Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I myself worked for a social media company for some time (although more in IT, not in their core business). The success metrics for this company were exclusively followers, likes and so on. There were no other metrics whatsoever.
Sure, still a bit weird tho. I mean what happens when OP is on a business trip and his gf seems to suddenly have a whole different taste in music in the morning? Could easily lead to misunderstandings…or not.
I’m sure they are. How could they not? They love you for who you are and what you do and what you think…
That’s cute and all, but it’s also pretty much what Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Spotify and all the other tech giants are doing when they’re joyfully tracking what people are doing without their knowledge or consent.
Well, in that regard not too much changed, I think. Record labels always mostly pushed music and artists with mass appeal. They still do but have lost a lot of their power to companies like Spotify, Apple and Google (YouTube). But these players do pretty much the same with their algorithms. So I don’t think that popular music has changed too much. There are still influential companies that can pretty much dictate what people listen to. I still don’t think it has become much worse, since back in the day you weren’t even able to produce an album without a record deal because studio time, distribution and all that was so expensive. Today you can produce everything yourself in your bedroom. Sure, it’s unlikely that you will be very successful marketing your record - but at least it’s somewhat possible.
I don’t think music has gotten any worse. However, it is much easier and cheaper to produce music today: you don’t have to be able to play an instrument and professional production is possible with comparatively inexpensive software on any standard computer. This and also the changes in distribution (no more need for sound carriers, …) have probably led to a lot more music being produced today than in the past. Of course, this does not mean that music has become better as a result, but it also does not mean that it has become worse. You just have to find the gems among the admittedly gigantic amount of junk.
At this point I’m convinced that they are the only ones who can.
It depends, I would say. If the aliens ask unpleasant questions, they would probably be talked about and reported on continuously. Like:
Alien Ambassador: “Why are you destroying your habitat with your eyes open? We don’t understand. Your scientists have proven beyond doubt that you will become extinct if you don’t fundamentally change your ways. Why don’t you care at all?”
Continuous headlines:
“Aliens want to ban humanity from traveling”
“Space fascists want to raise gas prices”
“Go home job-stealing aliens: How outer world wokeness is destroying {any given country}”
…
How many wives have there actually been so far? I’m afraid I’ve lost track. I only vaguely remember that one of them apparently fell down the stairs and was then more or less buried on one of his golf courses for tax reasons.
Why would you ask him anything? His answer will always be the same: Biden, Harris or foreigners are to blame is what he would say. Why bother? It’s a waste of time.
I’ve just accidentally burnt my boss to ashes. I then scratched my smartphone while I was writing this. Bloody fire breath and claws. I can’t even get through the door because my wings are in the way. And how am I supposed to pay tax on this huge gold hoard? Damn you, random internet people!
It’s not some anonymous force forcing you to act like many of your fellow citizens do on social media. It’s what the US believes, I’m affraid. Even on Lemmy. It’s all “I don’t like Trump” but strangely enough many still agree to some of his key positions when his name is not mentioned. It’s weird.
You might want to check out the Patriot act (especially section 215) and how that plays into your believe of your constitutional rights. If there are any questions, just ask Clarence Thomas - he knows his stuff. I really don’t get how you could be so blind to issues like that just because this post is about China. This is not a popularity contest - it is not US vs the world. This is about your rights, your data and your democracy. I’m from Europe and I’m kinda getting tired of reminding people from the US that your blind patriotism is just that…a blind spot that is used against the US citizens on every corner.
1984 is already a reality - in every country of the word, especially the US. Apple’s famous Superbowl commercial from the same year, which suggested that data privacy (…) was important with regard to their strongest competitor at the time (IBM), does nothing to change this. On the contrary - none of this was even halfway true even back then. I really don’t get why people think this is just an issue in China. It is an issue all over the world. For years and years.
That is certainly not wrong. However, I believe that it’s not just the Chinese but that the US government (and other states around the world) has very far-reaching access to its citizens’ data as well. Among other things, the Patriot Act makes it very easy to demand user data from companies without appropriate checks and balances, if the NSA is not already aware anyway. Without somewhat decent legal regulations such as those that exist in the EU for example, citizens have to trust that the state will not abuse this largely unregulated power. With regard to the question of who will form the next US government, I see a significant problem in this context: I think that Trump’s right wing GOP will use this power against their political opponents and also, as a precaution, against ordinary citizens. I don’t think they would shy away from setting up a surveillance state based on the Chinese model - the conditions for this are certainly met in the current legal situation.
I assume he’s trying to lull people who haven’t seen the debate. Well, it’s going to be tough to keep this going with all these memes of his embarrassing performance. The cat is already out of the bag and there sure is no one to eat it.
By concepts of a plan, he probably means Project 2025, the plan that his “strategists” have drawn up to install him as a fascist autocrat if people are stupid enough to actually vote for him. It is hardly surprising that he does not want to comment publicly on the details of this deeply anti-democratic endeavor.
I think the only way to solve this problem for good would be to tie social media accounts to proof of identity. However, apart from what would certainly be a difficult technical implementation, this would create a whole bunch of different problems. The benefits would probably not outweigh the costs.
Ha, I knew those penguins weren’t trustworthy.