I suppose you think record companies decide what music will be popular, too?
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Record companies aren’t the right metaphor either. Why are we looking for metaphors? Facebook is pretty specific as a case to discuss; no huge mystery to the dynamics at play. Record companies sell to us, and don’t resemble Facebook.
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Since it obviously wasn’t clear enough, here is the metaphor: it sounds obvious that fashion designers control fashion, or record labels control musical tastes- they make the product! But of course, their control is actually very very limited. So for Facebook... 1/2
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Replying to @benedictevans @zeynep and
It seems obvious FB controls how people use FB - they make it! They have all these tools, and information!. But that’s exactly the same error. Like fashion, social reflects what came before, and how we want to feel. And FB & fashion can only try to capture & channel that. 2/3
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Replying to @benedictevans @zeynep and
And (3/3) I keep seeing from you (I think) the unqualified assumption that FB has some fundamental *control* of what we do on Facebook, and can make us do X and Y in important ways. And I think any such control is very, very limited - that FB is led by our use, not the reverse.
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Fashion is a retail industry; Facebook is infrastructure—the retail part is users, but not the business. I don’t argue Facebook has control but it certainly has shaping power. But my beef is with the externalities of the business model. 1/
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Replying to @zeynep @benedictevans and
My metaphor is more a cafeteria. We have appetites, sure, and the cafeteria is selecting food that we are more vulnerable to at the moment (not through deliberation) but we aren’t even buying the food. Plus network effects, so can’t leave. No retail business captures this. 2/2
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Replying to @alexstamos @zeynep and
this point from
@zeynep is key " It’s more a novel form of infrastructure."0 replies 0 retweets 8 likes -
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Also a Russian sprinkled polonium in the chowder
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