https://english.elpais.com/technology/2024-05-14/deactivating-facebook-for-just-a-few-weeks-reduces-belief-in-fake-news.html
The largest study ever carried out on social media deactivation has found that disconnecting lowers users political participation and also their propensity to believe misinformation
I only miss it because Facebook Marketplace has killed Craigslist and I have some crap I need to sell
I gave up selling on marketplace, and donate everything. People messaging you for months asking questions or wanting a refund after they broke it. I'm not your tech support, and no warranty claims. Have heard this is a regional issue and also depends on the category. I will never sell another car on marketplace. Craigslist is great for the anonymity.
Can’t even give shit away on Facebook’s buy nothing groups cause people fucking ghost you after saying they’ll take it
iS tHiS sTiLl aVAILaBlE.
Marketplace when I was moving saved me many trips because people will come pick up any old thing, but it was the pits of hell to deal with. Some lady ghosted me picking up some doors, so I moved on to the next person, and she messaged me back three weeks later saying she was interested again, and was mad as blazes I hadn't held onto them.
Craigslist was always on the fringes, before Facebook marketplace came in there were a bunch of separate and disconnected online marketplaces. Facebook marketplace had the advantage of already having a massive user base (larger than any of the existing online marketplaces), causing it to become the largest one right out the gate, which then of course makes it the most attractive option for sellers since they will reach more people.
It's also real annoying when trying to look up business hours or a restaurant menu only to find all their links are to Facebook.
Fortunately, my area has a popular classifieds at a local newspaper website, so I've never even looked at Facebook marketplace.
I (maybe, kinda) miss what Facebook was like in, er, 2008-ish. But then again I was also 25 so maybe I just miss what life was like back then.
Same. I got on it in 2006 and it was great up until about 2010, 2013-2014 was when the shit started to hit the fan.
2013-2014 was when the timeline shifted from being a chronological timeline to a feed. The algo took over and it went to shit.
yeah. the platforms aren't so bad in and of themselves, it's the engagement algorithms that turn everything to shit.
just like IG, YT, video/music stremaing etc. you could stumble upon random and interesting shit... now the algo is just trying to shove kendrick lamar and joe rogan at me none stop because that is what is 'popular' and whatever shitty movie that netflix is trying to promote.
browsing is dead and search is also mostly broken. you can't even effectively search for shit anymore.
the only place i can freely browse anymore is my local library. and discover lots of cool things. that experience on the internet is dead.
I stopped actively using it in about 2015 and every time I happen to go on it (like once every 3 years because, like a lot of people, it's how I communicate with family members I don't see often) it's like uncovering and diving into a cesspool.
Not being stuck inside of an echo chamber really does wonders for the brain. And yes, I know the irony of saying this on Lemmy, but it's true.
Echo chambers are a lot easier to recognize and ignore when they aren't filled with your friends and family.
Lemmy isn't really an echo chamber. It's like saying going over to a friends place is an echo chamber because you and your friend get along. There's nothing wrong with hanging out with people who share your values and beliefs.
The problem with social media are their algorithms. They aren't designed to connect you with like-minded people, but to keep you engaged. The content that keeps people engaged tends to be terrible content.
The recent "a man or a bear" trend is a perfect example. Algorithms love divisive content like that because it drives engagement, but it also leads to people getting really upset over nothing. Lemmy doesn't have any algorithms driving engagement so it doesn't have that problem.
Lemmy’s a lot better than Reddit for not being an echo chamber because the communities are less interest specific, and most of us are here because we’re the type to seek out a better discussion rather than stick with status quo.
But as it gets bigger and the communities become more niché it will become a bigger issue.
I strongly disagree.
I don't think lemmy is necessarily an echochamber per se, rather its just a place where misinformation exists and opinions are manipulated.
Lemmy does use algorithms to show you the most engaging content, and there are absolutely bots and bad actors manipulating which content is prioritised.
The genocide Joe / vote abstinence thing was a very clear example.
... That's not an echo chamber though. That's propaganda and vote manipulation mostly by literal state actors and brainwashed rubes.
An echo chamber is when people literally self segregate enough to the point that they no longer consume almost any media that doesn't fit their belief. Its exacerbated by large corporations who profit from ad revenue driven through user engagement.
Lemmy is not an echo chamber no more than the literal radio.
Reddit is not an echo chamber.
You can make these an echo chamber through varying degrees of ease. But places like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have been proven to drive you into one by exploiting ragebait for clicks.
You can say they're both fruit, sure. But one is like eating cantaloupe and the other like eating bananas laced with speed.
No, this isn't like that at all. Mods here are actively pwning anyone who slightly disagrees with them. This is very definitely an echo chamber.
Lemmy is definitely an echo chamber, but I agree that it's not necessarily a bad thing as long as we recognize it for what it is. There are a large number of people out there that have very different opinions than the majority of users on this platform, we need to keep things respectful even in our disagreements with them instead of tearing them down for their opinions.
Damn, speedrunning the Lemmy topics! I only do 2/3 of them, otherwise we'd probably already be married!
Block Fox and the other right wing news stations, but also a couple liberal news stations like NBC. When they call you for tech support, tell them it's a weird issue happening with cable lately
Platforms like Facebook have an incredible hold on some people. I remember a few years ago when the "Momo" hoax happened, an older coworker arrived at the office and started warning us about the danger of "Momo" they'd seen on Facebook. I'd already heard about the hoax (and was aware of the original creepyasta origins), and brought up a few news articles explaining it, including an official statement from the police. Everyone seemed satisfied by the truth, except for the Facebook addict. They just gave me a blank stare, and a few hours later I heard them telling another group of colleagues to beware of "Momo" getting to their children.
I have family members and longstanding family friends who have succumbed to this. Interestingly almost all of them were decrying the internet as something that couldn't be trusted before the age of social media.
Damn Momo is like 3 years old now? Lol. My kids were coming home with that shit they knew it was bullshit before my ex lol.
I miss Oprah and her rainbow parties like sheeit I want me some blowjob parties!
Fuck I was still ib highschool then, and I still on occasion become convinced that I need to be getting ready for school at random when waking up.
Deleting it for 3 years also improves mental health and keeps toxic family members out of your business. I wish I’d learned that sooner.
Just never accept the friend requests by family members, it isn't worth it.
Even aside from politics, the only thing they do is comment dumb annoying gifs on your posts.
I think I'm closer to 10 years, but I do remember needing to recreate one for a few weeks while I worked with a few Facebook employees on a project.
Anyway, I don't even know what Facebook looks like these days. My contacts occasionally mention it, but nothing important seems to happen there.
Just delete your account. It's not a big deal, it's just toxic people showing off for other toxic people.
My mom was permabanned from Facebook in 2020 for constantly posting anti-vax nonsense so she just went to places like Gab and Parlor. 😑
Yowza. My dad did the same until he died (shockingly, of COVID), so I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know what it's like having a crazy parent and it sucks.
How do you decide which sources are credible? I can't decide. Literally everything can be faked, and the more there is on the line, the more incentive and resources there are to do so.
What important stuff do you think there is that isn't faked? How do you decide that it's not fake?
Damn near everything you've ever accepted as true is stuff you were told or read and just accepted it based on how it was presented.
"I can't decide"
yes, we are all well aware of how dumb you are. Your stupidity is becoming quite well known on Lemmy.
This is why, in a lot of universities, they're trying to teach you how to learn, not necessarily how you should think.
We need to be able to examine the claims for ourselves and learn what red flags look like.
And a lot of the time we mix up "facts" with "opinions". Even when we are looking at facts, most of the time there are lies mixed with truth or conveniently forgotten truths. If we only get our information from a single source, or from biased sources, then we're going to miss some key information.
That's why it's good to make sure that you look at any story (especially politicized ones) from different angles and sources even if you don't agree with them.
Not only that but it can be enlightening to hear about a story from someone who's much more intimately familiar with the subject themselves.
For example, whenever it comes to news stories about the Supreme Court, I like to look for commentary from lawyers such as Steve Lehto or Legal Eagle. You'll find that they typically provide some very important context into why a particular decision was made that cuts through a lot of the outrage material that reporters push for clicks.
I believe that some popular news organizations are sufficiently trustworthy. At the very least, you can find sources that rank higher than others on the scale of trustworthiness.
One of the best decisions I made was deleting my Facebook. I really mean that, one of the best decisions in my entire life. Not getting sucked into the absolute bullshit fest that greedy shit fuckers like Mark Zuckerberg set up for humanity is extremely relieving. Don't compare yourself to other people, you be you, just try to be your best self, it's worth it. Don't let the billionaire leeches of society take everything from you, fuck Facebook.
The downside is that everyone around you in real life is stuck in that loop, so you can't really escape it anymore.
Can we start some viral alliteration to get people off Facebook for a few weeks? Or maybe get them more mindful of their social media consumption?
Make Memories Matter May?
Just Journal June?
Just Jibe July?
Authentic August?
Send Stamps September?
Offline October?
No Negativity November?
How about Analogue August or Stop Scrolling September?
I'll also say, Offline October is pretty dang good.
legit offline October is great, and works as a grassroots movement. I’m having an “offline October” is akin to when my friends and I do Dry July. I’m going to start doing this (despite the fact that I haven’t used social media in 2 years)
Gotta spin the news so it makes it more appealing. Good way to spin the headline is it "reboots your bullshit detector".
Has to be fully grassroots though. I don't think many influencers will promote it, they're the most addicted and it's literally their livelihood.
Instructions clear and understood.
You can find my part of this new online activism here
Dont forget to like, share and doomscroll the rest of my anti socialmedia propaganda 🤩
There's something on the tip of my tongue. Something like ____ Zuck. Something that rhymes, and expresses how I feel about him and his platform. I just can't quite put my finger on it...
😉
Same sentence but replace it with Instagram for me. I can't help but peek into comments for some funny ones but they are all filled with vile stuff. Tiktok is no better but it's definitely better than Instagram. Even worse half of those comments come from my country :(
the vast majority of nutbags with low key mental issues i meet are social media addicts who furiously want to bring their 'curated' image into the real world and force others to worship them.
the others nutbags are homeless folks.
From Wikipedia:
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented.
Propaganda isn’t always fake news, it can also be true stuff presented in a biased way.
Similarly, fake news isn’t always propaganda. Some is just stuff spread by trolls to make fun of people.
Propaganda isn’t always fake news, it can also be true stuff presented in a biased way.
It can also be true stuff presented in an unbiased way. There's a disconnect here between the proper definition of the word, which is perfectly neutral, and its connotations because the what secretary for tsunami safety doesn't call their stuff "propaganda" but "public service announcement". Still the same thing, though, the tsunami safety secretary is trying to persuade the audience to not be stupid and get to high ground as soon as the sea recedes. Very much pushing an agenda, they *gasp* want people to survive and *gasp* use communication to achieve it.
Can it? I searched a bit and all the definitions I’ve found seem to be about swaying public opinion, not simple objective announcements.
It does have a negative connotation even though it can be used for good, but I still don’t think purely objective messages like “a tsunami is coming, get to high ground” should count as propaganda.
What about things like this?
Which btw yes certainly has editorialising going on. The answer to "Useless projects are funded with EU money" starts with "National and regional authorities in the EU countries select projects which they think meet their needs best in line with the strategies and priorities agreed with the Commission." Which isn't saying that EU money doesn't found useless projects, but implicitly blames regional authorities for it. I don't even think they want to mislead, here, they simply want to stay diplomatic.
(This video about the canopy walk is brilliant. (enable subtitles)).
I think that qualifies as propaganda too: its intention is to improve the public opinion of the Cohesion policy by clearing misconceptions.
(About the “project” in the video… what the hell? I had to Google it because I wasn’t convinced it was a real thing. Just why?)
Corruption, that's why. Similar to how the Italian mafia would half-build highway bridges with taxpayer money and then mysteriously have some shell company go bankrupt. OLAF is on it because of course they are when stuff makes the press. If they have a case EPPO will take over at which point that Hungarian mayor will have the questionable honour of being up against the gal who cleaned up Romania... before Hungarian courts. If those turn out to be corrupt then that's going to buy the mayor time but ultimately the ECJ would overrule them. Still no mechanism to actually set boots on member state grounds but Hungary is already on thin ice when it comes to getting suspended from the EU for various reasons, they're going to tread lightly.
See if you want to be corrupt in the EU you have to do it like the big boys: Implement some policy, then get a cushy job at a company. Or receive tons of money for boring private speeches. Something like that, directly grabbing into state coffers is so uncivilised.
EDIT: Oh, Hungary didn't join EPPO, figures. They can still freeze assets, though. Also if I understand things correctly our mayor would turn into a fugitive in the rest of the EU.
Yes, I figured but… isn’t that a bit too obvious? Surely there had to be a less blatant way of laundering money than… a treetop walk with no trees?
YouTube is getting particularly bad about this to, unfortunately. They need to do more to remove harmful misinformation, but they don't care because it won't make them money.
I've had to remove a lot of recommendations. Man, PragerU, Crowder, Shapiro and Joe Rogan were in my feeds. Jeez.
The unfortunate thing is a lot of people won't remove it from their recommendations and will watch it, and the worse thing is there's actually even worse content than those you listed, it's awful.
For real. Not logged in, on a new PC, just having watched a few gaming videos and got recommended US right wing nonsense. I am not in the US, no VPN, nothing. No ability to tell them to stop showing me that garbage. Hell, just let me disable shorts in general.
It really sucks that YT has such shit "don't show me stuff" controls. Sometimes it feels like asking to not get recommended a certain channel will instead show all the alternatives that feel and look just like it
I have blocked so many right wing channels that my de facto suggestions after watching political shit is Zach gun rants, Arma ops, and Animarchy or one of the other NAFO associates. Its fucken great.
Youtube is good as a video hosting website, but bad as anything social-related. I just treat it like a video website and ignore the rest. Private browsing mode, no login used is my preferred way to access youtube videos
Honestly I prefer having an account specifically so I can filter out the garbage fake harmful dangerous content so I don't have to see it.
Social media in general is full of people that want to rage or exert control over someone else. I had two of my comments here on Lemmy (not sure what server) under the News community for "Victim Blaming" and "Victim Shaming" for saying that people need to take responsibility for their actions occasionally instead of constantly blaming it on the other party.
Clearly it was your fault, you should be ashamed...
/S
The saving grace is Lemmy isn't just algorithms doing the banning.
Replace "for just a few weeks" with "forever", and "reduces" with "gets rid of", and now you have an even better statement.
The last time I logged on to Facebook was this past fall because there was a death in our fairly tight knit group of high school classmates. It had been three or four years since I'd been in there.
So I went on and said my words.
While I was there, I didn't really notice what was in my feed.
What I noticed was suddenly I was getting notification after notification that my posts from years and years ago were getting deleted because they didn't fit whatever the current terms and conditions of use were.
This amused me.
So I left my words of dead classmate up for a week then sent my account silent again.
I can't see Facebook or any social media being a place I ever hang out again, which is a little bit of a bummer because without any social media, IRL social activities all but come to an immediate and total halt.
Oh well. I'll live.
I'm convinced those who want to be fearful of things will immediately latch onto a new source of misinformation.
This isn't to say Facebook is good, or that we shouldn't try to have stronger punishment for misinformation that leads to public harm, just that "people are dumb, panicky dangerous animals"
I deleted my account back in November when they enforced the 'pay or ok' option. I was not ok with that
Have read a lot of books since !
In EU you were given an option by META to pay for adfree experience or accept targeted ads
Problem 1: if you paid, they would not stop tracking you. They would just stop showing ads. They would still be able to suggest content from commercial accounts.
Problem 2: the price was unreasonable. It depended on how many accounts you have across the platforms but i believe that the price for my profile and a couple of pages was €32 every month
Problem 3: these two options replaced the option to accept untargeted ads. I was ok with untargeted but they removed the option
Their solution has since been deemed as 'not ok' by the EU data protection board
I just created an account a couple of months ago after never using it. It's easy to filter out the dummies.
I still don't think this would save my mom from whichever TV source she watches, Fox News, News Max, or OAN.
Can you get into her parental controls? Someone on Reddit did that with their parents and it actually got them somewhere.
I blocked fox news at my parents house for years until my dad died. probably saved the remaining years we had together.
