Media historians, tech designers, science fiction writers, and activists on how and why “slow media” curated by humans should replace today's social media
My quest to imagine a different reality. Tweets: @nytimes , @ngrossman81 , @scottgreenfield , @craigmod , @profjessmaddox , @annaleen , @noahpinion , @warinthefuture , @janinezacharia , @fox , @amyxzh , @thiskat , @adampnewman89 , @jamesgleick , and @anneapplebaum See also Mediagazer Tweets: @nytimes : In Opinion Annalee Newitz writes, “Facebook and Twitter are slowly imploding. And before they're finally dead, we need to think about what the future will be like after social media so we can prepare for what comes next.” https://nyti.ms/37X7vAb Nicholas Grossman / @ngrossman81 : This article accidentally shows why the internet won't get better. The solution's like fixing the drug war with “what if there was no cocaine?” Says “after the social media era is over,” as if it's a fad. It's like TV. It'll change, but it's not going away https://www.nytimes.com/... Scott Greenfield / @scottgreenfield : Is there no one at the NYT who gasps the concept of a profitable business model? The future of social media cannot be companies that have no revenue stream. How is this hard to understand? https://www.nytimes.com/... @craigmod : the “intro” to this article is so beautifully zanily insane: https://www.nytimes.com/... Jess Maddox / @profjessmaddox : “The greatest tragedy isn't the loss of our privacy. It is the loss of an open public sphere. There are many paths beyond the social media hellscape, & all of them begin with reimagining what it means to build public spaces where people seek common ground” https://www.nytimes.com/... Annalee Newitz / @annaleen : My latest for @nytopinion, on life after social media. With thoughts from @safiyanoble @Karnythia @sivavaid @mulegirl @scalzi and a neutral network trained by @JanelleCShane https://twitter.com/... Noah Smith / @noahpinion : “Facebook and Twitter are slowly imploding. And before they're finally dead, we need to think about what the future will be like.” A very thoughtful article by @Annaleen, who was thinking about the internet before you even knew what it was: https://www.nytimes.com/... Major General Mick Ryan / @warinthefuture : “Is it possible to create a form of digital communication that promotes consensus-building and civil debate, rather than divisiveness and conspiracy theories?” A fascinating piece on the future of social media and civil discourse from the @nytimes https://www.nytimes.com/... Janine Zacharia / @janinezacharia : “Facebook and Twitter lack an incentive to promote better relationships and a better understanding of the news ‘because they make money through outrage and deception.’ ... Outrage and deception capture our attention, and attention sells ads.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Fantastic Ms / @fox : “Instead of deploying algorithms to curate content at superhuman speeds, what if future public platforms simply set limits on how quickly content circulates? The key to slow media is that it puts humans back in control of the information they share.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Amy X Zhang / @amyxzh : I really enjoyed this article by @Annaleen in the NYT today https://www.nytimes.com/...! It echoes much of my thinking that we need to more broadly center affordances for *collective human curation* in the design of social media systems. Katherine Gray / @thiskat : We have the roadmap. We still have online interest groups, blogs, RSS feeds, community managers, meetups, and conferences. People and content are not the problems. The problem is how to pay for the distribution. https://twitter.com/... @adampnewman89 : “. . . to rebuild our damaged public sphere . . . [and] we need to stop handing off responsibility for maintaining public space to corporations and algorithms . . . We need humans to maintain and curate the digital public spaces we actually want.” https://www.nytimes.com/... James Gleick / @jamesgleick : “After the social media age is over, we'll have the opportunity to rebuild our damaged public sphere by creating digital public places that imitate town halls, concert venues and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.” @Annaleen imagines a post-Facebook world. https://www.nytimes.com/... Anne Applebaum / @anneapplebaum : “What if future companies designed media to facilitate democracy right from the beginning? Is it possible to create a form of digital communication that promotes consensus-building and civil debate, rather than divisiveness and conspiracy theories?” https://www.nytimes.com/... See also Mediagazer