“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you”
In a bit of a conversation that is likely to continue on further for many years to come, someone asked why people keep going back to social media content if, as I put it, other than DIY content, most is useless. It isn't useless for everything of course, because it is entertaining, which is why people keep going back to waste their time on something that isn't going to challenge them, change them, make them better. And, because of this addiction to being entertained, the content is useful to keep people scrolling endlessly, so they spend more time on site and increase the value of the advertising spots that are auctioned off every microsecond.
It is not that all the content or the topics are useless however, because if someone proactively curates their follows and topics so that it feeds them content that will move them to improve themselves in reality, not just in fantasy, then there can be value. But, the vast majority of people do not do this, so they just get disjointed, unfocused and random content that comes through their feed, taking up their time, and holding them back from doing whatever else they could be doing with that time.
Opportunity cost.
Everything has it and when we keep making the decisions to consume for entertainment instead of for growth, the opportunity to improve lessens and the cost to the quality of our skillsets and ultimately our experience increases. Yes, there is value in consuming content that inspires us to do more of what we want to improve at, but there is a diminishing return in this, because investment has to be spent in changing the behaviors, learning the skills, developing ourselves. Consuming content doesn't give us skills.
However, a lot of the content makes us feel like we are getting something out of it, even though we are not developing our practical selves, our mental selves, or our emotional selves. No matter how much content is consumed, if it is not applied, it can't help us. Not only this, when it is disjointed content that keeps flicking and changing topic every few seconds, our brains don't have the time to even develop the thoughts to a depth where there is even the chance for positive change to take place.
But, we also should step outside the content itself, and have a look at the effects of all the scrolling is having on other aspects of our condition. Our focus, our attention spans, our patience are all getting worse. Children are struggling more with their ability to concentrate, depression is going up, body issues increasing, increasing levels of violence at younger and younger ages. And increasingly older ages too.
People seem to see the "success" of a platform as its ability to attract people and keep them engaged, but this is extremely short-sighted. Just like the success of corporations, we should be holding them to a higher standard than we do, where the value to society, the health of populations, the ability to facilitate personal and communal improvement should be factored in. It isn't just the content that is the problem, it is the whole business of centralized media that is designed for corporate profit, not user growth.
Hive has a long way to go, but at least here there is the chance for people to learn about and take direct participation in ownership, governance, responsibility, finance and social interaction. There is a more direct relationship between all aspects of the platform in the way people interact with each other and the affects of personal and group decision making. It might not be to everyone's liking for entertainment, but if you are looking to improve yourself across multiple facets of life that are important to our wellbeing and outcomes in life, Hive is a pretty good place to hang out.
But of course, it is all about what you want from experience, and most people want to be entertained. They dream of greatness, dream of having this and that, but would rather live vicariously as voyeurs, consuming whatever is pushed to them, continually buying into the addiction of the next flick of the thumb to another piece of content that doesn't bring anything positive to their lives, except another moment of avoidance of actually having to attend to it.
We are being challenged.
But rather than facing the challenge, we look for any and every way to avoid dealing with them, until there is nothing to be done. At that point, we can be comfortable in the fact that it is too late to change, so again, we won't have to.
I do think that there is a change coming, but most people will be slow to change, choosing convenience over the wellbeing of themselves, their children, their community, and society as a whole. It won't matter how much information they consume that tells them of the dangers of their behavior, they will not apply any of it to change themselves, until they are forced. And then they will complain about it not being their decision.
We all change.
For better and worse.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I think the biggest difference between your outlook and my outlook is that I think you're generally pessimistic about people and think they're mostly lazy and unintelligent, moist robots as it were, whereas I see people working hard to improve themselves and the world around them. I don't see people as a monolith but rather as complex, nuanced individuals.
I think our general differences of opinion stem from this... I think that's why I end up pushing back on your general theme of 'people are the worst'.
Individuals make up the masses and the masses guide the direction of society in so many ways. How are the masses doing?
When individuals follow the group, they lose their individuality, and they start to act based on what they think others want them to do, not what they should be doing. It is like a global riot at times, with everyone incentivized to loot and throw garbage bins through windows.
The masses aren't doing well... but I don't think that's because of some mob mentality hivemind scenario, but because our governance systems have been captured by a tiny, extremely wealthy minority who continuously change the rules in their favour.
People aren't struggling paycheck to paycheck because they're lazy, they're struggling because systems have been set up so they're not receiving a fair portion of the value generated from their productivity.
