Social Media: The New Smoking

[Alexander Hayes]

How does the following resonate with you all?

“...In 2019 we are seeing a pivot of the entire internet to subscriptions, paywalls, private walled gardens, even stablecoins. Is a celebrity I like to follow on Instagram going to change that for me? It’s an irreversible trend. The social media experiment of Snapchat, Twitter and even Instagram has failed for the most part. It’s repetitive and stale, and it doesn’t have a future. Stories, chat apps and mini-programs have a future, but not social media as we used to know it.”

https://link.medium.com/PsnltEnwtV

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Kind regards,

Alexander Hayes

PhD candidate
University of Wollongong, Australia
Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

+61427996984

Twitter - @alexanderhayes
Website - http://www.alexanderhayes.com

Partner - Ngikalikarra Media 
Member - UNAA (WA Division), UNAA Academic Network 
Member - Australian Privacy Foundation

[Vance Stevens]

Thanks for the article,

There's some truth in it. But it's a snapshot, not the complete picture. It's clear that use of FB has gone off the rails. Now that I'm back in the states for a while I can look around me and see that a lot of people here have a problem with their eating habits. But that doesn't mean I have a problem, and there's no need to pull all the sugared drinks from the shelves. I can enjoy one or two a week. As with a lot of my vices, I meter them. But not everyone has the discipline.

It's not just social media but the corporate culture that's the deeper issue. Those algorithms are catering to that. FB makes money, as do the others, and each click is a dollar or a fraction thereof. Corporate culture has no soul, and it's subject to manipulation by the soulless, who prey on those who are in danger of losing theirs. It seems to me to be a bigger mechanism at work and social media and current design of its algorithms is just one edge of the fractal whole. The article mentions sm apps in asia that seem benign by comparison. Give them time; they just haven't caught up.

Personally I like FB. It doesn't depress me. I use it to keep up with family and find lost friends. My wife and I park our phones at night and switch them off, suppress alerts, resist the push aspects, use it on pull (when we want it). I admit though to needing something from FB, opening that tab, and 15 min later forgetting what I was looking for. 

But my whole life is like that :-)

I just finished an article for CALL Journal on SMALL, social media assisted language learning. Now that that's done, deadline was yesterday, if anyone wants to, we could have a conversation about all this on Learning2gether.

And while I have you here do you want me to grab files for you for Veillance, Drones for Schools, and Deadly Glass? Or do you have what you need. 

Google+ was a fairly benign social media app don't you think? Certainly on balance, considering its utility, how much I'll, dare I say we, will miss it. How shall we replace it? My closest colleagues and I are ruminating that one.

cheers,

Vance

Vance Stevens

http://learning2gether.net
http://adVancEducation.blogspot.com
http://vancesdiveblogs.blogspot.com

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[kimbo2]

Well said,  Vance.

Similarly not so attached to Facebook that it concerns me.   In fact, it probably enables my engagement in local government that I wouldnt be able to without the platform.

Vast majority of my posts,  and engagement generally, is related to work... Connections with colleagues,  communities of practice,  work-related interests.

Marketplace is very helpful for purchases and disposals of household needs.

It keeps me aware of hate groups and group think that I might otherwise miss...

I suspect my usage patterns confound the algorithms...  My life seems to confound most people's understanding of me!

I generally concur that Fb is a symptom.... The actual disease is in the larger system...

I'm still someone who rarely uses a phone,  and preferes the asynchronous affordances of long form text... 

Sent from my Mi phone

[Alexander Hayes]

Thanks Vance & Kim,

I am prepared to be outraged...and to be the one that deletes it. 

Along with Instagram, Snapchat and every other god damn anti-social-doesn't-serve-any-professional-purpose-whatsoever application that eats my time and records every word I say for its own purpose.

41 Aboriginal children between the ages of 11 and 16 have suicided in Western Australia alone in the last 16 weeks. Even the Police have managed to sign up MOU's to assist human rights and social justice groups to support the families and funerals of those affected.

Do you think Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram helped at all even under subpoena to assist in any inquiry whatsoever with those families.

? Zero. None. Nada.

They know of the whereabouts every god damned second of where those kids were, what they we saying, who they were with, what they we eating, where they were sleeping, what drugs they were taking. Every second of everyday that KNEW where these kids were at. They also know where you are at, what secrets you dont even know yourself and others around you that would shock the hell out of you too.

This isn't about '...oh look at how useful this is for me in my professional life' or '...oh this doesn't affect me because I am in control of my own destiny and it's up to each and every user abuser to make their own decisions'. This isn't about '....oh look, technology is neutral and its like a pencil' nor is this about '...it doesn't affect me or my family and because I am wearing the corporate badges they gave me to signify that I'm a professional in social networking, social media, social social'. 

This isn't about being a 'techno-tragic' nor 'techno-skeptic nor is it an interrogation of anyone's past successes or failings as humans being used by a system.

I'm calling it anti-social media and the sooner we all start building something different to this electronic data harvesting machine the better. Let's name these 'f&^%$#s and say 'Snapchat you suck with your devoid of ethics memory corrosion machine' and 'Facebook....you suck with your insidious negative, hate spreading algorithm pretending to be our more police'.

