The high modernism of social media companies
<i>When confronting the utopian side, by contrast, the relevant question becomes sharper: Should these companies even exist at all?</i><p>I am coming towards this conclusion as well. As <i>individuals</i>, the easier and more frictionless our communications with others, the greater our opportunities to live, love, learn, and collaborate. As a <i>species</i>, we have evolved to live in small social groups with radically different norms and life patterns. That&#x27;s a survival and evolution benefit, not a bug. As long as we can remain peaceful and not harm one another, we want the maximum possible diversity in humanity, not some utopian norm for the entire species.<p>We have a wonderful example of large numbers of people instantly communicating with one another. They&#x27;re called mobs. Because at some point in scaling, and it happens probably between 75-500 people, powerful emotions are the only thing that can sustain the instant feedback loop we&#x27;ve created.<p>We want friction in communicating. Not only do we want it, we have to have it.