this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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Social media is on the decline. Instagram is all ads. No one's posting on BeReal. TikTok is for influencers. The new place for sharing: group chats.

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[–] Jackthelad@lemmy.world 172 points 1 year ago (14 children)

And yet, after joining Lemmy and Mastodon, I post a lot more.

[–] MentalEdge@ani.social 70 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Like for real!! I was a semi-lurker on reddit. Posted a couple times a year.

I just passed 500 posts on Lemmy.

[–] Weslee@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've found lemmy to be alot less hostile, don't care about downvotes, but attacking people because of opinions doesn't sound like a fun time to me

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[–] MargotRobbie@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Part of the reason is Lemmy's default sorting algorithm for comments, "Hot", addresses reddit's biggest flaw, which is that earlier comments snowballs with upvotes, so it buries late-comers to conversations, leading to the rat-race of everyone trying to get their funny one-liners in as early as possible for maximum karma (which also isn't a thing here.)

The "Active" default sort for posts also means that comments are a lot more concentrated to what people are actually talking about and posts tend to be stickier. (also, botting upvote is a lot harder on Lemmy, since it's easy to bot upvotes, it's a lot harder to fake real conversations in comments. )

In fact, it is pointless to comment at all past like 4 hours on any post on reddit since it will just sit unread for hours, but here you can comment 1 day after a post and still have people talking to you.

[–] Uranium3006@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

for me, I was motivated to make this my first post because I want to help solve the death of content issue we still have. it's gotten quite a lot of attention. I think that anywhere bigger, anything of relevance would have already been posted by the time I see it

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[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 155 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The concept of "influencer" as a career needs to die a quick death.

[–] Uranium3006@kbin.social 62 points 1 year ago (6 children)

it's fancy speak for "salesman"

[–] Badland9085@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago

Fancy speak for “cheap salesman who has a large network” /0.5s

[–] Yoryo@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago

Ooo it's the equivalent of "side hustle" just being a 2nd job.

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[–] AnonTwo@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I mean I think it's a fine career, it's the name that's dumb.

For the most part they're just entertainers. The "influencer" name suggests way more than should be.

[–] dragontamer@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Entertainers are supposed to be entertaining though.

These people have all the "entertainment" value of a late-night infomercial at best. "Oooh, watch me get excited about unboxing this item. Whatever could have Disney sent me this week?"

The worst problem is that these influencers do gain huge amounts of followers, but rarely fact-check or do hard sciences needed to ya know, give information to viewers? See Linus Tech Tips and the whole crap they're into right now.

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[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 11 points 1 year ago

You don't like the Z-list celebrities?

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[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 132 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Talking to real friends more interesting than arguing with strangers? Shareholders flummoxed! News at 11.

[–] Klystron@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hey, I take offense to that! I'm going to write a vitriolic response to your seemingly-normal-but-different-viewpoint-than-mine opinion where I'll use non-applicable slurs and misinformation and then call you dumb if you post a sensible reply!

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[–] sndmn@lemmy.ca 51 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I still visit Reddit but I no longer engage in any way, other than reading comments. No up/down voting, not commenting, no reporting spam. Nothing but reading with multiple layers of ad-blocking.

[–] Tygr@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I deleted all 6 of my accounts. I can’t upvote or comment and I like it that way. Reddit no longer values me as a content producer by eliminating my fav apps, so I no longer value Reddit.

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[–] shino@lemmy.shinomoroll.net 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Those platforms are business media now, not social media anymore.

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[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 47 points 1 year ago (6 children)

The fediverse, while still social media, has a level of authenticity unrivaled by most major social medias in my opinion. Hopefully it stays that way!

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[–] teft@startrek.website 44 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Social media in general is in the following stage of Enshitification:

  • Launch
  • Growth at all costs, user focus
  • Use size to bring advertisers
  • Gradually shift focus to advertisers and money bringers
  • Ensure users are way too invested to quit
  • >> Sell out <<

It's no surprise that people only end up seeing "carefully curated" content, it's what "sells", or rather, ensures people stay in the stupid app. From TFA: "While sharing has tailed off, consuming content hasn't slowed"

I have an Insta account for some of the part time 3D printing I do, but since I'm not a "content creator", my stuff has almost zero reach. Whenever I open the app, it's roughly 1:1:1 posts of "recommended", someone I actually follow, advert. 2/3 of everything shown to me is stuff I didn't ask for, not to mention when the advertises are actual scams or fucking pyramids

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[–] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 36 points 1 year ago (18 children)

Also, if no one is posting on social media, then what the hell are we all doing right now then?