Naming and shaming a 'system' is about as effective as saying 'this is all the governments fault'.

We need to be outraged with what we know and be prepared to speak it. It's not polite nor is it civil when the very purveyors of supposed connection hold the memory, the whereabouts, the photo albums, the funeral notices and the control of billions tapping it, selling it controlling everything through it.

Kind regards,
Alexander Hayes

[Vance Stevens]

Thanks Alex,

And good morning from Houston, my current temporary location.

As always I admire, respect, and value your perspective. One great benefit of a list like this is it puts those with their heads in the sand on particular issues in touch with others who are able to jerk their necks straight and open their eyes to another world. I certainly take notice.

Another benefit to this space as opposed to FB is that we have mutual respect and can discuss issues removed from the inherent pitfalls in sm platforms.

So let me ask you, just to be clear, do you think sm was instrumental in those 41 deaths, or are you outraged because the sm sites are able to not weigh in on the issue at all, that is, to help authorities and a society and community understand what might have in fact led so many to commit suicide.

And has the incidence of suicide increased since the advent of sm, which would have been in the last ten years, or is this an endemic problem ... let me put it this way, do you think sm has contributed to an increase in suicides? Or do you think it's outrageous that they are allowed to stand aside when the problem begs a solution? 

As I said earlier, I have often held back in responding to discussions here because I felt there were issues particular to Australia that I might not be able to properly nuance, and I'm realizing on this cold morning that this is one of them. From my American perspective, social media has stuck us with Trump, which is another sad and tragic aspect of the problem, impacting many lives worldwide, most recently in Venezuela. I tend to see the issue through that lens, and that's where recent post was coming from.

Our rage can only be directed at targets we are aware of. Thanks for alerting me to a target I should be aware of, and looking forward to learning more.

Vance Stevens

http://learning2gether.net
http://adVancEducation.blogspot.com
http://vancesdiveblogs.blogspot.com

Virus-free. www.avast.com

Virus-free. www.avast.com

[Alexander Hayes]

These issue of social media are at an epidwmic level across all forst nations community in a global context.

My partner and I have kept a close eye on this particular issue for over a decade, the previous decade for me involved in the explosion of mobile computing now riddled as if a cancer through many mobile operating systems.

Anti-social media is responsible for countless suicides facilitated by the insidious ‘creep’ mechanisms as simple as a ‘defriend’ or block.

Facebook, Snapchat and other giants are a law unto themselves, not subject to any ethical nor moral constraints and in millions of cases have purposefully denied any access to critical data that would serve as a means to inform Families why their loved ones had suicided and what they had been saying / doing / avoiding through each platform.

Here is a personal example - in 2015 through Facebook I received several messages a week from differing ‘bot’ accounts which targeted me in both text, as images, ‘nudges’ and other troll like behaviour. I was told in a last message to go ‘nexy yourself ya cunt’ which by recollection one evening I understood to be coming from my ex-Brother out law.

Given he was a serving police officer at the time someone reported his post and he was fired from his job. Thinking I had seen the worst of it the cyber attacks continued in one form or another regarding my pursuit of historical sexual assault charges which I had reported to the Australian Royal Commission and later published as a book - 

https://www.livingwell.org.au/from-men/stories-of-mens-experience/alexs-real-story/

It is only 7 weeks ago that I fully ‘deleted’ Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn and others through which I have received the most vile shot you could possibly imagine.

3 weeks ago I faced the accussed of the historical sexual assault charges in a horrendous court setting and he was convicted after a five week trial on nine counts including rape, assault and battery, deprivation of liberty and assault occassioning bodily harm. 12 other survivors came forward and also testified and 19 families with 150+ witnesses worldwide involved.

He was convicted by a jury and immediately taken into protective custody. It was a closed court (media suppression order) and I am never permitted to mention his name in any media as it engeightens the likelihood of him being eliminated in prison.

So thats my story above for anti-social media alone.

Now, picture a 15 year, slight, model female who is attending a well known high fee paying private school in Perth. Another boy shows his interest in her as a suitor. She rejects his advances. He first befriends her in Snapchat. Comments on her Instagram photos. Joins her Insta chat group and proceeds to tell her that she is a ‘weak fuck’ and when she tells him he is out of line and not welcome in the group he proceeds to tell her that ‘if you so much as annoy me at school I will literally knock you unconcious’.

I drove her to the Perth Police headquarters where she recounted her story and the 15 year old male was warned that any further communications would land him with a Restraining Order. In April this year, now, new laws come into place to make it an offence to cyber bully in Western Australia leading to a criminal conviction on first charge.

We confronted the young girls school and the Principal stated that the matter would be dealt with severely. The school breached four students privacy by forcing them to screenshot weeks of interactions which they digitally hansarded.

The school then fired the senior school coordinator as the ‘fall guy’.

The young girl returned to school to physical taunting, further threats and exclusion by others from digital anti-social media platforms which unfortunately 99% of teenage girls base their identity through.

