Then it will expose how worthless 'opinions from random people on the internet' are. Then how worthless 'parasocial relationships with streamers/influencers' are.
The real culprits are revealed. Despite its flaws, Hacker News does foster real discussion that sometimes leads to real connection. Big online social spaces tend to do the opposite.
It's all about the topic. "How are doing today johnecheck" "want to get shoot the shit over a beer?" said no one ever.
Nonetheless I do. I suspect it's due to the relatively high average comment quality. I'm looking for a strong taste of belonging in a digital community. That nibble from HN evokes the same tantalizing possibility as rare discord servers and subreddits once did. None satisfy.
The rise of private group chats as the new lifeblood of social networking gives me hope that the state of the Web today isn't the end of the story. Authentic human connection across digital networks is still possible even if it isn't particularly common right now.
We need new protocols.
Real life relationships aren’t like this; you have to invest in repair and maintenance to keep them up. You have a limited number of times that you can “go no contact” with people before you find yourself alone. And people like this in the real world are usually pretty easy to identify and avoid — the embittered self-righteousness and victimhood is obvious, so others quickly learn to keep them at arm’s length.
This is the same principle why you can have fiery fling on vacation but struggle to talk to the cutie next door — the next door person you only get one shot with.
AI risks amplifying all this. Not only is the AI already far too agreeable and unbound by morals or conscience, you can reset it whenever you want, if you do happen to tell it something that takes it in a direction you don’t like.
That this could become the next generation’s training wheels for how friendships and partnerships function is terrifying.