Quote (bogie160 @ Jul 16 2021 04:21pm)
Do you suppose that social media is essential or non-essential?
I think it's non-essential in free countries because there are so many avenues to have your voice heard. In addition, social media comes in a variety of ways. Only a small segment of this country uses Twitter. I don't use TikTok but a lot of the younger generation does. Facebook has a lot of users but the demographics are skewing more and more towards Boomers because young people aren't actively using it. I think it'd be really difficult for a single company to dominate the social media market.
Quote (ofthevoid @ Jul 16 2021 05:07pm)
That's a pretty naïve take on social media. There's a reason why the whole world is coming down on their power and authority. Their power is monopolistic. It's like saying you can easily find any information you want when in reality if the google algo decided it's not showing up in the first 50 pages of a search well it might as well not even exist.
As far as free market comment, we both know the 'free market' doesn't exist in its absolute form and very few people actually argue for that. It's pretty obvious though on most issues aside from social ones like gay marriage or whatever republicans are much closer ideologically to the free market tenants. Whether it's environmental, regulatory, gun control, fiscal spending, etc.
Maybe I'm being pedantic but saying the GOP isn't the free market party doesn't necessarily mean they are less than or equal to the Democrats in that regard. I think it's clear that the Democrats are FAR more into regulation than the Republicans.
I don't think social media's power is "monopolistic." As a whole it has tremendous reach but there's a reason why Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, etc. can all coexist. Because they cater to different needs, I think it will be VERY difficult to have a true monopoly within social media.