Why I still like ski forums

[Cannonballer 666]

We had a long discussion on here a while back about social media being the primary cause of death for ski forums like this.  This situation currently going down on Facebook is why I hope there is always a viable niche for real skiers to talk about real skiing.  What a trainwreck!

  https://vtskiandride.com/northeast-skiology/?fbclid=IwAR1L32jsWg-USscDK0caxmeU67DQU6GtJXRd0JDQ5Rb7nF3U7rMMzKcrag0

[JimK 152]

Have you seen the Netflix documentary called the Social Dilemma?  Basically, a lot of the hostility in the US and the world right now is driven by social media algos.  The artificial intelligence of the algos is stirring the masses into a frenzy and humans can't control it.

Ski forums are more like old fashioned pen pals.  We have a common interest/love and we put info about it above all other crap/distractions.

Ski on!

[Benski 79]

21 hours ago, JimK said:

Have you seen the Netflix documentary called the Social Dilemma?  Basically, a lot of the hostility in the US and the world right now is driven by social media algos.  The artificial intelligence of the algos is stirring the masses into a frenzy and humans can't control it.

Ski forums are more like old fashioned pen pals.  We have a common interest/love and we put info about it above all other crap/distractions.

Ski on!

We really need more transparency about algorithms. Who knows what its doing. There are rumors notifications are timed so they only show up when you are off the site. Is it hiding unpopular kids? Is it blatantly trying to stir up hatred or is that a side effect looking for likes/engagement?

[JimK 152]

according to that documentary, the algos are feeding people anything that may get the most clicks/views.  this purely commercial model has unexpected consequences.  so if you ever looked up a conspiracy theory, you might start seeing lots of that kind of news in your feeds, which only heightens your concerns and doesn't show you counter info that might balance your knowledge of issues/ situations.  this is amplified when millions of people only get their news this way. 

i don;t want to make this a political thread, just expressing an interesting IT theory about why there is so much divisiveness from all sides.  kill thread if this discussion devolves.

Edited February 21 by JimK

[fcksummer 281]

2 hours ago, JimK said:

according to that documentary, the algos are feeding people anything that may get the most clicks/views.  this purely commercial model has unexpected consequences.  so if you ever looked up a conspiracy theory, you might start seeing lots of that kind of news in your feeds, which only heightens your concerns and doesn't show you counter info that might balance your knowledge of issues/ situations.  this is amplified when millions of people only get their news this way. 

i don;t want to make this a political thread, just expressing an interesting IT theory about why there is so much divisiveness from all sides.  kill thread if this discussion devolves.

That was a fascinating documentary. I'm glad I've been off Facebook for years and hardly use any of the other networks. They are definitely convenient tools but the addiction to those sites is really something else. 

[Benski 79]

On 2/20/2021 at 10:26 PM, fcksummer said:

That was a fascinating documentary. I'm glad I've been off Facebook for years and hardly use any of the other networks. They are definitely convenient tools but the addiction to those sites is really something else. 

In collage its unavoidable. So many organizations you can only keep track of on Facebook. Now that I am out of collage, its less important. I have blocked a lot of people which helps, and seams to have made the algorithms irrelevant. Its crazy many people I suddenly started seeing once I started to block people.

[hrstrat57 28]

Still hope this forum succeeds. Not on the hill this season but wishing you all the best.

[Cannonballer 666]

20 hours ago, hrstrat57 said:

Still hope this forum succeeds. Not on the hill this season but wishing you all the best.

Everything all good?  Just sitting it out for covid issues?