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#googleisevil

psych@diasp.org
Michael

Meanwhile... my current take on #socialmedia / #media

Twitter on Fire (lies, #Muskvirus etc.. and holding fire sale' today!) ..."to help pay the rent" (Bloomberg)

TwitterDog

#1, #Twitter is in flames (literally having a "fire sale" today) but in terms of tone, crowded exits, and big debates among "regulars" about the morality/business sense of staying with a platform actively courting #racism, #misogyny & promoting #GQP/ #TrumpVirus
fueled hate and #conspiracy . As its owner has fun with his toy, indifferent to appearances or even a cash drain. (He has lots more)

#2 - "Other"

Mastodon- We are now seeing a very active & vibrant #Mastodon and related Federation sites, including some instances (pods) set up by news organizations. At first there was limited 'fresh content' and some were just Twitter mirrors, "in case" Twitter implodes. &/or to test the waters. In the first weeks of this year, it's gotten to the point where one can choose from various feeds (local, Fediverse etc) and see it regularly updating. A wide variety of talents being offered (George Takei memes, researchers' findings, a huge #Caturday showing ("CatsOfMastodon"), some diplomats. many journalists (as individuals. off the company site), lots of music, photos, art....

So, given its huge growth, constant improvements, and generally very good "vibe" reflecting the pleasant community... it works!
That said, it's not the mythical (wished for) "Twitter replacement:. On some levels, it is - an interesting mixture of ordinary people and public or entertainment figures (small now but growing), and a friendliness typical of pioneers settling a newly found, hospitable place.
But it is not Twitter's identical twin - it's ad free and not algorithm-driven. I've yet to see a single trolling or spam, though my time has been limited and mostly focused on the feature set and finding news/information sources. The cats, photos & music are icing on the cake for me, and may be core value for many. It's not as long-form or 'conversational' as 'here', but OTOH there are new acquaintances and resources awaiting 'out there' in large number, for those who want to immerse. Note that you can easily repost, tags work very well (and you can follow them) and the interface allows for seeing/liking//contacting content on other instances, so if you're on a small one, you can connect via a search and connect, and that pod becomes connected. If you're on a huge pod, same, people can find you. Anyway, it's viable. One disappointment/debate for some - users cannot "quote tweet" easily. OTOH, it's as easy as on FB or MeWe to post articles, music vids, etc, by just typing the url. No editor necessary. But not as much formatting options as "here" (image insertion, e.g.). But then, most of the new users are coming from Twitter, not escaping from 'here'. Here is fine! (Comfy/friendly)

Post.news

I'm sad to break the news but this is definitely not "the next Twitter"! It's just come out of Beta and wait-list only and people can join. (See for yourself! I'd love to hear your findings/experience). Briefly, it has lovely formatting, a dream for bloggers, with a fill-in slug for "title" and easy description or text, plus thumbnail/photo. It looks professional and many of the early adopters are journalists, novelist, etc. For them, it may be nice, but as a publicists' destination more than "social media". It is difficult to 'share/repost' without adding a story, and active moderation prevents instant posting or posting at all (for me, about 1/3 of the time). Function-wise, mostly now I cannot 'like' or even post (was I bad?) as in trying, I click on the star, it increases one number, then goes back. I took time to carefully compose a post and tapped the "publish" button 100 times, nothing happening.... So much for the 'experience'.

One more general experience: the feed looks polished, and long posts will have a "read" button to continue. But also, many articles require points to read. Some orgs are 'charging' tokens for nearly everything, some are lighter (learning/economics curve?). Most personal posts, except some "influencers" trying to grow big audiences, also are charging points. Users have been getting 50 points to use for purchasing reads or for "tips". (Don't ask? Tough to explain). Sort of like "Brave" browser sharing points for seeing ads.

Again, I can see potential as an auxiliary publicity method for authors, publicists, journalists, and news orgs. But "social"? Not so much, to tell #truth. Some comments, yes, but the whole thing seems super clunky to actually use. I've gotten some followers and likes, have yet to get a single notice via the 'bell'. And as I said, recently I seem almost to be blocked from posting or liking.

🤷‍♂️

Now I did connect with a few journalists and social scientists I might not have on Twitter, interesting, solid experts and talented writers. But then that's it. I can follow my connections or "explore" (Ack! Shades of Twitter now turning TikTok blended with Fox!)

