Man, if this is the end of social media, then it can’t come too soon.
Social media has been a net minus for society. That doesn't mean "no benefits" but rather "benefits far outweighed by costs."
As for Google: some DC cynic once said "Never believe anything until it's been officially denied." So has their PR team denied it yet?
I've made pen pal friends on international trips who I stay in contact with on Instagram and Twitter because it doesn't make sense to exchange phone numbers. I use lists and muted words/phrases on Twitter to only see tweets from people I care about reading, on topics I mostly am fine with.
I guess for people who still browse Facebook and Twitter like they did 15 years ago, then social media should get buried. But there are some pretty effective ways to curb its toxicity and reap benefit from it these days.
You may have found a way to use social media that works for you, but the net effect on society is still negative.
There are always going to be "enough" people who can't self-curate that social media will be harmful.
Sure there are millions upon millions of books. Someone who enjoys reading won't elect to read books they know are a waste of time or something that will be offensive to them.
Same can be said for consuming newspapers (anyone else just skip the front page and go right to a special section you actually care about, like sports or business instead of politics?), TV, movies, video games? Music?
So are all things bad because some people are incapable of deciding for themselves how to consume said things?
You simply cannot compare reading books to taking opium, for instance.
The argument isn't whether social media is toxic but whether users can do some work themselves to filter out as much of the toxicity as possible and still benefit from using it.
This thread is really just a circle; things in the right moderation aren't so unhealthy.
HN isn't particularly social as far as I can see. I don't have a network of friends. It doesn't facilitate personal connections or groups.
"websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking."
I was surprised by the "or".
https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Asocial+media&oq=def...
HN has none of these features. Neither do BBS message boards.
We never called bulletin boards “social media” back in the day. And they weren’t.
“To define “social media” for our current purposes, we synthesize definitions presented in the literature and identify the following commonalities among current social media services:
1) Social media services are (currently) Web 2.0 Internet-based applications,
2) User-generated content is the lifeblood of social media,
3) Individuals and groups create user-specific profiles for a site or app designed and maintained by a social media service,
4) Social media services facilitate the development of social networks online by connecting a profile with those of other individuals and/or groups.”
Obar, J.A. and Wildman, S. (2015). Social media definition and the governance challenge: An introduction to the special issue. Telecommunications Policy, 39(9), 745-750. Quello Center Working Paper No. 2647377