BBC journalist Katty Kay spoke to the American writer Kyle Chayka of how the company could be directed to what he calls “zero places”.
After two decades by sharing more and more post online, it seems that we decided to reduce the actions.
Recent searches indicate that about a third of all social networks users publish less than a year ago. And this trend is particularly present among the adults of the general Z (those born between 1995 and 2010).
In a recent article for New Yorker magazine, the writer Kyle Chayka suggested that the company could be directed to what he calls “zero post” – a point where ordinary people realize that it is not worth sharing their lives online.
I understood this tendency to fall into my social networks. For each photo of the friend of a friend or children of children, there seems to be dozens (when not hundreds) of brands and influencer posts, promoting a new product or discussing the latest trends.
Social networks seemed an imperfect copy of my social life. But now they seem to be an “content” like any other.
I know that part of this is because the platforms have changed. Tiktok and Instagram have accumulated infinite collections of vertical videos and created frighteningly powerful algorithms to guide you through them.
But what happens to our digital life when social networks apparently become much less social?
I spoke to Kyle to find out more. He is a journalist for the New Yorker and his latest book is Filterworld: how the algorithms liked (“World filtered: how algorithms have a level of leveling”, in free translation).
Take a look at our conversation below, modified for reasons of concision and clarity.
Katty Kay (BBC): When I see the feeds of my social networks, I find many announcements and photos of beautiful houses that I will never buy, in places I will probably never visit.
But I’m literally trying to remember when it was the last time I really saw a friend’s post.
What does this mean for the future of these platforms, if the reason that leads us to visit them now, is it totally different from what was only two years ago?
Kyle Chayka: I think social networks have become less social. They have become more a question of consumption of this type of content which is substantially commodity today.
It is more a question of aspiration of the lifestyle, not simply on what is happening around you and on how you relationships with your friends and family. For me, this type of eliminates the purpose of social networks.
If the platforms are losing the concentration on the normal life of people and normal people are no longer encouraged to publish posts, social networks become as television.
What remains for us are the advertisements of the brands, the Fashion Fashion And the advertisements of houses and hotels, no longer that type of organic and highly consistent content to which we were used to.
Kay: the administrators of social networks have Very sophisticated algorithms To capture us.
What is their reaction to this question? Or are they just happy to have more ads and make more money from advertising?
Chayka: I think your main customers are advertisers. So, while we users are still involved, your commercial model still works.
I think they also bet that the content generated by humans will be gradually replaced by material generated by artificial intelligence.
You can already see the type of goal of moving the Facebook and Instagram feed towards this content generated by the computer, which is obviously infinite and economic, but also expressionless, in my opinion.
Kay: Do you think there is the possibility that social networks platforms see a significant reduction from people who really come to see where our friends have spent their holidays or what have they eaten for breakfast?
Chayka: I think so.
I think there is a slight decline. I know a recent study that concluded that a lower number of people really publishes on Tiktok.
But what these platforms have concluded, I think Instagram in particular whether our personal sharing is moving more towards direct messages and individual conversations with our friends.
In fact, we need an online social network. But the social networks we have now, in fact, we don’t want to play this role.
Therefore, I think there will be new spaces and you could emerge new apps to satisfy this need, whether it is an expanded WhatsApp or a better management system for all chat groups with your friends.
I think we are transferring a more private and more intimate form of online connection.
Kay: I have children about twenty years and teenagers. There was an entire perception in my generation that young people don’t worry about privacy today and are happy to publish everything online.
I wonder if we are wrong in this sense, that young people have shown this world where everything has been put in public, and now they are thinking: “In fact, I prefer that my groups are more intimate and healed, without the whole world I know what I have eaten for breakfast” …
Chayka: I think we learn the disadvantages of the publication of our private life in the years 2010. You can see it with public shame or a certain viral embarrassment that has occurred with people.
I think the social contract of the networks has changed.
The agreement was that if the publications there, if you put content, could attract a mass audience. But this becomes a vicious circle that turns out to be your whole life.
So, unless you want to be an influencer or someone who publishes content on the internet professionally, this agreement no longer seems so good.
The disadvantages of the publication are too large and the advantages are not sufficient. Therefore, you can simply send text messages to your friends.
Kay: I had one Super inverted conversation with Jonathan Haidt [o autor do livro Geração Ansiosa]who certainly dedicated a lot of work to try to ban cell phones in schools.
Do you think that if the trend you indicated (and calls “zero post”) ends up being a more significant wave, it will really be easier to break the Dependence on children on cell phones And other devices?
Chayka: It is a good question. I think that, in a sense, we have already overcome the peak of social networks, but I don’t think it eliminates the digital conversations that people have 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
What happens is that this conversation comes out of public channels to group chats, direct messages or some other ephemeral platform, such as Snapchat.
The compelling capacity of the mobile phone still exists. The distraction is certainly still present. But I think its public nature has decreased.
I think it is a little better to have left the public sphere and eliminate that risk of being totally exposed to the whole world and ending up viral for the wrong reasons.
But we still send text messages all day. We still consume Meme. We are still distracted by feeds.
Kay: Let’s think about the future. How will we look at our cell phones in five years?
What will change in our interactions with the social component of our cell phones and other devices?
Chayka: I think it will be more similar to television.
If we observe how everything is happening, there are many professional media. There are many passive content.
We have observed this current fusion of YouTube, Tiktok and Netflix in a single diabolical combination of audio, video and algorithms.
If I had to predict something, I would say that conversations and the social aspect will be in text messages or perhaps they can move more towards real life.
I think this peak of social networks has served more to create a desire for interaction between people and reminded us of the value of really sharing things in real life. It gives me some hope.
Kay: Do you think we will get to a world of zero post, where people like me and simply no longer publish online?
Chayka: I think so. I think it will arrive first of what we expect, simply because there is no more incentives to make posts.
Why do you publish your selfies or breakfast if nobody pays attention, if you don’t hit your friends and simply compete with all this abstract remote garbage out there?
Perhaps the social networks were, in a certain sense, this aberration or escape. And this idea that every normal person must share his life in public was a little false from the beginning.
Now we are waking up a little and seeing the damage caused. And change our habits a little.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
