Likes, shares, retweets etc. hack your reward system.
It makes you think you're saying something smart when you're preaching to the choir.
Conversation
Replying to
The cost of coming up with something that needs to be said is prohibitive, when compared with cost of coming up with something to get likes.
1
Replying to
The strength of a platform like twitter is exactly that any random dude or dudette or ??? can participate in the conversation at any time.
1
Replying to
Conversation is the actual vector of interaction. Likes and shares breed mutual followings and consensus, but don't do much more.
1
Replying to
And now we are neutering these advantages because it feels that much nicer to see likes and retreats than "lol u *slur*" in your mentions.
1
Replying to
Which is darkly ironic because the power of upvote/downvote in consensus-building when attached to actual, serious decisions is tremendous.
1
Replying to
But instead of taking the technology in that direction, and letting conversation platforms be, we are making virtual endorphin pumps.
2
Replying to
We have a technology that can reshape collective human decision-making into something vastly more powerful, and we're using it for memes.