Platforms like Facebook have an incredible hold on some people. I remember a few years ago when the “Momo” hoax happened, an older coworker arrived at the office and started warning us about the danger of “Momo” they’d seen on Facebook. I’d already heard about the hoax (and was aware of the original creepyasta origins), and brought up a few news articles explaining it, including an official statement from the police. Everyone seemed satisfied by the truth, except for the Facebook addict. They just gave me a blank stare, and a few hours later I heard them telling another group of colleagues to beware of “Momo” getting to their children.
I have family members and longstanding family friends who have succumbed to this. Interestingly almost all of them were decrying the internet as something that couldn’t be trusted before the age of social media.
Not being stuck inside of an echo chamber really does wonders for the brain. And yes, I know the irony of saying this on Lemmy, but it’s true.
Lemmy isn’t really an echo chamber. It’s like saying going over to a friends place is an echo chamber because you and your friend get along. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out with people who share your values and beliefs.
The problem with social media are their algorithms. They aren’t designed to connect you with like-minded people, but to keep you engaged. The content that keeps people engaged tends to be terrible content.
The recent “a man or a bear” trend is a perfect example. Algorithms love divisive content like that because it drives engagement, but it also leads to people getting really upset over nothing. Lemmy doesn’t have any algorithms driving engagement so it doesn’t have that problem.
