Thursday, October 15, 2020

Facebook or Freedom, Part 6: Ideas on the table [so far]

This is mostly a book-keeping post to list the various ideas I’ve gathered on the problem of social media, with Facebook as my prime example.

What I’m seeing at the institutional level is: 1) break them up, 2) third party oversight of some kind, not government, but not directly tied to the for-profit platforms either, and 3) independent not-for-profit digital “public parks.” What if we link 2 and 3 somehow? Or are they too different for such a linkage to make much sense? In any event, they might be the beginnings of a new institutional sphere.

Note: This post does not, however, collect all my Facebook or social media posts.

Institutions

Digital public park

We need to create the digital equivalent of public parks. These would be free to all and perhaps funded through philanthropy (think of Andrew Carnegie). They would require careful tending.

What we need online is the electronic equivalent of a public park [digital public infrastructure]

Break them up (monopoly)

Asking/forcing the major platforms to police themselves will ultimately prove unworkable. It is more properly a function for the state; and it would also lock-in large size and create a barrier to entry as only large platforms can come up with the overhead revenue to do this.

Facebook or freedom, Part 4: Notes on Doctorow, How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism

House recommends anti-trust action against tech giants

Oversight Board

We now have two oversight boards, one set up by Facebook, and the other set up independently of Facebook. Could these develop into a new kind of institutional actor, perhaps in concert with one or more digital public parks?

There is a third party board created to critique Facebook. What authority does it have, would it have, over FB? None that I can see.

Facebook critics form their own oversight board [Facebook objects]

Facebook has also established an oversight board, and set it up as a legally separate entity with a multi-million dollar endowment. What real authority does they have, would it have, over FB? None that I can see. Just moral suasion.

Facebook Oversight Board

Facebook announces new 'values'

Phenomenology of interface use

This is based on my own experience and notes how I’ve reacted differently to the forced change in the Facebook interface and the forced change in the Blogger interface. Two factors: 1) I use them in somewhat different ways; this is about technique. 2) I interact with people more of Facebook than on Blogger.

Facebook or freedom, Part 5: A different platform changes its interface, Blogger

Facebook or freedom, Part 3: The game goes on [Media Notes, special edition #1]

Facebook or freedom, Part 1: Who gave you permission to mess with my mind?

Users need to take more responsibility for the interface, and they need tools to do so.

We need decentralized social networks and AI tools to give users more control over them

Other things

There are places in the world where Facebook is essential internet technology.

Facebook or freedom, Part 2: Interlude, If I were Facebook, I’d be thinking…you will comply

There are other uses to which Facebook’s data can be put.

Measuring culture worldwide with a sample of two billion humans using data from Facebook

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