added by Talin Koutnouyan · updated 2y ago
Social Media = Sharecropping? — Regina Anaejionu
Ana Fragoso added
I’d argue that the gist of sharecropping on social media is: We rent space on platforms we don’t own. We pay for that space by becoming “the product” whose attention is sold to the highest ads bidder. Our attention is also being usurped by the makers of the platform and what they’ve programmed their algorithm to show us. Our data is being collected, stored, and reused without our knowledge or permission (at times). We are still the workforce that fills the platform with value, ideas, content, and meaning. ------ It doesn’t benefit major social media companies (in a modern, capitalistic business sense) to encourage us to do the things that actually help us change the world and grow our businesses, and spread our ideas the way “gold standard” people are. ----- In the age of AI—and tons of people competing for attention online, if you are a thought leader with meaningful ideas to share: • Trying to compete on quantity is actually foolish. • Trying to compete on quality will weed a few people out, but is clearly not enough because most people I know are already trying that. • Competing on placement, relevance, and the strategic platform you build for your thought leadership is a much better way to spend your energy.- All throughout the media world, individual writers are finding that they can use social platforms for distribution, crank out writing coated in their signature style, and make far more money than they were able to when stuck behind the desk of a woebegone publisher.
from The Medium pivot is the message by Mark Stenberg
sari added
- Social media is content (text, photos, videos, audio, etc) that is distributed primarily through networks of connected people. This means that some level of distribution is guaranteed for creators based on the creator’s social network of friends or followers. This dynamic puts an enormous amount of power in the hands of creators because it means th... See more
from The End of Social Media by Michael Mignano