But another part of me also realizes that this problem is going to be very, very hard to get rid of. As long as social media keeps feeding our brains with "things you might like" and endless junk notifications, it's going to be near impossible to stop.
Previous generations used taxes to manage business models that harmed many for the benefit of a few.
But since these companies can buy and hack democracy, will we ever see the much needed advertising tax?
We all do harmful things to ourselves. I find it easier to accept if I just accept my own negative acts. It's easier, for me at least, to accept that other people enjoy different things. I'd probably make a piss poor evangelist, but the reward is I spend less time being unhappy with other people's choices.
And that’s discounting the fact that cigarettes are highly taxed and banned now.
So are opioids and hard drugs.
Society has a tendency to install a floor under functions that have bad externalities and have no end state.
The data I present here suggests that before we keep pointing fingers at specific countries and tweeting about companies “hacking the election,” as well as to solve the scourge of “fake news,” it might be good to look inward. By this, I mean we should start the quest for transparency in politics with a few firms based in New York City and Silicon Valley.
The author is Jonathan Albright, Director of Research, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, School of Journalism, Columbia University. And ex-Googler.
https://medium.com/tow-center/who-hacked-the-election-43d401...
The role of liberal democratic society is to identify the threats to itself and address those, when necessary.
And it's now necessary.
I removed my accounts for a few months and whilst it was liberating it wasn't as life changing as I thought it would be. Horse for courses I suppose.
I never saw a need for one. If people want me, they know where to find me. It's not some secretive thing. It's just more inertia. I can't be bothered to make accounts and they'd just take away more of my time. I am not even all that private, people know who I am. I've had many, many Internet friends in my home. One stayed for about five years, as she and I decided to date. Similarly, I haven't ever used online dating sites. That just kind of happened.