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The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
TikTok was successful launching in countries where the team building the apps did not even speak the local language or have any understanding of the content that was getting distributed.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
Every major platform is capitulating to Trump, saying they will end “censorship” which is an euphemistic way of saying they will let politically charged bullshit and conspiracy theories run wild on their platforms.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
If the early internet was serving beer and wine that brought people together, today’s internet is dealing crack and fentanyl that tears people apart.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
But the bigger loss of human agency comes from the billions of people that use these apps. These deep learning AIs are designed to maximize the time we all spend on these apps. While you are reading this memo, you are probably jonesing to switch over to Instagram or TikTok. It turns out when an app company doesn't care about content and asks an AI ... See more
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
The news stories and journalism that break through aren’t the most important stories, but rather the stories that can be shaped into SNARF.
use AI to give users agency instead of stealing their agency.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
The Rise of SNARF
SNARF stands for Stakes/Novelty/Anger/Retention/Fear. SNARF is the kind of content that evolves when a platform asks an AI to maximize usage. Content creators need to please the AI algorithms or they become irrelevant. Millions of creators make SNARF content to stay in the feed and earn a living.
SNARF stands for Stakes/Novelty/Anger/Retention/Fear. SNARF is the kind of content that evolves when a platform asks an AI to maximize usage. Content creators need to please the AI algorithms or they become irrelevant. Millions of creators make SNARF content to stay in the feed and earn a living.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
This is one of the battles we are fighting. Kill SNARF with fire.
It turns out when an app company doesn't care about content and asks an AI to maximize usage the result is a service that incentivizes content that maximizes addictiveness. The type of content that gets created and recommended is not the best content, but the content that elicits the most compulsive and predictable response from the human brain.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
If the early internet was serving beer and wine that brought people together, today’s internet is dealing crack and fentanyl that tears people apart. The consumer isn’t winning when they are addicted to a product that makes them unhappy, and when they are spending hours each day using products they would pay money to make disappear.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
Similar to Zhang Yiming, Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t care very much about the content on his platforms and is much more interested in technology and AI.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
Boom. This is the issue.