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[–] brothershamus@kbin.social 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No app better defines the changing nature of social media than Instagram. The app started as a digital scrapbook — a place to keep up with real-world connections, close friends, and family. While other networks had more users (Facebook) or generated more news (Twitter), Instagram seemed to define the ideal form of this era of social media. Instagram became a verb, an aesthetic, and a generational signifier.

huUURP! BLAAaahhriifgghhh. . .

Garbage marketing platform dies horribly. Thousands of clueless "journalists" bereft.

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[–] igorlogius@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

if someone posts on social media and nobody reads it ... does the poster even exist?

[–] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I too enjoy yelling into the void. Sometimes it yells back 💪😎💪

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[–] Resol@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I also noticed how my social media usage (even on Lemmy and Mastodon) is consistently declining, I haven't opened the clients I use for either platform in days (or possibly more than a week). It's bad because I was pretty invested in the fediverse, but it's good because now I can actually do something productive, or even go outside.

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[–] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (15 children)
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[–] stopthatgirl7@kbin.social 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I almost never use Facebook anymore because whenever I’m on it, all I see are posts from groups I’m not even in, ads, videos, and interspersed in all that algorithmically chosen content, the occasional post from people I actually follow and know. Social media isn’t social any more.

Even fricking tumblr now has videos on it, and you can only shut “tumblr live” off for a week at most before they come back.

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[–] candle_lighter@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 year ago (4 children)

No one's posting on BeReal

Nobody has heard of BeReal

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[–] djsaskdja@reddthat.com 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Big shock considering everything we post online is being weaponized in various ways.

[–] gullible@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know this conversation is had nearly daily here, but by fuck am I glad that the fediverse is so much less astroturfed than every other social media site.

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[–] decadentrebel@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Does Lemmy count as social media?? lol

[–] DarkWasp@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Yes but I’d classify it as a different category more akin to old school forums. It’s less a place to post photos of yourself and more one to discuss and read about stuff you enjoy (or memes). I just want a place personally to discuss movies, video games, technology etc

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[–] Mighty@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

it's interesting how many comments show that people like to read the headline and are content with that to form an opinion. literally the first paragraph says that it's not "THERE ARE NO POSTS" but it says that the "feed is swamped by a combination of perfectly curated photos and professionally created content." - the problem is that the paid content creators have become GOOD. so many of them really look like they are just opinions and casual mentions of movies/clothes/...things. viral marketing is really at a point where so many fronts that have been established have been broken down in the guise of "irony" or "sarcasm". "I'm only buying the Barbie merch ironically" etc.

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[–] Boi@reddthat.com 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been trying to cut down social media use ever since 2020. I don't blame people for not posting most social media platforms are either boring or a toxic shit holes.

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[–] Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The fuck even is BeReal? LOL

[–] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 year ago (4 children)

It's kinda niche, but it's where you and your friends can only post once a day at a random time. But it's all at the same time, so you kinda get a slice of life of what everyone is doing. I like it, it's much worse for influencer type stuff, so everyone I know just uses it with their friends which is nice. It starts conversations that might not happen otherwise.

[–] Speculater@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

My students will jump up in class when they get the notification. My only rule is that I get to be in it.

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[–] WheeGeetheCat@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 year ago

Don't mourn social media. It was always too easily astro-turfed.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Group chats were for sharing before social media. It just out lasted them.

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[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago

I don't post because I know no one will see my posts, and I don't want to give them my data without feeding my narcism in return.

[–] cley_faye@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

The three things cited in the post summary? Never been on them. I never ever heard of one of them. It seems to me that it's more that these few platforms are struggling, and other (twitter/x, reddit, facebook, and other) just keep sailing smoothly.

[–] allocsb@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If a company ever puts ads in my group chats I will jump in a volcano

[–] MedicatedMaybe@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

No no no... We need to throw the CEO's in the volcano. We don't need CEO's but I'm sure someone needs you.

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[–] sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 12 points 1 year ago

I deleted all my big tech accounts, and lots of people are posting on the fediverse.

[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Indian aunties were on the group chat trend before it was cool.

[–] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I would argue that the quality of content is in decline more than numerical users. Also, the quantity of ads are much much higher, which hides what little good content there is.

Mix that in with political splits in social media sites (from left leaning Lemmy to the Facebook right), and you generally find yourself in an echo chamber with little to surprise you, and a lot of things confirming what you already know.

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