This will blow over, Facebook is far too entrenched and without serious competition. Some people will use Facebook less and replace it with Whatsapp and Instagram, but Zuckerberg has that base covered
Facebook is entrenched because the culture allows it, but I sense a major kumbaya moment for Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millenials that could upend this culture. Finally, the younger generations can see in practice why many of their elders were intuitively resistant to social media.
> younger generations can see in practice why many of their elders were intuitively resistant to social media.
The idea that "their elders" were "intuitively resistant" because they understood the decade-later implication of algorithmic user profiling being weaponized to undermine public thought and democracy is.... generous.
They didn't understand computers or why anyone would give a shit about seeing your lunch. Both fair. But let's not repaint them as wise prophets of some future data apocalypse.
The real kumbaya moment you're talking about is both self-deprecating and metacognitive: "I am not so much an individual as one of fewer-than-you'd-think archetypes, and my beliefs about the world are malleable based on cute pictures placed in front of me for pennies. I should take time out of every day of my life and spend it working to double check that the things i think are true, and the people I hate are the thing I think they are. Whole organizations of much smarter people than I will abuse me at every chance they get to take as much money from me as they possibly can. Most things that feel good on the internet are designed to turn me, somehow, into money."
This is a painful, stark realization that lots of people never get to. Whole industries rely on people never coming to the realization that all of us are "basic bitches" and not anomalously unique or intelligent.
I'd love to believe you that there is a multi-generational awakening to the idea that people are herdable animals, but don't bet the farm.
> The idea that "their elders" were "intuitively resistant" because they understood the decade-later implication of algorithmic user profiling being weaponized to undermine public thought and democracy is.... generous.
Intuition doesn't require explicit understanding. Many of my elders certainly had the instinctive sense that we're oversharing and that it will, somehow or another, bite us in the behind. And many of my peers assumed they were paranoid.
Anecdotally, I'm in my early 20s and none of my friends post to Facebook at all any more -- it is essentially just a messaging app that happens to have your real name in it and a large userbase. I deleted my account and haven't noticed a lick of difference -- in fact, a couple of my friends living far away called me on my phone to ask if I'd deleted my Facebook and tell me that they've deleted theirs as well. Since I did this a couple of months ago I've gotten a lot more texts and calls from acquaintances and friends I used to only interact with in group chats.
So basically if you're feeling trapped by Facebook's social network, remember that it is in fact possible (and often superior) to interact socially outside of Facebook. The tide may be turning.
Of course this is a generalization, but I disagree with you. Older generations didn't trust social media companies with their private details because they felt it was too creepy and intimate. The younger generations thought they were paranoid or behind the times.
