TheVoiceOfJoyce An unregulated internet gives a vice to foreign disrupters, culture wars, disinformation, violence and misinformation. Based on the algorithms used our behavior is modified and hive thinking occurs. Many remain linked in their own silos, not necessarily of their own choosing. The internet, the algorithms are not neutral, people can be gradually radicalized. Foreign actors and bots are difficult to detect. Our data is sold to third parties and their unaccountable. At the very least, Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act must change to reflect the Social Media Platforms evolution. No longer is the internet merely a free exchange of ideas between friends and communities. In many instances our behavior is manipulated and an algorithm decides who hires us, who gives us insurance and determines, based on our online behavior, if we’re worthy of that mortgage or job? Do you want mathematics to determine or limit, your life choices? How will we move from silos, to cooperation with others to solve real life problems? Like relationships? Climate Adaptation? Maintenance and participation in our Democracy? As people we need balance in our lives. It can be work life boundaries and it can be social media interactions and actions to improve our communities, in the real world, off line!

www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/27/jaron-lanier-tech-threat-humanity-twitter-social-media

People survive by passing information between themselves,” Lanier, 61, told the Guardian in an interview. “We’re putting that fundamental quality of humanness through a process with an inherent incentive for corruption and degradation. The fundamental drama of this period is whether we can figure out how to survive properly with those elements or not.”

The exaggerated focus on Twitter in recent months after its chaotic take over by billionaire Elon Musk follows longstanding concerns about Facebook and others, including state actors. He mentions “psychological operatives” working for Vladimir Putin and the Chinese communist state apparatus. All of them are filtering or promoting information for their own gains. In short, the web is not a free market of information as originally envisioned. It is a gamed system being rampantly abused.

If we can coordinate ourselves to solve the climate crisis it’s a fundamental sign we haven’t become completely dysfunctional

“There are all kind of intermediaries. They might be the people who own a platform, recently Elon Musk, or third parties who are good at sneaking in influence. The interveners can be varied. Some are official, some are revealed, others hidden. Some are competent, some incompetent. Some are random, like an algorithm that someone made but didn’t understand.”


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