Redeeming features? It looks pretty. It has an intuitive 'form' (rather than editor) which for example instantly turns a word bracketed by asterisks (* .. ) into *italicized font, but like Mastodon, no way to insert images, that I've found. (Maybe a url to an image?)

And now there are posts I've seen decrying the new policies/features of Post which are seen as limiting, many expressing sadness that "Post will never be 'the next Twitter'". I concur, but had to check it out, and did so.

Have I forgotten anything? Well, #facebook is the same as ever, stealing/re-selling user data as its model and dictating what people "like". Of course the worst aspects get borrowed now by Musk, who steals from TikTok too. And #MeWe is the same, apparently thriving and a comfy spot for Facebook-like posting of selfies and music vids, no editors (but can edit), but definitely of no value to many Twitter users (the huge group currently in flux) if public posts are the goal. (It is, despite its initial claims, still a walled garden.) Some of the many Twitter users who actually do interact, and enjoy that aspect, may be seen 'here' or on MeWe, just as the Google+ crowd dispersed across options when Google lost its "Don't be evil" motto and changed it seemingly to #GoogleIsEvil

Speaking of, I know there is a whole slice of Internet (Not the #Truth network, #Fox, NewsMax, Rumble, Gutter, etc.) considered "social media" too, but the hate, delusions and division seem so central to that realm I'm not sure it there is not one big social media #cult . With its large presence across people's online bubbles. Mm, profits!

FB profits

Well, "different strokes for different folks". Google+ was 'the best' in its day and way, as was Twitter.

~~

So, my take as of 18 Jan 2023

Twitter is flaming out, some holding on, some encouraging rapid exit, many hedging bets, others not wanting to be associated now, with conspiracy-spreading, anti-vax anti- #truth and anti-social elements. (Suddenly I'm getting followers - not ones I'd want!)

Mastodon has exploded in users, and handled it well. It has many beloved features, diverse users (both celebs/orgs and everyday people), and everything from #Caturday to fine art (photos/drawing/digital) to cartoons and political memes. (Without trolling and with options to mask images which might be deemed 'sensitive', plus captions). One can also chat, like, forward (though not "quote tweet", re-sending with comment or title for example). Features may evolve as they actively hire and follow through on enhancements which users want. It's not clear who/how/if corporate entities will benefit (as opposed to say, Twitter), but big instances like the original one ask for support via Patreon or local server hosts. No direct advertising in the feed.

Post - "pretty". Some good content and impressive posters, many literary & journalistic professionals.
Interface is either a gem or G-d-awful depending on one's comfort zone and/or goal. Not possible to post "live" now in many cases, and difficult to simply re-share something (or in my case for a few days, to even "like" a Post post. Has for-token reads and "tips".
All a bit thorny amid the roses IMM. Agreeing with some of its fans here: As it looks now, definitely NOT "the next Twitter".
Nothing is. Maybe that's good. Or not. Centralized town square vs. Federated Town Squares.... "We'll see what happens."

And meanwhile, @ diaspora * "here" - all is well. (Well, most!)

Other than the stagnant feature set that long-time users accept and/or deal with and/or embrace - no big mass-exodus to or from "here". Still can enjoy what we enjoy, be it cats, politics, photography, wordplay, whatever...

So I say again to 'my regular circles [aspects here] - I'm not leaving, see no reason, but as a social scientist and long-time user of (mostly) social media, I feel the need to follow a huge sea-change as it's happening, now fueled by Twitter rather than Google+.

I see and feel the anxiety, anger, confusion among so many on Planet Twitter now looking at a safe home for when it hits the fan...

#cyberpsychology

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psych@pluspora.com
Michael Fenichel

3/30/2022

"What a long strange trip it's been", and still is. Seems like yesterday we (I) scrambled to land somewhere when Google + exploded. All the songs, memories, tears, anxiety, questions, ticking of the clock...

Most of those I had ongoing back & forth with on Pluspora either had presence on another pod, or added one when Pluspora got wobbly a year or so ago, so now I'm "based" (parked on an open tab) on diasp.org, and it's almost identical day-to-day. I've checked Pluspora ever few days because a few folks still prefer posting there primarily, and I don't see "here". But overall, this is an easy but sad loss, as no lifeboat or destination is needed now. But one less familiar neighborhood is still in our community.

Thank you @pluspora. Thank you @Di Cleverly. Sad to watch it sail into the sunset, but it was a good run and much needed/valued.

So yeah, now it's Closing Time, The End, etc.

Squeezed on a lifeboat to a Fediverse un-known and my first new home & neighborhood was Pluspora. Ever grateful to this pod as well as so many people who gathered for advice and assistance as the G+ ship approached and hit the iceberg. Still: #googleisevil

Peace & happy/happier horizons.

atomjack@diasp.org
@Om*

It's Time to #nongoogle Everything.

It's been nearly a year since the Snowden documents came out. In that time there's been a growing number of people, myself included, who have become aware of the environment of ubiquitous surveillance we're in--not just government eavesdropping, but corporate data collection as well--and from then to now, the progress in pushing back against this stifling environment has been underwhelming.

We know, generally, what needs to be done. That we need significant, and unceasing pressure on our respective governments to push for meaningful reform, firstly. Politicians need to know they will not have the people's support, if they can't even have a respect for our fundamental rights.

It's also clear that there are many commercial, and technological changes that need to be made, such as increased use of encryption (especially client-side encryption), and more widespread adoption of free software.

One thing that is particularly clear is that our information technologies need to be much more decentralized. This problem is described nicely in this New Yorker article:

"The national-security state tends to love monopolies—a coöperative monopoly augments and extends the power of the state, like a technological prosthesis. (Germany offers even more extreme examples of this than America does.) In general, when a dominant firm, or a few firms, holds power over part of the information industry, we can expect intelligence agencies to demand coöperation and partnership. Over time, the firm can become a well-compensated executioner of state will. If history is any guide, the longer that companies like Facebook and Google stay dominant, the more likely it becomes that they will serve as intelligence partners to the United States and other governments."

It is clear that continued support of the tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and so on, will always only go towards the continued elimination of our privacy, and thus, our freedom. Fundamentally, it can be viewed as a constant, that a big-enough corporation will always act in its own interest, and often to the detriment of the people. To that end, the details of our personal lives have become their next gold rush. Information is power. It is lucrative. It is in the tech giants (and many other companies) best interest to ever-increasingly base their business models on surveillance.

But they don't call it surveillance. They call it Big Data, and they praise Big Data like it's the new gospel. They can go on for hours about how Big Data will benefit everyone, to make everything more efficient, less wasteful, etc. But of course, as they can only be trusted to do, the first thing they use Big Data for is to manipulate us, so they can boost their bottom line.

"Consumers going through major life events often don’t notice, or care, that their shopping habits have shifted, but retailers notice, and they care quite a bit. At those unique moments, Andreasen wrote, customers are “vulnerable to intervention by marketers.” In other words, a precisely timed advertisement, sent to a recent divorcee or new homebuyer, can change someone’s shopping patterns for years."

And Big Data doesn't just mean manipulation. It means discrimination and predation.

"In one particularly egregious case, a telemarketer stole from a 92-year-old Army veteran's bank account after receiving information from the data broker InfoUSA, which advertised lists like "Oldies But Goodies" to reach people described as “gullible . . . [who] want to believe their luck can change.”"

To put it into Occupy language, Big Data is one more tool for the 1% to further consolidate their power, and more effectively keep the 99% down.

Without sufficient counter-forces against these developments, they will only continue. And it's clear, given how much governments have become intoxicated by the power of surveillance -- much of which is enabled by Big Data -- that they cannot be relied on, or trusted to fix this problem. We have to do it ourselves.

Big Data needs to be pushed back against, just as much as state-eavesdropping, because in the end, Big Data means Big Control, Big Power, for those who can gather the most information about everyone.

"While not everyone is online all day long, we’re all implicitly offline. Wouldn’t it be great it we could gather meat space data and use that to tailor the offline experience much like companies now tailor your online experience? “Personalizing your meat space experience” is a gross way of saying “pretty much control your life.”"

We need to get the masses to migrate to free software alternatives, to have better computer literacy, and to have a deeper understanding of the technical details related to all-things-data.

