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Do you consider Lemmy/Reddit (and similar platforms) to be social media? (dubvee.org)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

89 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I had this discussion with a friend, and we really couldn't reach a consensus.

My friend thinks Lemmy (and other Reddit-like platforms) is social media because you're interacting with other people, liking/disliking submissions, and all the content is user-generated.

I think it isn't because you're not following individual people, just communities/topics. Though I concede there are some aspects of social media present, I feel that overall it's not because my view of social media is that you're primarily following individuals.

In my view, these link aggregator + comment platforms are more like an evolution of forums which both my friend and I agreed don't meet the criteria to be considered social media (though they maintain that Reddit-like platforms are social media while I do not).

So I'm asking Lemmy now to weigh in to help settle this friendly debate.

Edit: Thanks everyone! From the comments, it sounds like my friend and I are both right and both wrong. lol. Feel free to keep chiming in, but I have to go do the 9-5 thing that pays my mortgage and cloud hosting bills.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You could call them antisocial then. The problem with social media isn't the social part, it's that the media part is controlled by a single entity.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The problems with social media absolutely include the social part and I'd even go as far as saying it's the biggest problem with it.

People post on social media like they're talking privately to their friends...whole lot of opinions they wouldn't dare say within punching distance of a stranger. And because it's to such a broad audience, they will find other people who will share the same awful opinions and feel validated, further entrenching their beliefs. It also encourages exaggerating or outright lying for attention.

Not to take away from the harm of data collection and targeted marketing, of course, but social media has a people problem. And to quote MIB, "A person is smart. People are dumb."

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This idea that anonymity breeds toxicity seems to be a piece of received wisdom that people just assume, but I would honestly love to know if there's any real information to back it up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I didn't know of any studies claiming either way but what I was referring to happens on sites like Facebook, too

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Oh you mean how echo chambers get created. Yeah, that's almost entirely down to Facebook's scummy algorithms, not an inherent feature of people. Facebook had tools to prevent the spread of hate on their platform and noticed they reduced revenue so they turned them off. This is entirely down to that platform being controlled by a single entity with no regard for the people who use it.