Everything Sucks Now

[@LeonMRr]

Enshitification is the best word to describe what happened to the internet in the last decade or so

[@Mastikator]

I member the old web, it was wild and free. Untamed and unspoiled by capitalism

[@LuisSierra42]

@@Mastikator There were less memes tho

[@I0am0Armisten]

Cory Doctorow is pretty great. I've read his sci Fi book Walkaway a few times. It's a cool ride

[@toyotaprius79]

Welcome to the internet, have a look around!

[@dionysianapollomarx]

@@LuisSierra42 the meme-to-enshittification trade-off ratio isn’t quite worth it. That’s why I’m only online when there’s something worth learning like this video.

[@onexonesie]

Music sucks. Movies suck. Tv shows suck. Talk shows suck. KZbin sucks. Job market sucks. Everything is so expensive. I grew up as a young kid in the late 90s early 2000s and I long for that time again. It's almost like it was a different world. Crazy to witness such a shift in real time.

[@Morbing_Time]

Everything was shit back then too, especially if you were not a straight cis white man. You didnt see it because you were a kid. Stuff is getting worse tho.

[@DoodMangSpeaks]

I cannot find work! FK ME I cant even get a call for an interview!

[@supermarionicholas931]

12/21/2012 was when the change happened after the Myan calendar ended.

[@JosueRico-gw9ky]

Exactly! I'm so happy people are starting to realize the greed of CEOs is fcking us as a society, and we have to stop them. As you say, even videogames and food sucks now

[@blackpanther8813]

Soical media sucks I miss the 90's when that wasn't even around

[@cirqueduawesome6278]

Social media as it stands now isn’t about building friendships. It’s about clout. It’s like the new version of High School you never graduate from, but instead of immature kids that don’t know better you’re surrounded by attention seekers that will happily debase themselves just for their 30 seconds.

[@memyself2630]

Noticed this along with the facts that it was creating narcs back in 2014 when I got off of social media !

[@OutrageousDragon]

@@memyself2630 I don't think it was ever about that judging how people act online.

[@memyself2630]

@@OutrageousDragon I don’t think u get it! Lol

[@wipjenni]

That’s true, but two things I’d like to add… There is a large percentage of relationships initially started via the social grouping aspect of sm that become more personal and intimate; developing in the ubiquitous private messaging apps-within-apps. Also, attention-seeking stupids need friends too! (At least a.s.s.es are easy to spot & ignore.) ;)

[@heinoustentacles5719]

so use small forums. incentives of social media don't apply there.

[@steffanshurkin1123]

We need an old-school PBS-like movement for a publicly-funded social platform.

[@kcthonian]

That would be amazing! But not PBS level (just the US). It needs to be truly global. For everyone on earth but also supported by everyone on earth. Like maybe a Wikipedia but social media...

[@ChubbsMcDubbs]

thats fucking genius.

[@FlushDesert22]

Mastodon is like that. It's basically an open source, decentralized version of twitter.

[@anubis2814]

​@@FlushDesert22 I personally prefer Friendica especially if you are used to facebook over twitter, and I think calckey is a close second. Mastodon has the sexiest branding, why calckey is getting renamed to something easier to enjoy. Been on the fediverse since 2018, since the twitter and then reddit migration there is never a dull moment and a lot less toxicness there. I would love PBS and NPR to start their own instances and encourage their people to join, but the terms of government funding might prevent it.

[@Waitwhat469]

@@anubis2814 A great thing about the fediverse is that a user on a Friendica server or a Mastadon one can talk to each other. Federation really lets users choose the way they interface with social media!

[@ryanhupp5240]

online friends can't help you dig a hole at 3am and not ask a bunch of questions

[@WisecrackEDU]

Best argument for in-life friends.

[@matildatheoboldt2261]

I got a friend in york that would beg to differ

[@TempestRequiem0]

TRUE. FUCKING TRUUUEEE. I have lower back issues now because I ended up having to dig 2 god damn holes in double the time instead of just one in half. Turns out paying for someone's plane ticket doesn't really make them any less questiony. Well, you live you learn.

[@angiebear8727]

😂😂😂

[@scarletokelly]

I've been able to maintain my friendships via Discord but I can see the enshitification of that platform on the horizon.

[@alephNull_]

starting with the forced unique names

[@justwhistlinpixie]

I was never really able to make friendships online that felt meaningful. Discord is my platform of choice to interact with my IRL friends (and even my family) online. It seems inevitable that the profit motive will force every platform down the path of enshittification eventually, so all we can really do is enjoy the ride then jump ship once it becomes too shitty to bear. Jimmy Wales (wikipedia founder) wants to make a reddit replacement that isn't for-profit, and I hope it can succeed.

[@kcthonian]

I've tried that one but the UI honestly confuses the hell out of me. I'm still trying to figure it out.

[@lordblazer]

but you're doing activities together on Discord, and I mean more than gaming.. some of the folks I got to know from Discord the last ten years has also involved me into working with them on projects in AI and machine learning. People I've met up with eventually in person. sometimes I'm on servers made by friends I've known in real life for years before discord existed. I say Discord is the future but it's literally an updated version of IRC. People tend to lean towards decentralized social media tools over time... it's why Twitter was losing money every year even before Musk.. And why Meta ain't performing as well too.

[@LoporianIndustries]

@@lordblazer I do get a lot more quality social interaction from Discord than I do from Facebook.

[@sarthakwadhwa5321]

Having had the pleasure to work with Doctorow, highly recommending looking at his work on vibrant interoperable platforms for an alternative to this dystopian social media hellscape

[@WisecrackEDU]

Thanks for the recommendations!

[@floatshake]

​@@WisecrackEDU A video on the Yesterweb project/community might appeal to many Wisecrack subscribers. I feel wistful about not hearing about it until reading Doctorow's recent article about 'Enshittification', which was published months after the official community was shut down by an exhausted (and harassed?) leadership. Hope I'm summarizing that fairly. On the plus side, building a website on Neocities has been kinda therapeutic for fatigue with social media.