It's the kind of scenario a general strike would solve, but people are struggling so much we're unlikely to convince enough people to participate.
For sure. The same minority that owns or supports the centralized platforms and encourages people to keep diving in.
As said, the platforms don't encourage understanding this, or a way out. They encourage being a renter, a user - not a creator, or owner.
The general strike shouldn't be for work, it should be against centralized currencies, centralized governance.
Zuckerberg or Elon are encouraging people to dive into their platforms... by ensuring there is quality, interesting content that people get value from. They pay a small number of people a lot of money, a reasonable amount of people some money, and a lot of people a little bit of money to encourage lots of people to donate their time and effort into creating valuable content.
This means that most people who go to one of these centralized platforms see something they are interested in... and because people are interested enough to keep coming back, advertisers spend more, which means these platforms can pay the top creators more and brands also offer top creators deals as well... so creators creating interesting, valuable content can make a ton of money - MrBeast is a great example of this.
I don't think they discourage people from being creators at all... it's just that being a creator is really hard, especially when you are exhausted from your day job.
This is why I'm really doubtful about whether Hive is ever really going to take off, it needs exclusive content that is really good to draw the eyeballs in... but really good creators can make way more elsewhere.
I think you are missing what is happening. Remember the masses? They aren't creating anymore. Not on the platforms, not anywhere. Being a creator is easy, we are made to be them, and we do it from childhood. Being a paid creator is hard however, and they are controlled by the platforms and pushed to the masses, so that the masses no longer create, no longer feel they have the ability to solve their own problems, or make their own decisions.
You have talked many times of the evils of corporations and the governments, but when people aren't able to make their own solutions and decisions, that is what we are destined to support more of - more concentrated power with more control over the masses.
Keep supporting Mr Beast or whatever that is and the centralized platforms, and watch more local creators disappear, and more artists never start.
Hive might never take off because really good creators will make more elsewhere. However, really spend time thinking about what that leads to. Some of the creators are seeing the problem with ad revenue models, but most are just in it to get their dues to buy themselves a better life for themselves, even though ultimately, it will lead to a worse life for everyone, including them.
Don't get me wrong, I want Hive to succeed. It's why I push back on the misinformation that I find... in order to increase the quality of the content so that it can be valuable to people that might randomly find us.
I think it's important to figure out why the price of the Hive token hasn't been going up alongside Bitcoin, Solana and many other cryptos, to figure out why overall activity of the Hive blockchain seems to be dropping, to figure out who is buying Hive and why.
I totally understand the dangers of centralized platforms, particularly in the areas of misinformation... but also to democratize the ability for people to earn from creating so that centralized platforms can't just ban someone for no reason and disrupt their livelihoods.
My concern is that the Hive community is just generally out to extract as much value as possible, by posting content that will likely result in upvotes but isn't interesting or useful to the outside world.
As with all things, some self-discipline is so important. It gives you the power to be in control of your mental and physical health. You can check out what’s happening with your friends, read a few articles and engage with causes and people that matter to you in a short time each day. Or at least that’s how I approach social media. In fact I’m so busy that I honestly wish I had more time for it! But I know I’m an anomaly.
I do think Hive is different. There’s so much interesting and worthwhile content here. And a lot of genuine people, not just ads and people fluffing their own feathers. I will be curious to see whether your prediction about change is true, and what it will be! I hope it will mean good things for Hive!
For sure. However, people are growing up with these things in their hands since before they could talk - they are conditioned to follow, not guide the self.
Hive has lots of crap - but that same crap doesn't get incentivized "that much" in comparison.
True! In theory, at least, the best content gets rewarded the most, so we are all incentivized to produce only great content. But of course there are so many factors, including writing skills (or lack thereof) and the subjective nature of it all!
That is why I'm so careful of the Hive writers that I follow. I can't have any old content clogging up my following feed to keep me from the good stuff, like your daily goodies!
Damn, I keep forgetting this rule. I have a few saved archives of varies posts and it sure would be nice if I just magically became able to apply these skills and lessons on a whim. Sadly, I lack the discipline and determination to get most of the new stuff done. I'm not even that good at getting the old stuff done.
I'm glad I feel a bit ahead of the curve when it comes to the average Splinterlands player taking advantage of and engaging with Hive, but it at also fascinating to see which Splinterlands accounts lead double lives as influential Hivians.
With the contentious DHF proposal up these next 6 months I'm excited to see if active Splinterlands players do something to actively grow their HP. I will set aside some of the liquid SPS I get from unstaking on my alt accounts to purchase Hive for HPUD and hopefully hit the rest of the days this year!
Yeah - I am careful too. Sometimes I should reach out a bit further too though!
Discipline is developed a step at a time. It is also lost a scroll at a time :)
There are quite a few! Remember where it all started :)
It seems they are going to have to convince Hive stakeholders who don't play Splinterlands. It wouldn't have been that hard, had there been a slightly different attitude a couple years ago at the top of the SL bull.
A few bad decisions have set this game back a few years, but this too we shall overcome! Excited for the future once Chaor Legion rotates to Wild. I hope that takes new/casual players to wild too, since those are the cards that will always be cheapest!
I think the main reason I use most of the traditional social media is to keep in touch with my family and friends. These days though, I don't even do that much anymore. I've never really felt there was a strong connection between HIVE and Social Media. They seem like two things serving two different purposes to me.
I feel they are different also. When it comes to friends and family, my family aren't on traditional social media and for my friends, if they are close, I don't need to stalk a feed, I give them a call.
For sure!
On social media, you get everything from positive to negative material. You can circumvent the algorithm that tells you what you can consume, I mean, for me, the problem is that most people are driven by what the algorithm shows them, not by what they are really looking for, what they really need.
I've had to deactivate several browser extensions and delete histories because anywhere I hover my mouse pointer, it automatically registers as content ‘of interest to me’. Since I customised the browsers and disabled all logging in Windows 11, I've done better, I'm no longer bombarded by the algorithm like a week ago...
The problem is, that on most social media, people aren't looking at all, they are feeding. There is a reason it is called a feed, right? :)
I don't have too much problems with the algorithms, because I don't consume that much :)
You're right! Hive is the best place to hang out. We are all, in fact, changing...and more rapidly than we would like. I'm gonna try the change for the better version lol.
As we age we get worse in so many ways, but we can always learn a bit more.
The way humans are wired. We find it difficult to change from an habit, especially the once that will add no real value to us. This is because it takes consistent, conscious and deliberate actions to counter the former habits in which we would rather not do.
We are being controlled by our subconscious mind which had been fashion bye nonchalant behaviours over time.
What pains me the most is that majority would never come to that self realization till they grow old and pass away. A waited time... leading to waited days... to waited years.... And to waited life, on what. Watching contents that doesn't benefit
It would be better to die never realizing, than realize just before dying.
Wow🤔, at least that way don't get to die with regrets...
We definitely need to focus on meaningful content and real-life improvements over endless scrolling.
Made a valid point there mate, consuming content without action doesn't lead to real growth in anything
Are you the ringmaster also?
no mate why do you ask?
I don't know, just a feeling :)
Well it's good to always be sure so we're good mate.
Anyways gotta get my tired old ass to bed so see you around mate.
Consuming contents is one of the best things you can do but it depends on what purpose. Now, if I ever consume content, I want to learn from it and also put it into action.
That’s just me though. We’re now in that world where people consume content just because it is entertaining and they end up wasting their time on it at the end of the day
Consuming content inspires us to be what we want to be or maybe motivates us to take actions. That’s right but that’s for anyone who is willing to make change. Some people may wish to be a particular thing and spend almost all their day watching how to become that thing on social media without putting it into practice or trying it out
Such a person can never be productive
I just got a point and I will change my priority with that. I shouldn't waste time on contents that merely entertain without challenging my creative faculties.
I see that there is a wrong conception on HIVE. For example, a long travel post with many photos is almost always considered to be quality; on the other hand, a short one with less photo is not.
But what you described in your post is the exact reason I stay off all other social media. I am tired of being feed a constant stream of crap I don't want to necessairly see all the time. Yes, I want to be entertained on occasion, even here on Hive. But I do want to be informed and improve myself through knowledge as well. Facebook, Instagross and the ilk are the last places I would ever want to do that.
I like how hive has different personalities and content available for everyone. There are low effort ones like giveaways, there are financial focused, thought provoking, entertaining, and even unique ones like exploring abandoned places. While I do agree that challenging oneself is important, I do think that how people decide to spend their time in Hive or outside of it is only a fraction of their life. A nurse/doctor with a very busy day would just want to sit on their couch and watch useless content and turn off their brain. I think people don't need to consume life enriching content when they are able to do it while they work.
This inspires me that no matter what challenges comes in our way, we can fight and face it.🫶🏻