But that's a tall order. Getting a person to change even one small computing habit is like pulling teeth. There needs to be good, quantifiable reasons. They need to hit home, and the changes need to be made one at a time. For those of us with more experience and knowledge in computer technology, it's not fair to expect that anyone is going to change when we're effectively saying, "Hey, everything about the way you use computers is wrong. You need to stop, and do things this way instead."

Here's the thing: People don't need to change all their computing habits at once to make a difference. It may be completely unfeasible to get everyone to peel away all their bad practices at once, but we can target exactly one change at a time, and drive hard for it. Each individual change may seem small, even insignificant, toward the goal of fully safeguarding an individuals personal data, but it could send shockwaves through the system.

And what we should do is start with the low-hanging fruit.

We should stop using the search engines from any of the tech giants, and we should do everything possible to get everyone to do the same.

To make it clear, that means no more Google searches, no more Bing searches, and no more Yahoo searches. As a rule of thumb, if the company was named in the NSA Prism slides, don't use their search systems.

Instead of them, use one of the alternatives that tend to be recommended. Whether it's Ixquick, DuckDuckGo, StartPage, Disconnect, MetaGer, or if you're more determined, Seeks, or YaCy.

Anyone can switch to a different search engine. If you can go to google dot com, you can go to duckduckgo dot com (or one of the other ones). This can be a great galvanizing effort, a way to tell someone, "Look, you can make a difference. You can make the world better. All you gotta do is use a different search engine. Easy."

A quick look at the volume of searches for the top search providers, as of last February (assuming I'm reading the charts right):

  • Google: 11.941 billion
  • Microsoft: 3.257 billion
  • Yahoo: 1.822 billion
  • Ask: 477 million
  • AOL: 235 million

11.944 billion monthly searches. When the news about Prism first broke out, searches on DuckDuckGo went from 1.7 million a day to 3 million a day within a fortnight, and that was simply from an uncoordinated, kneejerk reaction by the people. Imagine if there was a coordinated effort, dedicated solely to diminishing the number of searches done on the tech giant engines. We can bring Google's monthly searches down from ~12 billion, to 6b, 3b, and so on until their share looks more like AOL's.

So let's make that the definitive goal: 1. Remove Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL from the list of top search providers. 2. Make the top list of search providers include Disconnect, DuckDuckGo, Ixquick, MetaGer, Seeks, StartPage, and/or YaCy.

While search isn't the only way these companies make money, it will still hit them hard. It's a major driver of ad revenue. There are entire markets around search engine optimizations. If the number of eyeballs and clicks on the big search providers plummets, so will much of their profits. This will get attention, a lot of it.

This is doable, though we need to spread the word as far and wide as possible. Copy and paste this post on all the sites you frequent. Link to it. Reshare it. Echo the sentiment in your own words. Make catchy infographics and other artistry about the effort and post it on sites like Reddit, Imgur, Tumblr, and so on. Translate it.

Change your default search engine to one of the ones listed, on all the browsers and devices you use. Get your friends and family to make the switch too. That may be the hardest part, but don't get frustrated. Have a sense of humor about it. Give them a reason to want to make the switch. Make deals if you have to; tell them you'll make dinner for them.

If you run a website of any kind, consider adding something to it, to further spread the message.

If you still use any of the big social media like Twitter or Facebook, which is bad, rally around a hashtag, like, say, #nongoogle, #ungoogle, or something. Make it trend.

And on that note, we need to talk about language. The holy grail of advertising is when someone uses a company name to refer to a product. Like how we call hook-and-loop velcro. In the case of search, telling someone to "google" something is an endorsement of their product. It makes Google the norm, and stands in the way of breaking their dominance in search. So what we should do is either call it what it is, search, or even use the terms 'nongoogle' or 'ungoogle' to make an explicit declaration of our intent to push for this initiative.

If we can make this happen, it will be a huge, tangible victory in the fight for our privacy rights, and civil liberties. So please spread the word and take action. It's time to start doing nongoogle searches.

I release this as CC0 1.0

♡2014 Copying is an act of love. Please copy.

#surveillance #spying #privacy #freedom #nsa #prism #nongoogle #ungoogle #google #search #freesoftware #slacktivism #activism

reshared from: @Unspoken Pebbly 24/5/2014 08:31:10

via @Triadd

#fuckgoogle #google #googleisevil #surveillance #spying #privacy #nsa #prism #google

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