Out With The Old And In With the Old

Let's see if we can make some changes in the new year.

I’ve always been struck by Pete Townsend’s line about authority and change in “Won’t Get Fooled Again” on the iconic 1971 rock album “Who’s Next.” He says: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Meaning, I suppose, that the more things change, the more they stay the same. (Yes, Donald Trump is the once in 246-years exception to the rule.)

I’m not really a New Year’s Resolution person. I’m way too OCD to wait until New Year’s to impose new rules and restrictions on myself. Finding my own behavior intolerable, I obsess (that’s the “O” for those fortunate enough to not know what OCD means), and then I compulsively (there’s the “C”) create new rules to follow. (The “D,” as you might have guessed, is for “Disorder.”) I’m not so afflicted that I spend hours washing my hands, nor do I feel the need to compulsively close the car door three times, so it could be worse (unless you ask my wife, kids, mail carrier, neighbors, or that guy behind me in line at the grocery store). Nonetheless, I feel the need to identify and change some behaviors this year as we kick off another race around the sun.

For instance, I hereby resolve to use social media, but to not be used by social media.

I intend to avoid the pitfalls of algorithmic logic this year. As you likely know, the social media companies’ business models run on “engagement.” What they mean by “engagement” is that users interact with their content. You give it a thumbs up, you say you like or dislike something, and all that registers in their software that then feeds you more things like that. It really gets amped up when you post a negative comment. It’s like a drug that supercharges the algorithm to feed you more and more of the content to which you responded negatively. You see, the more negative emotion you express on social media, the more it inspires the algorithm to feed you more of the same, creating a vicious circle… and, voila, you are hooked.

Why is it good for them? Because the longer you stay on the platform and the more emotionally engaged you are, the more fodder they have for their giant ad sales machinery. The truth is, they couldn’t care less about what you love or hate, they only care that you are engaged, and that they can keep you on the platform to sell you more and more stuff…most of which you surely do not need and had no idea you even wanted until they kept showing it to you endlessly.

It also explains why, weeks after you sought info on anything from a trip to Jamaica to a new putter, you’re still inundated with ads from hotels, airlines, tourist agencies, golf shops, club makers, sporting goods stores, et.al. Your feeds—that’s “feeds,” plural, because those crawlers scraping your phone report your every move, regardless of platform, back to the mothership—are the social media companies’ stock in trade.

I also resolve to remove all the apps I don’t actively use.

This because even the most benign, My Little Pony-ish, apps, scrape your personal information off your phone all the time. Like Santa on Adderall, they see you when you’re sleeping, they know when you’re awake. As for whether you’ve been bad or good? They couldn’t care less—bad or good—they have stuff to sell you. And unless you’ve specifically turned off tracking, they also know exactly where you’ve been.

We users of social media are, according to Investor’s Business Daily, worth nearly $1,000/year to social media firms. Let’s do the math: The top four social apps reach 3.384 billion daily users. Facebook leads the pack with 2.5B users generating $400/year/user. Next, Twitter with 300M users gets about $200 per-per, followed by Snapchat with 325M users, and $325 per-per. Finally, Pinterest with 459M users gets about $100 per-per. (One can see the kind of trouble Elon Musk has bought for himself with the drastically underperforming—compared to Facebook—Twitter.)

The operative phrase here is that if the app is free, you are probably the product. Think of it like poker, where if you don’t know who the sucker at the table is, it is probably you.

There have been a number of consumer groups who have challenged the social giants and demanded compensation, but the companies quite rightly say they provide a service free of charge to consumers, who in turn agree to have their information sold at market, so let the buyer beware.

2023 promises to be a lot like the years that have come before. We’ll see unthinkable acts of cruelty and humbling acts of grace. My wish for you is a happy and healthy new year… and that, to quote The Who once more, we “don’t get fooled again!”

©2022 Jon Sinton