Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

The irony is just delicious. It's just like the problem that very small minority of folks on FB have been given a megaphone to spread lies and hate.

All FB has to do is tone down the engagement algorithms. Put up a bunch of invisible walls.




10 years ago the concern was filter bubbles. Now we want invisible walls?


Yep, increase friction. Instagram is a good example.. You have to post a photo and you can't retweet.


I think we would just be trading one set of problems for another, people are already physically self sorting so it's not clear to me that enhancing digital echo chambers would make things better.


What do you mean by physically self sorting? I’m taking about turning down the dials to decrease virality, discovery and engagement. If you want to change people’s behavior you need to increase friction.


That we are increasingly self sorting into politically isolated bubbles (based on where we choose to live / work) so we are less likely to encounter diverse opinions in real life [1]. Definitely agree that virality/discovery/engagement need to be carefully balanced, but I don't think that they are inherently good or bad. Virality/discovery/engagement can absolutely lead to the spread of misinformation, but it also is clearly a big driver for awareness of social causes like police brutality / BLM.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Big-Sort-Clustering-Like-Minded-Ameri...


The twitter link in the comment at the top of this post reports that the top 10 daily FB posts are almost all right wing. I am pretty sure this is being driven by a minority of users (and a lot of bots). In fact we know the whole system can be gamed. In that sense the whole network is polluted and suffering the tragedy of the commons.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2025 batch! Applications are open till May 13

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: