Swings and Roundabouts: social media

This morning, late as usual to the social media scene, I finally cottoned on to something that was a Twittering: storm in a T-witter cup.

Elon Musk -- somehow he is "Elon Musk", not "Mr Musk, or just "Elon" -- has apparently restricted the number of daily Twitter posts that us lesser mortals are allowed to read. The numbers 500 and 600 had been bandied about. But a helpful (?) page here.

Following my recent post on how social media, professional SEO and content writers are driving me, a hobbyist seller, out of business simply because I cannot afford to pay to be "found", I wonder if this could be "good news" to some. The jury is still out. I am merely hoping for the best (ie my best).

This brings me back to my academic muse Henri Lefebvre and his exposition on "rhythmanalysis". We carry on as if life is normal; we do not note the ticking of our heart, for example, until something goes wrong. 

Isorhythmia (harmony) gives way to arrhythmia (ie something goes out of sync). But note, rhythmanalysis isn't only about the analysis of rhythms, it is also about the rhythm going awry and THEN returning to what is now a familiar concept that we call "new normal", often after a period of polyrhythmia and/or eurhythmia. This happens to all rhythms.

Take Trip Advisor. Once upon a time it was the go-to platform to learn about an organization, a restaurant, a hotel, etc. Then people began to game the system, and "enterprising" people set themselves up to "help" people get the ratings one desired in its Trip Advisor ratings.

Result? I don't trust TA anymore. A headline number does not tell the whole story. 

It's the same with most platforms where reviews can be freely submitted, or dependent on 'Likes' and 'Followers". Almost as soon as I ventured onto Instagram, in the hope of enlivening my hobby business, I got hit by queries about whether I was happy to pay to get more views and 'Likes'. (Please follow here.)

Perhaps it's time we got back to real people dealing with real people, shopkeeper and customer, friend and friend, instead of bots and third-parties acting as paid agents, to drum up business. And those inexplicable algorithms. (Everyone talk about these. No one has been able to define this for me.)

Perhaps we can now get rid of the "influencer" influenza that has infected every aspect of our daily life. I don't know if these people add anything to the GDP. Do these people actually pay tax, for example? Is it a bit like supporting traffickers then?

Perhaps I am naïve thinking that we can turn back the tide of technological advance in the face of artificial intelligence where social media is (are?) concerned. 

Perhaps I simply don't care anymore. I just want to go back to doing something I like, on and off social media. 


  

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