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0 pointsRGamma3y ago0 comments

2014 is a curious date, because it's when I first understood that my utterly optimistic outlook on what the internet would do to at least western culture/society was misdirected.

It's when I first noticed how loud, oblivious and frenetic online interaction became at large and how - by self-selection - sociopaths took the lead on the stage that big central platforms provided them. But what I found/find even sadder were/are the engagement numbers around shallow multimedial diarrhea and influencers.

It's also the year I sharply cut back on my internet usage by about 90% and quit all communities (perhaps prematurely, but I was sort of shellshocked).

HN is almost all that's left (except one venerable gaming community) and it itself I consider one of the shallower communities (this is structural because of the lack of longitudinal communication since discussions are keyed on links, not longer-lived standalone threads. The crowd makes up for it though).

And now... I'm glad I made the connections and experiences I did before then, some of which carried over to today. I also learned how the psychopathological spectrum does not just exist in textbooks and how to bail when confronted with it.

Maybe when I have less things on my plate I'll stretch out my feelers once more and visit a couple online villages like I enjoyed so much back then.

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bonoboTP3y ago

HN is also extremely tiring to read. Constant sour venting about office politics and how it's all futile, and everyone is out there to get you, the darned sleazy manager abusing the developers, the dark government surveilling the people etc etc.

I mean even this very discussion is quite dark. I'm not saying these aren't realistic issues, but it's probably better to quit HN too. Almost all front page stories are some form of grumbling about the unfixable dark state of the world.

RGammaOP3y ago

Hehe, it's gotten better I believe. I'm browsing it somewhat less than I used to so my sample may be off.

Eventually you numb slightly to it, and with a couple interesting pieces sprinkled in, the overall utility is still positive to me.

And more generally: Controversy is never going away, I just have to get better at detecting silent consensus that fits my ethics (i.e. where the gap between world models is not so large to make conversation impossible). These days this mostly entails belief in some form of shared reality and basic human rights; how the standards have fallen!

And on some occasions we simply like to scream into the ether. Personally, I don't hold it against anybody, even though it may be against community hygiene when overdone or inappropriate. But at that point there's moderation.

The IT crowd will manage. It's what's happening "outside" that worries me...

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