96. Social media is ablaze
I.
This weekās tech news in brief: Meta is sacking American fact-checkers, and offensive posts targeting minorities are once again being tolerated on Facebook, Threads and Instagram. It feels rather paralysing, after a week of reading news articles and opinions about Mark Zuckerbergās capitulation to Donald Trump, to add anything further. So, in the old-fashioned way, Iāve gathered a few links that together paint a clear picture of how things stand.
-
To start with, this video by Zuckerberg himself, in which he announces the changes. I think itās good to hear it from his own mouth, so you can carry on in bewilderment afterwards.
-
Threads is also changing tack. The competitor to X was absolutely against political posts on its platform, but now itās changed its mind.
-
As Maarten Reijnders wrote on Bluesky: āIn the name of freedom of expression, Zuckerberg is censoring trans and non-binary themes on Messengerā. Under the new rules, you are also allowed to simply call the LGBTIQA+ community āmentally illā, writes 404 Media.
-
Chaos has erupted, as not everyone is happy with the big bossās plans.
-
Jason Kottke had already pointed out that UFC president Dana White (who only has a loose fist outside the ring) was given a warm welcome at Meta. Kottke writes that Meta is simply the next tech company to realise that you can get away with anything as long as you shout āfreedom of speechā often enough.
-
Professor of Digitalisation Reijer Passcher was not surprised, he says in a crystal-clear interview with de Volkskrant. āYou canāt blame the lion for devouring the gazelle.ā
-
The fact-checkers at Nieman Lab fact-checked Zuckerbergās statements about fact-checking.
-
On Joe Roganās podcast, Zuckerberg was given free rein to spout one falsehood after another. You donāt have to listen; you can just read about it on The Verge.
-
According to Zuckerberg, Metaās moderation systems no longer reflect how society views issues such as gender and immigration. But isnāt it just as reprehensible that a powerful billionaire decides how the conversation should be conducted? Zuckerberg is at odds with himself, suggests The Atlantic.
-
For a detailed account of Metaās new direction, see the NY Times, which explains how Zuckerberg had his business strategy overhauled in six weeks after dining with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
II.
Not to mention the ever-escalating Elon Musk. Can we all just tone it down a notch? Itās as if the bosses of social media platforms are begging us: what on earth else do we have to do to ensure you stop using our services? Itās been clear for years that Big Tech can get away with anything without facing consequences that make a difference, the only difference being that the top executives are no longer hiding behind anything.
Perhaps we could simply spend a little less time on social media. Itās better for your blood pressure and leaves you with time for more enjoyable things (blogging!). The downside is that for years weāve been programmed to open an app and scroll through it at the first sign of boredom.
Perhaps social media has simply failed. Since Elon Musk took over Twitter and turned it into X, many people have been looking for an alternative where it actually is a pleasant place to be. I saw this week that people were closing their Threads accounts following the reports about Zuckerberg. As far as Iām concerned, Bluesky is the best choice, but even there the talk of the day is the chaos at Meta and X. You simply canāt escape it. Which in turn raises the question: why do we keep looking for alternatives at all? After all, El Dorado was never found either.
III.
Even the new stop-motion film Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl deals with the downside of technology. Inventor Wallace has devised a robot gnome to tackle odd jobs in the garden. But when the gnome is hacked by the evil penguin Feathers McGraw, the little helper turns into a horror gnome.
The AI trend of 2025 is the arrival of so-called AI agents. These are chatbots on steroids. They not only answer your questions, but actually take tasks off your hands. You can ask them for holiday tips, and they can then independently book a flight and hotel and make restaurant reservations.
From the outset, Gromit watches with dismay as his boss boasts about his new assistant. He actually enjoys putting time and effort into the garden, whilst the gnome makes everything neat and tidy within a few minutes. Where one sees a solution, the other sees a threat. As the old metaphor goes: you can use a hammer to hammer in a nail or to bash someoneās brains in.
The makers of Wallace & Gromit couldnāt ignore the theme. For is there still a place for a stop-motion film in which almost everything is made of clay where you can see the fingerprints, when you can produce everything faster, cheaper and more beautifully on a computer? Absolutely. Itās like Gromit watching the robot as it wreaks havoc in his garden. You want to stay in control yourself, to feel the earth between your fingers. Even if it takes more time and the end result isnāt quite as polished. Thereās always a need for authenticity. That doesnāt have to be lost when you use technology, as long as you do so wisely. It might even make things better, as shown in the making of the film.
(And itās a hilarious film. The stoic penguin remains a brilliant arch-enemy. Highly recommended.)
---PS.
The best work yet from the already brilliant Neal.fun: Simulation Clicker. The more you click the buttons, the faster the numbers go up. You keep unlocking new distractions and impulses, whilst continuing to click on more and more buttons. Faster and faster, more and more stimuli. Fortunately, thereās a satisfying ending; otherwise, Iād still be down the rabbit hole with a racing heart.
Werner Herzog hasnāt been afraid of anything since he was eighteen, notes De Groene Amsterdammer. Most of his life has unfolded in the twentieth century, a century which, according to Herzog, has been a complete mistake. āThank God itās over.ā The new technological utopias are also coming to an end, he told interviewer Jan Postma late last year. We can see it happening.
What a nice idea, a golf game with pen, paper and a dice.
---DOOM: The Gallery Experience. Itās like playing the classic DOOM, but instead of a gun, you walk through a museum with a glass of red wine. Whilst viewing the art, you pick up a few hors-dāoeuvres. Enjoy. According to the creators, this project is intended as a parody of the ādelightfully pretentious world of exhibition openingsā. Playable for free via Newgrounds.
---At the last minute, I realise there is one social network that actually is fun. Letterboxd. Film lovers gather there to discuss the films theyāve recently watched. I have an account there too. Now the Letterboxd annual review is out again, and itās a joy to go through every year.
Thanks for reading! Are you a subscriber yet?