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.
Social Media makes us dumber because it tries to force us into mobs. The problem I think is caused by engagement metrics. They optimize for mobs because mobs are the easiest form of engagement to measure. I'm not even sure you can measure the better forms of engagement to be honest. Which perhaps means that this isn't fixable without destroying Social Networks as a business.
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?
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.
Until the electoral college is fixed or more people vote, it might as well be half the country. It makes little difference that it's at least 50% in the red states.
What positive have any of those platforms delivered that outweighs the tremendous burden they have externalized on society?
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.
