell.
           | 
           | And those that are under said spell are certain that _the
           | other side_ has a strangle hold over social media and
           | everyone else (obviously not them) is under a spell that
           | keeps them hooked.
        
       | hunglee2 wrote:
       | Unclear how groups will solve any problems here, other than
       | actually preventing individual freedom of speech, so arguably
       | even more draconian that the authoritarian examples cited in the
       | article. At least it is making the attempt to square the circle
       | of free speech vs social cohesion, though I suspect in the end,
       | one of the two is going to have give
        
         | A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote:
         | Agreed. It is oddly convoluted, does not change the privacy
         | equation, does not really change freedom of speech equation.. I
         | am genuinely not sure who would benefit from this particular
         | setup.
         | 
         | When I first read it, my instinct was that somehow it will be
         | fixed with a 3rd party data broker and I pre-emptively groaned.
        
       | Calvin02 wrote:
       | While I like Jared and the ideas that he puts forward, I can't
       | help but feel that in reality they would fail abysmally.
       | 
       | Half of this country (US) denies that Sandy Hook happened, they
       | deny that the election was fair, they think that every mass
       | shooting is staged in an attempt by the government to seize their
       | guns. Why would these people want to join a social group and only
       | post through that group? Also, why would it limit misinformation?
       | Aren't there already communities of these like minded people who
       | are even more extreme?
        
         | 0des wrote:
         | That's quite the monolith you've assembled there. Who are these
         | people so I can avoid them the next time I'm venturing into
         | Narnia?
        
         | erellsworth wrote:
         | Agreed. Also, even if we assume that the groups idea (which I
         | don't think is very well defined) would solve everything, how
         | would you get all social media platforms to follow that
         | template? I can't see any legislation requiring such an
         | approach surviving legal challenges, or being implemented
         | globally.
        
         | Group_B wrote:
         | I wouldn't go as far as to say half the country is as crazy as
         | Alex Jones. That's a bit of a stretch.
        
         | null0pointer wrote:
         | > Half of this country (US) denies that Sandy Hook happened,
         | they deny that the election was fair, they think that every
         | mass shooting is staged in an attempt by the government to
         | seize their guns.
         | 
         | Half? This is such a gross overestimation. The people that hold
         | those views are a tiny fringe minority. It's rhetoric like
         | this, where you accuse the half of the country that didn't vote
         | for your team of holding extreme views, that drives division in
         | the United States.
        
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       (page generated 2022-06-02 23:01 UTC)