[@einstwareinlicht]

I will never forgive KZbin for destroying so many innocent creators without any justified reason whatsoever.

[@SpectrumAssociates]

They worship Israel, by the way

[@86Corvus]

Good on them. Palestine isnt a country and never was.

[@KatriceMetaluna]

The sad thing is we HAD decentralized online social networks that weren't controlled by any one commercial entity. They were called Usenet and IRC. It was a mistake to move away from them.

[@Thinginator]

And forums. Reddit became a replacement/platform that made forums easier to create, but it became a controlling umbrella for all the forums within it. Independent forums still exist but they're a lot rarer and quieter than they used to be.

[@nilsonrodriguez7135]

IRC still has a very active, albeit smaller user base. I don’t use it but I know someone who does and finds it much less stressful than any other social media platform, especially discord.

[@wtheckJackie]

I miss IRC and independent forums. Nostalgia aside, there was still a level of pleasant social etiquette in the spaces I frequented as a kid. I feel like I always have my dukes up now. Also wanna give a nod to blogging sites like Livejournal. What a fun era of fandom that was. Tumblr was cool, but nothing beat LJ, for me. I had so many smart friends there. The people really made it a great site.

[@anubis2814]

Why mastodon and the fediverse was created. Some platforms similar to older things like usenet. My favorite is Friendica and I believe that Calckey and misskey are better platforms, but not as sexy marketing. Why calckey is getting a renaming soon according to the developers.

[@AA-cf4es]

And than the last place with free speech, kiwifarms, was ostracized. I am not saying it is goid or bad: it is simply free.

[@mortalitydoesstuff8965]

Everything does, in fact, suck now

[@jonathansiles5120]

RIP reddit

[@deadlyninja112]

Especially on only fans ;)

[@JarodDavis-ro3fb]

But not your grammar. Your grammar is top tier.

[@masterimbecile]

Enshittified

[@gp2917]

Everywhere, all the time

[@super6pop]

Man, this is like what is happening to Reddit

[@AlloAnder]

Exactly

[@TheRockerX]

It's exactly what's happening to reddit

[@b1ff]

This _is_ what is happening to reddit

[@Megaghost_]

Time to look up at Fediverse alternatives like Lemmy and Hexbear.

[@TheRealE.B.]

It's really weird to hear a video talking about the "communities" on Twitter, a website which as far as I can tell has just been idiots yelling at each other for the past several years, when the much better example of Reddit is sitting right there.

[@pif5023]

As of today my social life is rather dire both online and offline. I can’t seem to create deeper connections no matter how honest I end up being. Idk, past 30 feels easier to build a company then a friendship.

[@HylianFox3]

"past 30 feels easier to build a company then a friendship." Amen. I never bothered to make many friends when I was a teen, but now that I'm in my late 30s it feels nigh impossible to make friends with people my own age. They're either busy with their own lives & problems or else are simply not interested.

[@NikkLiberos]

Tell you what, though. I am of the feeling that despite being few and far between, they can be much more meaningful.

[@brianemo6208]

I guess if we pull a bit further on that rope, is it capitalism? As cringe as that sounds, it really does seem capitalism is the absolute cancer and root cause, the patient zero. But... What would we do without it? Thrive? Probably lol

[@ChartreuseDan]

Either get really into work-outings, or charity projects in your community, or pick up a hobby that you have to regularly meet in a group for. There really is no substitute for regularly meeting people you have things in common with if you want to make new irl friends. If you're doing one or more of those things but they don't seem to be resulting in the depth of connection you're looking for then I can't help you and I'm sorry for even piping up

[@LittleKittyMine69]

As a physically disabled Autistic, social media is quite literally a lifeline for me. 99.7% of my social interactions are online because of how hard it is to leave my home. I also just had my 10+ year old Facebook account hacked and stolen. Over a decade of networking and friendship building just... gone. And yes, I had two-factor authentication on, and my phone wasn't stolen too. It was a devastating and honestly traumatic experience for me, and even if they cared, Meta is never getting me my account back. Yeah, enshitification is right.

[@therealgumdrop]

Oh man... I'm so sorry to hear that. I can't even imagine the hell that is putting you through. Do you have any other platforms you're connected to?

[@LittleKittyMine69]

@therealgumdrop not really. I'm only 29, but I'm a FB Boomer, unfortunately. I got a few important online friends back, but most are gone forever probably

[@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield]

My heart goes out to you. I went cold turkey on FB due to tech issues, and just sort of accepted it but I feel for ya

[@scootergirl3662]

You may want to look at meetups (online and in person) for autistic people, or tech if you’re into that I run a few meetups and I would say the majority of people attending are neurodivergent

[@floatshake]

@ngnoiddottv Woah. That is news to me about reducing dementia risk. Ty!

[@nicksherm]

My term for recovering from the social media mania is “defuckulation”

[@86Corvus]

You are weak if you had any care for it in the first place

[@hangukhiphop]

I'm most upset about the archives of valuable information and media we're going to lose in the name of scraping just one more ounce of profit for the beloved shareholders!

[@94sHippie]

Thats been happening for years now. Link rot is a major problem, and it keeps getting worse. And it get compounded with the size of the web, the number of companies going paper free and a lack of digital archavists to save data before it is lost forever.

[@heinoustentacles5719]

this has already happened on quite a large scale. Myspace deleted much of it's data before 2016, and no-one noticed because they don't use it anymore.

[@limonadacomhortela]

I made three friends through twitch during the covid pandemic, a small streamer and two other viewers. We talked and played online with each-other every day, then we decided to move out of the country together. Now we are living together in Argentina! Go figure!

[@toxendon]

Dude that's so sick

[@DnBComplex]

That's so awesome!!!

[@Eyka_Music]

im from argentina yoooo!

[@Virjunior01]

Nice!

[@86Corvus]

They are renting from a lovely elderly german man.

[@Jaysin412]

"Everyone is stupid and everything sucks" -Randall (Clerks)

[@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield]

"Is it safe? Is it safe?"- Clerks Animated Series

[@Jaysin412]

@@yourfriendlyinternetmeatshield I wish they woulda gotten an actual chance, who wants to be a millionaire killed that spot tho, even so, adult swim shoulda picked it up.