That young girl is my Daughter.

[Alexander Hayes]

Here is the version with less spelling errors.

——

These issues of social media are at an epidemic level across all first nations communities in a global context.

My partner and I have kept a close eye on this particular issue for over a decade, the previous decade for me involved in the explosion of mobile computing now riddled as if with a cancer through many mobile operating systems.

Anti-social media is responsible for countless suicides facilitated by the insidious ‘creep’ mechanisms as simple as a ‘defriend’ or block.

Facebook, Snapchat and other giants are a law unto themselves, not subject to any ethical nor moral constraints and in millions of cases have purposefully denied any access to critical data that would serve as a means to inform Families why their loved ones had suicided and what they had been saying / doing / avoiding through each platform.

Here is a personal example.

In 2015 through Facebook I received several messages a week from differing ‘bot’ accounts which targeted me in both text, as images, ‘nudges’ and other troll like behaviour. I was told in a last message to go ‘neck yourself ya cunt’ which by recollection one evening I understood to be coming from my ex-Brother out law.

Given he was a serving police officer at the time someone reported his post and he was fired from his job. Thinking I had seen the worst of it the cyber attacks continued in one form or another regarding my pursuit of historical sexual assault charges which I had reported to the Australian Royal Commission and later published as a book - you access that here -

https://www.livingwell.org.au/from-men/stories-of-mens-experience/alexs-real-story/

7 weeks ago I fully ‘deleted’ Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn and others through which I have received the most vile shit you could possibly imagine.

3 weeks ago I faced the accused of the historical sexual assault charges I raised in 2017 in a horrendous court setting and the accused was convicted after a five week trial on nine counts including rape, assault and battery, deprivation of liberty and assault occassioning bodily harm. 12 other survivors came forward and also testified and 19 families with 150+ witnesses worldwide involved.

He was convicted by a jury and immediately taken into protective custody. It was a closed court (media suppression order) and I am never permitted to mention his name in any media as it engeightens the likelihood of him being eliminated in prison.

So thats my story above for anti-social media alone. I have continued to receive ‘fake’ calls, a billion spam messages and messaging through other social media such as Youtube that I have had to turn messaging now off.

Now, picture a 15 year, slight, model female who is attending a well known high fee paying private school in Perth. Another boy shows his interest in her as a suitor. She rejects his advances. He first befriends her in Snapchat. Comments on her Instagram photos. Joins her Insta chat group and proceeds to tell her that she is a ‘weak fuck’ and when she tells him he is out of line and not welcome in the group he proceeds to tell her that ‘if you so much as annoy me at school I will literally knock you unconcious’.

I drove her to the Perth Police headquarters where she recounted her story and the 15 year old male was warned that any further communications would land him with a Restraining Order. In April this year, now, new laws come into place to make it an offence to cyber bully in Western Australia leading to a criminal conviction on first charge.

We confronted the young girls school and the Principal stated that the matter would be dealt with severely. The school breached four students privacy by forcing them to screenshot weeks of interactions through Instagram which they digitally hansarded.

The school then fired the senior school coordinator as the ‘fall guy’.

The young girl returned to school to physical taunting, further threats and exclusion by others from digital anti-social media platforms which unfortunately 99% of teenage girls base their identity through.

That young girl is my Daughter.

On Sun, 31 Mar 2019 at 9:32 pm, Vance Stevens <vanc...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Alex,

And good morning from Houston, my current temporary location.

As always I admire, respect, and value your perspective. One great benefit of a list like this is it puts those with their heads in the sand on particular issues in touch with others who are able to jerk their necks straight and open their eyes to another world. I certainly take notice.

Another benefit to this space as opposed to FB is that we have mutual respect and can discuss issues removed from the inherent pitfalls in sm platforms.

So let me ask you, just to be clear, do you think sm was instrumental in those 41 deaths, or are you outraged because the sm sites are able to not weigh in on the issue at all, that is, to help authorities and a society and community understand what might have in fact led so many to commit suicide.

And has the incidence of suicide increased since the advent of sm, which would have been in the last ten years, or is this an endemic problem ... let me put it this way, do you think sm has contributed to an increase in suicides? Or do you think it's outrageous that they are allowed to stand aside when the problem begs a solution? 

As I said earlier, I have often held back in responding to discussions here because I felt there were issues particular to Australia that I might not be able to properly nuance, and I'm realizing on this cold morning that this is one of them. From my American perspective, social media has stuck us with Trump, which is another sad and tragic aspect of the problem, impacting many lives worldwide, most recently in Venezuela. I tend to see the issue through that lens, and that's where recent post was coming from.

Our rage can only be directed at targets we are aware of. Thanks for alerting me to a target I should be aware of, and looking forward to learning more.

Vance Stevens

http://learning2gether.net

http://adVancEducation.blogspot.com

http://vancesdiveblogs.blogspot.com

Virus-free. www.avast.com

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On Sun, 31 Mar 2019 at 9:32 pm, Vance Stevens <vanc...@gmail.com> wrote: