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https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other...

>Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things: Three Decades of Survival in the Desert of Social Media

Covers this effect pretty well.




Yep, I remember that piece.

Silly thing is, I think Instagram would be just fine if they didn't suggest things constantly. Every time, I select to see it less often, but it's inevitably back the following day. Let each person choose what they want their Instagram to be, whether it's following friends or being a creator or treating it like a magazine and looking at reels.


>Let each person choose what they want their Instagram to be

That's not as valuable to advertisers though. With recommendations and algorithmic sorting, the platform gets to mold what's important, and that influence makes it easy to sell off to the highest bidder.

I find a lot of value in following my friends---and my friends only. It's why we've all generally migrated off traditional social media and into private group chats. There's no algorithm mediating our interactions, and no one is going to try to sell our attention to outside parties.


That's not as valuable to advertisers though... ;)

They're pushing away valuable eyeballs by trying to wring cash out of everyone.




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