[@ddsjgvk]

​@@Jaysin412So it will last for about four seasons 😂

[@86Corvus]

Internet was better when you had to have a functioning brain to access it.

[@omaryusuf4240]

Im Not stupid

[@TheSpyder49]

honestly great vid- but surprised you didnt bring up Reddit's current Situation, the death of forums, or the current major advertising purge on virtually every platform

[@ddsjgvk]

This I can't even browse on my phone anymore because an ad will take up half the screen

[@reverendblind]

I just wanna give a huge shout-out to your writers. I know Michael is the face and the voice and the raw dome, but everyone take a moment to appreciate how well researched and written this content is. Every quote from authors and philosophers they reference is a new rabbit hole if you want to dive into even more great resources. A round of applause 🙌🙌🙌 for some of the best written content on KZbin!

[@oneworldonehome]

The reason why everything sucks now is because it's so removed from reality. What we need now is to come closer to what really matters, and this is the growing problems of the world and our inner destitution. We need to become stronger so that we can be real participants in the evolution of our world, which is now on the brink of absolute chaos. To make a clear step in this direction, I recommend the works of Marshall Vian Summers, a true freedom fighter who made all his books available for free online. Because they are oh so valuable and needed more by the day.

[@AssasinZorro]

I don't usually comment, but here I have a story to share. I've met great people online and our friendship had outlived enshitification of several platforms. I think it is important to remember that you connect with a person, not with their online presence. It's sad that parasocial relationships rarely become two-sided friendships, but I am grateful that you have been posting your videos for such a long time that I can have your channel as one of the conversation openers

[@benismann]

Virtual nomadism anyone?

[@AssasinZorro]

@@benismann Yeah, kinda))

[@benismann]

@@AssasinZorro однако здрасьте

[@CatHasOpinions734]

I was talking to a friend about how creepy and invasive the internet had gotten, trying to come up with examples that still didn't make me feel like the internet was a mistake, like Wikipedia and AO3, and he said "so basically, the places that are mostly still Web 1.0 are the only ones that still feel ok". The internet wasn't a mistake, only the last 15-ish years of it. I really feel for people who never experienced the early internet, like yes, the geocities sites were ridiculous, but at least you could search for video game sword stats without getting ads to buy mall-quality swords for the next several years.

[@Vault-Born]

I hate how you're pressured or forced to use your real name/photo. What's worse though is that apparently the echo-chamber theory is a myth, these companies want to keep you commenting and engaged as long as possible-- nothing does that as well as anger. That's why we see so much ragebait in content nowadays too. Old school forums had plenty of cliques and drama but the daily rage-posts were not part of it.

[@PeanutStrawberry]

Dude, someone told me a couple weeks ago I was *problematic* for not having online friends / not considering strangers online I've never met my friends.

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

Jesus christ thats depressing. I personally hate talking to ppl online cuz u cant have real authenticity that arises from talking to someone in-person, not even close, so for ppl to think thats better is them just being out of their mind cuz they dont want real social contact

[@lamiagumbo]

This is dating me but sometimes i kind of miss Myspace. I didnt like ranking friends but the rest of it was so much more fun

[@WisecrackEDU]

My space was so great.

[@ladyofthelake121]

Playlist and tom❤

[@cosmicgregg]

Hey man, just want to give you props for introducing sched 35. It's really helped me out. Since February I've taken once a month. I've felt more connected and my anxiety is down and when it goes up I've been able handle it much better. It has also helped me start being creative again. Since I'm a songwriter that's a big deal for me. Sooo, yeah thanks dude. Sorry I know this has nothing to do with the vid

[@WisecrackEDU]

So good to hear! I'm a regular user and really dig what they're doing.

[@DrumWild]

I'm wondering: Are you in America [I am], and can they legally ship here?

[@WisecrackEDU]

@@DrumWild yes and "yes"

[@DamonBadgett]

​@@DrumWildon there site it says they can ship anywhere but its up to the users to review their state and local laws. They ship from a area where they are not held to standards of law.

[@PurplePeopleHatter]

@@WisecrackEDU Don't suppose there is intent to spread to the other side of the world? Say, your friends in Australia and New Zealand?

[@jclar3565]

Being middle-aged and new to social media makes me rare. My perspective right off the bat is that there are a lot of people who need to have social media check-ins throughout their day and the reality is it's kind of a sad situation. I think people are lonely. I used to own a couple nightclubs and I was made it my prerogative to understand that I was competing with television and the internet at that time. And I'm competitive about it and I think those kind of interactions that you do in person are still much better. It's a lazy thing to be on social media, isn't it? And I really enjoyed this video. Although the thumbnail for it is not appropriate really. But one thing that they don't mention is that there are too many people just getting fat and older. Not doing very much at all drifting away on social media

[@miserablepile]

This is why i only consume local, organic social media. But seriously, smaller sites are better for creating meaningful connections with people.

[@heinoustentacles5719]

real. i've been browsing small forums and personal websites since 2019. There is a surprising number of them, with vibrant communities.

[@iloveprivacy8167]

It's interesting that people say we shouldn't make friends online, because people might be lying about themselves. The only thing people DON'T lie about in real life is looks!

[@dem8568]

It's interesting to me that anyone pretends to know what friendship really is. I know people in real life who throw the word friend around at almost anyone they've met. At the same time, I've developed relationships completely online that were far more intimate than the relationships those kinds of people consider friendships. Sometimes I think such people gatekeep online friendship because they know deep down they don't really have it in real life themselves.

[@jimemmonstein5846]

Makeup is kinda, in this context

[@sea_triscuit7980]

​@@dem8568I had friends while graduating high school I've known since 1st grade. None of them talk to me anymore and the only friend I still talk to is my online gaming friend from Texas and we're closer than anyone I've ever been friends with in person.

[@lauramessy]

​@@jimemmonstein5846don't even start this

[@kcthonian]

@ngnoiddottv I'd agree with you but add the idea of people going online to "try out who they *could* be." I know there's an actual word for that but can't remember what it is.

[@natedogg890]

I find using the internet for work and building skills helps me have a much better relationship with it. There is SO much amazing content still out there on these shitty platforms, I was able to learn how to code, how to make games etc, then connect with other people with similar interests on Discord servers where we can help each other with issues and ideas

[@naftalibendavid]

I thought having two close friends was really amazing compared to a lot of people. I didn’t realize that sounds low compared to the old days. I know my parents had more, but they did not seem particularly close…Wish I had asked them about it.

[@RealTuxChuck]

The worlds on the downfall i like to wach videos of the past and imagine what it would be like if i could be there

[@ericb9804]

Why would a parrot need help making friends? Is it because they are kept in a cage? Its the cage, isn't it? Shit...I'm a parrot, aren't I?

[@Joshua-Studies]

I have pretty much completely switched out to decentralized forms of social media like Mastodon to replace Twitter and Lemmy for Reddit. The communities there arent as large yet and i have lost some friends but i like having control over what I see, not being advertised to, and being able to move around servers without losing my data.

[@garethd3741]

Hear, hear! Being on mastodon has been quite liberating. Going to social media with a lack of design patterns and content funnels that are intended to rot your brain is like taking a huge weight off your shoulders.

[@heinoustentacles5719]

I've gone the other direction, using numerous small forums and textboards and checking out people's personal websites. Places like Heyuri, Melonland, Agora Road, The Escapist Forums... I get the same benefits you tout.

[@sams.3552]

This video couldn't come at a better time, because there are a lot of really smart people thinking right now about better ways to do online communication, and I've gotten to talk with some of them in the past few days! The thing that has underpinned most of these discussions, rather than being benevolence by capitalists, is communal ownership and control!

[@JamesDecker7]

You mean, making them more Socially oriented rather than Capital oriented? That sounds right down Marxist! In a good way. Solidarity. Shared struggle.

[@Dominis.]

I recently decided to engage more with the meat world than the digital one on the daily basis

[@justcomments]

I lost an IRL friend during the pandemic because of poor communication platforms completely fucking up a very sensitive and heated conversation.

[@ccblu8782]

Some ideas, Can you do a video about the lack of recognizing terrorists in our own country such as white supremacy and hate groups, the lack of coverage in the Gaza strip and Israel's on going Genocide, and the lack of surveying US based companies' exploitations or current inflation, but instead focusing on recent fascist anti-LGBTQIA+ bills and laws being passed yet the general population regardless of what they think doesn't really have a say.

[@MichaelDodge27]

Interesting discussion on the positive community building aspects of social media. I know that it has an impact for some, but I have found that the anonymity creates a less authentic relationship to me. Since we can choose our words carefully and don't have the real-time reactions of a face to face conversation, I find myself being less authentic and sometimes exacerbates my somewhat introverted qualities. That said, when I'm in the chat of a Wisecrack Live stream, I am 100% impulse driven. Yesterday's stream was a particularly fun one, lots of great back and forth between everyone in the chat!!

[@x_aquatix_x]

the internet was a background thing, a thing only people with knowledge knew to access, it was not supposed to be for everyday easy mobile accessible usage, it was not supposed to replace being social with each other, which it does.

[@x_aquatix_x]

​@Thegingerbreadm4ni am gen z, i am probably one of the last ones that experienced my early life without the internet but thats probably because i dont live in america.

[@eliashe1797]

Oh my, the early days of the internets, they were something else. In many ways preferable to the stuffs around now, though the tech has improved:) I'm a do gooder philosopher! Working on it...

[@samanthagreen8054]

I threw away my cell phone and quit all social media, streaming and even cable 3 years ago. I'm 53yrs old so I actually remember living without needing all the superficial crap that most people believe THEY CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT. I actually LOST my family and friends to phony/soulless/ lonely pretend interactions on electronics and tech that meant NOTHING during quarantine when REAL RELATIONSHIPS, FRIENDSHIPS, COMPASSION AND LOVE were needed. I realised that most of us have been trained to avoid forming true HUMAN BONDS. Even worse, now kids as young as 3yrs old are commonly seen with their own tablets, cells and laptops- supplied by parents who naively hook their children into the MATRIX before they even develop Minds of Their Own. 😖😭☹😢😖

[@brandonbates9259]

You just made me realize why I really havent paid my cell phone bill this week,it's because I really dont want it anymore. I feel so damn done with all of it and i'm 35

[@wheats5719]

We are approaching the first generation where elderly people can't say "Your generation has it so lucky nowadays" anymore. I genuinely would kill to live in any generation but my own, They were the ones who had it lucky.

[@rhodeskirkpatrick1408]

I really did like a lot of the points about building cohesive networks especially among marginalized groups and the witnessing of friendship, and also the increased honesty of more anonymity, but as someone who is lonely its just not the same as college where people shared a common space in person. I'm not one for romanticizing the "old days" or nostalgia, I stopped hanging out with most of my friends when we started going our own ways (They sometimes didn't understand but deep down we stopped enjoying each other's company and it was stale) and the commonalities kind of "expired" so to speak but going forward I just think that having reciprocal and depthful understanding and real social activity that's material and engaging with nature and the common world around us is just soooo much more rewarding. There's definitely a level of bullshit to people who just want friends at any cost and I'm definitely not advocating for that type of forced hanging out with people we dont really like but there's just such amazing love and happiness to people who you really click with and I think partially because best friends are there to help each other build their real meaningful lives.

[@Acid_Viking]

College campuses are some of the most livable communities in America. Everything is within walking distance, there are plenty of common areas to gather and mingle. Of course, you only get to live there a short time, while incurring massive student loan debt. Regardless, I'm often mystified that there aren't more ordinary, non-scholastic housing options that include college-style common areas, etc.

[@FIERCETiBi]

I had no Friends in real life, I had no friends online. I' m good. Social Media is dead.

[@omaryusuf4240]

It’s still bad that you have no friends in real life

[@psyberdelicxp6042]

Proud to say I've never touched Social Media. But it's being made my problem wether I want it or not. It's infuriating. I opted out when I saw how fake people were on MySpace. ..when I heard of Twitter. And someone said "you can text the entire world!" I thought "why tf would i want to do that?" The success of SM has made interacting with the internet a chore, by way of prioritizing clickbait, ads, inflamatory articles instead of what I'm actually looking for, adding an annoying layer of micromanagement to any mundane inquiry Looks like I was right. Comodifying every aspect of the human experience is literally selling your soul...I also remember what the world was like before the internet. I'll survive . Will you? I don't have many friends and I like it that way. The people that stick around are thebreal deal. Detox from the dopamine drip, have some self discipline/control. Stop seeking approval.

[@SC-gw8np]

I'm the same, never had social media. Knew it was cancer from the start. I socialise with a limited number of people in the real world too.

[@zeliavoss]

"...and I probably talked to so many criminals." Same, Michael, same

[@TheRealGovika]

The enshitification is barreling down towards Reddit with all their drama. Such a shame.

[@seanbell69]

Solution: Get off the platforms and stop waiting for millionaires to do something in your best interest

[@rodneycooperjr3223]

I have to say, it's a good thing Wisecrack has built a reputation (with me) of having intelligent and thoughtful content. Otherwise, I would think that the title of this video was clickbait meant to stoke outrage. I hate that kind of stuff (even if I agree with it).

[@HylianFox3]

It would be nice if the video's title was something like "Social Media Sucks Now" or "Online Interaction Sucks Now" rather than the exaggeration.

[@MisterCynic18]

Bruh I've seen so many channels I respect slowly switch to weird clickbait title cards I would've previously ignored on instinct. It's bizarre having to recalibrate how I filter through content on this site because the most manipulative kind of formatting has been so successful even good content creators have had to convert.

[@rodneycooperjr3223]

@@MisterCynic18 I'm with you. I've been doing that for years. I block any video or channel with a hyperbolic title. My feed is very bland, but I'm okay with that 😅

[@HotelMari0Maker]

“Mmm.. yes. Quite intellectually stimulating.” - Smart Beavis

[@andgainingspeed]

The Facebook/Google deal was "Jedi" in the sense they were hoping to play a "Jedi mind trick" and no one would notice them making this deal. 😅

[@soap1056593]

This channel has significantly grabbed my attention! Long time subscriber but your videos are getting even better!

[@WisecrackEDU]

Thank you!

[@lizgreer6888]

I was Facebook friends with my Dad and we had a lot of fun on Facebook. But then he died. The morning of his burial I woke up to a Facebook alert saying "congratulations on your anniversary! You and (Dads name) have been friends for 5 years. Come watch your walk down memory lane!" And it was a video collage of all our pictures and videos from the last few years. I burst into tears and cried and cried and cried in bed. It's not like Facebook didn't know, his death was all over my towns Facebook pages, there were local newspaper articles about his life. We received 100s of sympathy messages and comments from people.

[@Justlurkin_lol]

We need to bring back pen pals. Hand write letters to our friends. Build irl communities when possible. At least until someone builds a better platform

[@heinoustentacles5719]

no platforms. People should use small websites.

[@TheArtist808]

I remember the early headlines of corporations and large institutions grabbing control of the Internet long ago. We knew it was going to get bad but it's been so much worse

[@Jetpackbarry]

we need more participation from the community on decentralized, open source solutions like ActivityPub (Mastodon, Lemmy, etc) and keep big tech out of it

[@isaac1670]

Another great video as always. I'm gonna sound like an old man, but this is why I still believe that friendships should primarily be an in person experience. Social media can unquestionably link you up with people from all over the world but at the end of the day, that platform is a for profit, private company with it's own interests and goals. We've seen what happens when a platform changes its rules and the effects it can have on communities. Many of Tumblr's trans communities were scrubbed off the site when they instituted the porn ban, and we've seen what has happened to entire communities when KZbin changed it's algorithm. I'm not anti social media but I do think people should be aware that no social network is a "public square."

[@userMB1]

It's an important question we need to deal with. I'm exclusively on KZbin and Reddit and the latter is enshitifying right now. i have some very important communities in there. Communities who share the same political values as me and communities with people who have similar mental disorders as me. But mostly just interesting and funny posts and comments. The difference between Reddit and other sm platforms is that Reddit never has been profitable. That's why enshitification is going on. hundreds of millions of users every months and still not profitable. Redditers haven't really been coming up with solutions to make it profitable but nevertheless won't stop shitting on the CEO. Shitting on people who buy avatars, prizes and especially having a monthly subscription. So the enshitification is really on the users in this one. I myself am guilty in this. I bought Reddit sync, an alternative Reddit app, ages ago for maybe a dollar or something and haven't seen any ad on the app. How the hell is Reddit going to profitable if everybody is going to use an alternative app? Sorry for the rant

[@Thinginator]

I'm part of an online community that survived the demise of TWO social media platforms that hosted it in the past, because the online friendships that spawned from that community were so important to us that we banded together and created our own forum to support the community. This new site we've created is not for profit, there are no advertisements, we do have merch and a donations section to pay for the servers but that's it. The site is community-run, so any changes to it are made by and for the community. The best part is that the online friendships in this community have a habit of frequently becoming real-world friendships, and now we organize regular meetups just to hang out with each other in person. I've been so spoiled by this community-run small social media platform that I can't stand the bullcrap of big social media platforms anymore. This small community has showed me what social media in its ideal form should be, and I've drastically reduced the amount of time I spend on other platforms because it's not worth putting up with their corporate greed. I'm not going to share what it is because I don't want to risk flooding it with random strangers all of a sudden, but this is just to say if you find an internet community you love and you have web development experience or know someone who does... try to invest in your community by building them an independent digital home. At the very least you'll have a backup location when everyone is fed up with corporate greed, and your community will be better off for it. This is yet another reason why I think the world would be better off with corporate contentment. Just build a good service/product/community, make it stable, and... sit back and enjoy it. That's it. If your community is happy then you should be happy about it and consider it a success. If it's generating profit, as long as it's keeping the lights on it's good enough. You don't need more than that, don't fix what ain't broke. Our world has become so self-focused that I think a lot of people forgot how enjoyable it can be to invest in the happiness and wellbeing of a community, to be part of something larger than yourself. Instead of just focusing on profits, why not just enjoy knowing that your products/services bring people joy?

