Linus: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Are “A Disease”
futurism.com
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Very recent discussion: 25 Years Later: Interview with Linus Torvalds https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19559970
296 points by axiomdata316 5 days ago | 145 comments
Social media simply accelerates aspects of what we are as humans. Its well known that we humans are genetically more attracted to the negative than the positive for obvious reasons ... and just to be circular: when was the last time something positive Linus said made the news?
So rather than say Social media is an external invading disease i would rather say it is an expression of what makes us human.
Except when you see people you knew and respected before social media existed posting and "liking" the same garbage. They either just do not care or they do not know any better.
The lack of anonymity lends itself to the emergence of countless self-promoters who specialise in posting yet more garbage, on a regular basis. The aim of which is often directly or indirectly commercial.
[0] - https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/03/16/beto-orourke-poems-ch...
I very much doubt this is true. Yes, people run their mouth on FB and other real-name / real-identity accounts, but not to the same extent as with anonymous profiles. What you see on real name accounts should be assumed to be the tip of the iceberg.
Journalists have been murdered for reporting the actions of gangs and corrupt governments. Had they been anonymous, perhaps they'd still be alive.
LGBT people risk being attacked when their identities are revealed online. Many other groups throughout history have been targeted because of their identity -- a prime example being Jews during the Holocaust, when census data was used to find them an round them up.
People will also be hesitant about speaking about wrongs committed by police, corrupt governments, or their employer when they believe their identity is known, for fear of reprisal.
As the ACLU points out: "The right to remain anonymous is a fundamental component of our right to free speech, and it applies every bit as much in the digital world as it does in the physical one."
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/internet-speech/onli...
Though I agree with the sentiment, I'm not sure Linus carries much authority in speaking about social media.
Personally, I think it's a shame big social media is such a general disaster, because I've always had a good experience on Facebook and Twitter.
youtubers/ig accounts are very open about the effects of social media, maybe you should check some other sites to see HN... isn't that unique in this view
They’re akin to the lead in lead poisoning. Not the disease per se, but the cause thereof. Broadly speaking, ad-driven social networks are incentivised to spread enraging content. That, in turn, incentivises content producers to make such content for broadcast.
And while I share much of Linus's distaste for social media (although I am shocked to see he argues against anonymity), the way that papers are now running with this story looks like cheap sensationalism.
[1] - https://www.businessinsider.com/linus-torvalds-says-twitter-...
[2] - https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3073753/linus-torv...
Every public bathroom is a mess. Urine on seats and the floor. But I've never gone to someone's house and seen their bathroom in that condition.
People act badly when no one is watching and they have reason to believe their badness won't be discovered.
I'm skeptical of the value of anonymity to the collective where it's obvious to see the value to the individual
I broadly agree with your premise, but the nitpicky HN part of my brain feels obligated to point out that a certain amount of selection bias might be at play here. Public bathrooms are by definition places the entire spectrum of the public visits, and is probably a broader and slightly more diverse pool than the people whose homes you personally visit (unless you're a social worker, which you probably aren't because then you would absolutely have seen swathes of homes that a lot of people here would probably deem uninhabitable)
That said, you're not wrong : we've all witnessed friends, acquaintances et al behave differently from one context to another. I live in Norway, and the prototypical example that comes to mind is that kids / young adults here are significantly more belligerent and antisocial abroad than at home where they are subject to the Scandinavian brand of tut-tut judgyness. Basically the spring break phenomenon so it's not unique by any means.
Not exactly, but close enough.
Why would people want to do that, even if nobody is watching, that's the question we need to be asking ourselves.
I believe we can all agree that the command line and the whole PowerShell thing in Windows is...funny.. to say the least.