Oh no! Then we’ll have even more dreaded “echo-chambers.” I abandoned social media in 2017 and have primarily used YouTube, Substack, and indie books to radically self-curate the niche interests and values I have. Imagine that. Someone seeking external sources aligning with their core and true identity. Excellent post.
How do you see these “strong bonds of cultural trust and social credit” forming between these MVN’s in the broader Commonwealth of networks? As in, what is balancing these disparate interests?
That’s a great question. I was more so referring to the bonds holding individuals together within an MVN. I’m less certain on what would connect these networks, other than functional needs of individuals as they navigate between them.
Of course, I’m an amateur here so I’m not overly sure of any of it, but that’s never stopped me 😎
There are 8 billion people in the world. Think how ludicrous it is to think we can watch an hour of news and know what’s happening in the world. I still have friends who do this and repeat the narrative as if they are “in the know.”
“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien in The Return of the King”
I agree! I’m a fairly huge advocate of local human relationships as the Way Out, specifically in the context of the local church. Everyone always seems to be reinventing the local church. 😃
"With negligible power comes negligible responsibility."
Social media crystalized in a paradigm where 24 hour news services and nationalization of US politics taught people to "think globally, act locally." As such the bottom fell out of local activity. Now people are standing themselves up and relearning to think locally. Among that learning is learning to dismiss the forces beyond your agency.
Jury is not yet in on whether the next step is think locally, act locally, or think locally, act globally.
My thesis involves a bifurcated system, which is part of what we see happening and pretty much aligns with your piece. Large monolithic enterprises will continue to thrive but the ability to use the same infrastructure for peer to peer connection will also.
The substack analogy is fair. It will exist, it will exert influence to shape culture at large but because they give us emails of subscribers, we can go direct. This will result in a group that is spoon fed and those free ranging. The last decade has been a push to spoon feeding everyone.
Oh no! Then we’ll have even more dreaded “echo-chambers.” I abandoned social media in 2017 and have primarily used YouTube, Substack, and indie books to radically self-curate the niche interests and values I have. Imagine that. Someone seeking external sources aligning with their core and true identity. Excellent post.
Yeah, the echo chambers were a psyop I think. People are always going to self curate. Let them!
This is spot-on, thanks for putting it into words.
Thanks very much Maya!
Great article Zach!
So yes, some of the big “social media” sites may be in their demise.
What do you think will be a force to stop another?
It seems in other countries (china, Russia) their single social media monopoly seems to be pretty strong
In a word, vibes. I’m hoping that at some point demand just dries up. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Zack*
Great article Zach!
How do you see these “strong bonds of cultural trust and social credit” forming between these MVN’s in the broader Commonwealth of networks? As in, what is balancing these disparate interests?
That’s a great question. I was more so referring to the bonds holding individuals together within an MVN. I’m less certain on what would connect these networks, other than functional needs of individuals as they navigate between them.
Of course, I’m an amateur here so I’m not overly sure of any of it, but that’s never stopped me 😎
There are 8 billion people in the world. Think how ludicrous it is to think we can watch an hour of news and know what’s happening in the world. I still have friends who do this and repeat the narrative as if they are “in the know.”
“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien in The Return of the King”
This is a hopeful essay Zack! I agree your suggestion is plausible as far as it regards the "public square", but think that the current generation who are being fed on screens from a young age will have a harder time if they are not apprenticed in real-life human relationships (see Machine Antidote 101: How to Apprentice a Human - https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/machine-antidote-101-how-to-apprentice?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2).
I agree! I’m a fairly huge advocate of local human relationships as the Way Out, specifically in the context of the local church. Everyone always seems to be reinventing the local church. 😃
I think this is correct, and I hope it continues.
🙏
What an excellent read. I think you’re right, and I’m looking forward to it
Thanks so much M.E., I sure hope I am too!!!
Brilliantly articulated. Depth over breadth. Meaning over reach.
Thanks very much Redd!
Combine this with Rao's "A Whole New Cope" lede:
https://open.substack.com/pub/ribbonfarmstudio/p/a-whole-new-cope
"With negligible power comes negligible responsibility."
Social media crystalized in a paradigm where 24 hour news services and nationalization of US politics taught people to "think globally, act locally." As such the bottom fell out of local activity. Now people are standing themselves up and relearning to think locally. Among that learning is learning to dismiss the forces beyond your agency.
Jury is not yet in on whether the next step is think locally, act locally, or think locally, act globally.
Drat now I have homework.
Wait, I love that. Nevermind, thanks! 😃
(Think locally, act locally, btw)
My thesis involves a bifurcated system, which is part of what we see happening and pretty much aligns with your piece. Large monolithic enterprises will continue to thrive but the ability to use the same infrastructure for peer to peer connection will also.
The substack analogy is fair. It will exist, it will exert influence to shape culture at large but because they give us emails of subscribers, we can go direct. This will result in a group that is spoon fed and those free ranging. The last decade has been a push to spoon feeding everyone.