[@heinoustentacles5719]

This is why I keep advocating for small forums built by individuals or interested communities, like Melonland, or Heyuri. Too many other people just want to run from one 'platform' to another and hoping that the corporation behind this new one won't be as crappy.

[@TheBackyardChemist]

6:22 No you do not. You can block ads and sponsored posts with browser plugins, and donate to people who maintain those tools.

[@oddoutdoors]

Allow me to save you 20 minutes. Corporations and Karen's ruined the internet.

[@wermaus]

Aight where's the thread in the comments where we all start a co-op to just make a good open-source social media platform that doesn't aim to profit.

[@ChiLavekNG]

Jodie Dean's "Communicative Capitalism" is an interesting concept. Especially when analyzing the transition from social networking, to social media, as you highlighted in your video. Or as Dean describes it, the shift in the unit of basic communication from the message, to the contribution.

[@nurvac-613]

12:24 shoutout to my friends i guess reinhard gerardo marcelo kurt im not sure if christina still considers me her friend but i sure do. i miss you guys here in austria, my village is desolate

[@variantmoon2319]

Don’t even have to watch the video to say real

[@hypnokitten6450]

I quit FB about.. 5-6 months ago and couldn't be happier. FB (and similar networks) overloaded the term 'friends', sneaking in on the meaning of the word by simply using it to mean something else. And they 'look' real while you're in them. I'd even had a policy to only 'friend' people I'd met at least once in real life. But.. I think Covid really highlighted how brittle 'friendhips' are in social media space. It seemed to bring people together through that, which was wonderful - you could still 'talk' to people during quarantine. But then the political stuff played up higher and higher.. and you'd see a person type in one wrong sentence at 3AM and suddenly all their 'friends' would turn on them like rabid dogs, piling on, strangers appearing out of nowhere to join the attacks. (No, it didn't happen to me, but I do my best to be super careful policing what I say on social media). That didn't happen with actual friends, who have some built in tolerance and for each other's faults. And then you started noticing how hard it was to ever hang out with 'social media friends' even if they lived in the same city as you. Real friends, you can make time once in a while to meet somewhere that matches everyone's comfort levels. Social media friends often don't go any deeper then exchanging memes here and there. Something goes wrong for someone, maybe you can crowdfund everyone sending in $1 to help.. but more often then not they won't jump in their car to help you in an emergency... unless you have an established dynamic in real life. Social media kinda reduces most people to chat-bots. Not Every time.. but until you start developing an in-person relationship with them (even a digital one via webcam, or in an MMO, or 'some kind of shared activity you're working on together in real-time while seeing each other's faces')... people can appear and disappear in social media 'friend networks' like tv shows that have their seasons and then you never think about them again. And yea.. they can become so.. incredibly.. toxic. It can become SO easy to get radicalized in social media netowrks...

[@DrumWild]

2:50 I worked at MySpace from 2005-2008, and can confirm that this is so very, tragically true.

[@DSnake655]

Don't we kind of know this already, and that we should stop diagnosing the issue and rather start treating it? Damn.

[@daltongrowley5280]

As the owner of a pet goose I assure you Mike the feeling is mutual.

[@frequencyoffun5159]

The only reason I still have a group of friends is because of Discord due to being forced to move to a different continent due to work.

[@Blastertronus]

I Hate Elon Musk!

[@OblivionOdditiesProjectStudios]

I'm a UX Researcher, UX & Game designer, & creative content writer. I'm a High Functioning Autistic Savant. I've been studying game & UX design for almost 20 years. I have a lot of knowledge & understanding about how a lot of things work because my whole job is to essentially use meta data to manipulate & control how you're feeling to give you the experience you want. But everyone is caught in this negative feedback loop that's forcing everybody to experience burn-out. I'm going to try to explain this simply. So, we all know that corporations use the money WE give them to bend the laws into their favour. When we protest these things they normally don't last long & are done in short bursts. They know that they'll win no matter what cause at the end of the day, your only option is to give the lesser of evils your money. There isn't a "Good Corporation" to be an option. They know this is a negative feedback loop to make people feel burned out & demotivation. Here are the steps in how they did this. Okay, so, get this: A.) They trigger burnout. It's a Demotivational feeling that you get when you're feeling overwhelmed as a survival mechanism to get you to not take on too much for you to handle & force you to recharge your batteries. B.) The compounding consistent psychology that's used on you every day it's destroying your decision-making energies. Your brain uses mushrooms & sugar as fuel for your mental processing & growth. That's why kids love sugar SO MUCH & why you slowly lose your sweet-tooth over the years cause your brain fully matures just before 30 years old. C.) A part of you knows that your money is going to help the creators that produce your favourite entertainment. The other part knows that you're giving money to your oppressors. These are subconsciously battling cause you want to be a good person naturally & you're being forced to choose the lesser of evils. It's been proven that morally difficult choices drain us the most. D.) Everyone uses game theory subconsciously to try & better their outcomes. We have to survive cause of how much harder things are getting because of big corporations making things harder for us. This means our brains have to work harder to survive & stay alive. E.) Because money is required for survival, you feel bad subconsciously about getting something & then not using it. It takes a while for that to build enough to get to the surface. You feel like you've wasted your money cause you didn't use it optimally. This goes for just about any choice you make on a subconscious level. F.) Because money is required for survival you feel like you HAVE to get it, keep it, & ONLY use it properly which then makes you even more exhausted cause you have to work awful jobs to survive just to give your money back to the corporations making things awful to begin with. G.) Then we start to isolate ourselves in some way, shape, or form cause we feel like we aren't doing enough & don't deserve to do something that makes us happier, not realizing that you need that stuff for survival as well, cause big corporations have tricked you into thinking that happiness & joy should be your reward that only comes after something else is given or after you have sacrificed something important for it. H.) Because we starve ourselves of the things we enjoy cause we feel like we don't deserve it or are too busy for it, we get burnt out even more. This creates a negative feedback loop & environment that stops people from being able to fully function to their best. To stop us from getting "too motivated to take action". To drain us of our energy & have no interest in making a change cause we have to keep doing this our lose everything while we're already slowly losing everything. I.) This is what they want because then you will not be interested in revolting or starting a REVOLUTION cause of how much work would be required when you're already too burnt out to do anything else. Even your favorite hobbies. J.) Then not only that, because money is so important to survival people will reject anything that could threaten their survival. Like starting a union or revolution cause things will be different afterward & your already stressed & drained brain doesn't want to "make a gamble on the future when you're already struggling". While we still do it, how hard it is to convince those people to work together is based on their survival instincts & how burnt out they are. K.) People wouldn't even give a single dollar to something like that, even though it would help them in the long run. Even though they know they won't actually be affected negatively by $1 at that time, or $1 a month ($12 a year), or even share information about it with others cause of how afraid they are it will work & put their survival at risk cause they don't know how they would fit into the new world or system. L.) Big Corporations use the data YOU make, for them, every day, against you to make sure YOU'RE always losing so they can desperately keep that power. M.) That power is YOUR money. If you had a different option or helped create a new & good entertainment corporation & entertainment industry, even if it was passive support, you would start to feel much better & less hopeless. You would start doing the things you loved doing again. You would feel less stressed out about the future. We give them OUR money cause we don't have a choice. They use that money to abuse power & bend the laws into their favour to oppress us. When we protest they use their money to control the cops. Cops have to listen to the corporations & their rules. The ones that make those rules are the creators of the corporations. If we create the corporations, we make the rules, & get the same protection as them. We would be able to throw our money around like they do.

[@WSWC_]

I'm very happy for bear and Phillip for having such a nice friend in their close Circle. My single close friend is Cody 😁

[@race8624]

The Cypherpunks predicted and resolved this decades ago: cryptography. The only way to be in total control of your data is to do the work of taking hold of it. In today's world, everything is an app, and it takes maybe an hour or two on a weekend to get all your new apps set up on your new OS and start interacting with the communities there: all safe, demonetized, and mathematically secure. But that's the rub: the revolution feels like a chore. People consider technology, let alone disciplines like math and computer science, some arcane (admittedly gatekept) wizard's dungeon to slog through only to get to the end of the tunnel and see only more work to be done (don't get me started on contributing to Open-Source projects). We could do so much if only we took this digital infrastructure we are literally drowning in and learned to swim.

[@GlitchedVision]

so true, and the worst part is you're called a *ist for suggesting such things because "they promote colonialism and race supremacy" nah, that's just the rich people's way of saying they don't want us to learn these things so we're stuck relying on them.

[@yosefpollack4901]

Wisecrack should sell a T-shirt that says “f@&$ the birds”. If I see Michael on the streets that’s definitely what I’ll yell out

[@peachypietro9980]

As much as I hate social media platforms, I hate neoliberal globalization even more: the conditions in which social media proliferated were a direct result of the forces of neoliberal globalization, especially regarding the fact that people are essentially forced to leave what little remains of in-person, direct social support. People no longer have the ties with others that, ya know, allowed us as a species to actually continue existing! I use the term social reproduction outside of the context of Marxian analysis, and it fits: social institutions can NOT continue to exist without people-to-people interactions. Even if they were shitty in various ways, you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to the institutions and structures that provide people with social support. Social structures will evolve over time, and that's good - as in how we no longer have chattel slavery. However, we no longer have people going to church as much (superstition aside), unions are seriously in bad shape, and we generally lack much of what we once had. Not trying to be anachronistic or pining for the past here, but Durkheim would tell ya - it ain't good for people to be like this. See also: the explanation behind mass shootings. Anywho, rant over. Thank you!

[@falsificationism]

Cory Doctorow's concept of "enshittification" is so perfect!

[@mikitz]

Before the social media, you couldn't instantaneously tell your friends or your family that you are depressed. Then again, there was no social media to make you depressed in the first place.

[@gomamonthedigimon]

I am sorry for romanticizing the past, but from what i know, depression was CAUSED in the past. Death of loved one, horrible things, etc caused depression in some people. But now? It, sadly, feels "normal" to be depressed. Depression is seen as another "normal and common feeling that comes and goes", treated the same as happiness and sadness, while it is something more serious. Even when things are not necessarily horrible, there is still some feeling of emptiness. I mean, depression has ALWAYS existed. But in these times, it is bigger than in 2000's and 90's. The differences are so easy to see. (I apologize for being possibly one-sided.)

[@gomamonthedigimon]

@Thegingerbreadm4n And not just deaths! Almost everything is shocking for most people. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was treated as "shocking", and got million memes, as if someone died, and it wasn't just a slap. That event was not nice, for sure, but people kinda exaggerated on their reactions. It's so weird, on one side, we have people who do not take anything seriously, on the other, we have people who get heated over small things as well. Lose-lose situation. (Sorry if i misunderstood your comment.)

[@dannyisnotcool8353]

actually, to answer the question you posed at the intro of the video, earlier this year i heard some 20-something explain to her boyfriend at a cafe what tiktok was and how she loves that the algorithm knows her better than she knows herself. one of the most surreal moments ive ever witnessed

[@dirkster42]

As Cyndi Lauper said, "Money Changes Everything."

[@DerikHendric]

I feel like Discord is filling this gap lately. The means that it charges for stuff's been ok until now, and the servers are communities which you choose to take part into, much like social media communitites.

[@sixburgher07]

So I'm thinking capitalism played a role on why you didn't discuss tik tok in a video about social media 😂😂

[@saltiestsiren]

Time to make a return to super niche, old school forums.

[@xczechr]

The answer is to stop using social media altogether. You'll be better for it.

[@bowietwombly5951]

Let me guess, you’re not part of any of the communities mentioned in this video as ones that are particularly reliant on digital spaces, and the communities you are a part of are represented enough in your physical environment that you can meet your needs of having some sense of connection and belonging without using social media. You take this representation for granted and don’t think about the experiences of marginalized others who might be in different situations than you and instead assume your lack of reliance is explained through some amount of superiority. How’d I do? Pretty close?

[@weregretohio7728]

I do recommend not using social media, but how many people can afford not to these days? By design, society has herded us into these shitty platforms to escape our increasing sense of isolation and overall discontent with the world. All by design.

[@nostalgiatrip7331]

​@@weregretohio7728We need to go fishing as a society again

[@fromoakandrowan2794]

This is a social media platform.

[@birdiewolf3497]

​@@weregretohio7728I mean maybe we should stop escaping and actually confront these issues.

[@bartz0rt928]

I think federated open source networks are the only real way out. No central authority, no one organization owns the whole thing, and if you (and your friends) don't like what's going on on a particular server, you can move or even run your own. Basically, the autonomy of web 1.0 with the social connections of web 2.0.

[@Acid_Viking]

I'm willing to be sold on the idea, but the mere absence of central authority isn't enough. If I join Mastodon, for example, will I stumble into something cool and exciting - the way one did when exploring the web back in the 90s - or will it just be a smaller group of people having basically the same conversations as they do on Twitter?

[@LividImp]

The "age of online friendship" being over would be great. We need to get back to offline friendships anyway. My youngest started college last year, he's made a load of offline friends and it's probably the happiest I've ever seen him. This is despite the fact that he spends far more time on work and school, but his free time is clearly much more fulfilling now than when it was spent online.

[@dem8568]

I've seen a lot of these comments. You're all ignoring the fact, pointed out in the video no less, that some people find it very difficult to find like-minded people in real life. Not everyone finds mainstream culture welcoming or particularly enjoyable.

[@hangukhiphop]

You think the end of online friendship is going to mean a return to offline friendships? Think again. You can't put the toothpaste back in the bottle. The digital native generations are set for an unprecedented course either way.

[@LividImp]

@@dem8568 Man, you are talking to an old punk rocker. There is no one that finds "mainstream culture" less inviting than me. Hell, I don't even find online culture inviting. But that's just tough shit, isn't it? The world isn't going to change to my tastes, and it ain't gonna change to yours. That's the whole reason the punk movement got started. We made our own culture, with our own people. Wtf would you have done 30-40 years ago before an online life was even possible? Stop wallowing in your own self-pity. Stop waiting for the world to fix your problems, it ain't gonna happen.

[@holoceph3916]

I had so much hope things would get better after pandemic. I was wrong. They got worse!

[@MrJrucker]

Really enjoying the lighting changes! Thanks for listening to feedback

[@Xenophrenia]

just a thought - stop using the "beep" - it's childish and really fucking annoying - or ... just don't swear if you're not gonna let it be there - KZbin only counts swears if it's in the first 45 seconds so you can swear - children will be fine if they hear it but their parents may be temporarily embarrassed if they repeat it (that's why parents don't like children hearing it - cuz it DOES NOT HURT THEM) ...

[@EroticInferno]

Even in this world, the “do-gooder” option still needs to make enough money to sustain itself. So either we pay a user fee or they still need to sell ads.

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

Yup. Especially if you're going to have any level of moderation going on there.

[@Thinginator]

I'm part of an independent forum that does exactly that, and it actually does work. The site runs on anonymous donations and occasional merch sales, but it's basically user-run by people who just care about the community. The do-gooder option is not at all impossible to accomplish and you'd be surprised how many people end up donating to keep the lights on.

[@HylianFox3]

@@Thinginator Basically how churches work.

[@SpoopySquid]

Capitalism, baby

[@bryantgrove6199]

First to comment❤

[@WisecrackEDU]

You won.

[@jackadam01]

Social media used to be about building your own personal page to show off what you are about today all our pages look the same with only the Pfp and or banner being the only way to express one self. You cant change the html amd CSS to fit the design you want to fit your personal page anymore unless you want to go ahead and build your own website which in that case good luck getting traffic.

[@birdiewolf3497]

I don't think I've ever made a friend online. I just never used social media in that way. Like what do yall do? I wouldn't mind trying, but i don't know how that even works.

[@paxdriver]

I find it weird that in my 30's I have a dozen close friends because I always believed I was reclusive. It's so weird to me how rare true friendships are these days. I was once considered reclusive, now I'm gregarious - all while maintaining a life online lol just without social media being involved in my personal life 😜

[@Ariel_is_a_dreamer]

I love tumblr tbh. Idh why that place remains fun and wholesome. I've never made friends online tho, despite being 18. I feel like a dinosaur. 2 friend gang lol

[@inkbunnybunny]

Every alternative to monopolies has effectively been banned simply for being not the same as the monopolies.

[@Ramondenner1991]

10:12 - About that mental help support, i remember that around 2006-2009 while i was in middle school i used to recive so much support in atheist groups on Orkut (a social media we used to have here in Brazil), while my family was like "you gotta love jesus" and stuff. YES I WAS ONE OF THOSE TEENAGERS WHO THINK THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT NIILISM AND SHIT! Atheism used to be my religion kkkkkk

[@fallenweeble7453]

While there are many real friendships formed online, they now seem to pale in comparison to the amount of parasocial relationships. Influencers/streamers angle their "brand" to attracting lonely people and it's not a good thing.

[@b1ff]

I left facebook, twitter, & reddit; the fediverse is about the only place that's new and (as of yet) unshittified. But to rephrase what was once said by the Wu Tang Clan, "Capitalism Ruins Everything Around Me, CREAM! We lose money, fuckin' dolla bills, y'all…" It's seriously time to quit this game

[@ManjMau]

If you were to ask me what is the root cause of all the bad things that are responsible for social media platforms to go bad, I would tell you very simply: Advertisers.

[@wipjenni]

Without obscene levels of consumerism and personal vanity, the advertisers wouldn’t even exist.