The high modernism of social media companies
When confronting the utopian side, by contrast, the relevant question becomes sharper: Should these companies even exist at all?I am coming towards this conclusion as well. As individuals, the easier and more frictionless our communications with others, the greater our opportunities to live, love, learn, and collaborate. As a species, we have evolved to live in small social groups with radically different norms and life patterns. That'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.We have a wonderful example of large numbers of people instantly communicating with one another. They'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've created.We want friction in communicating. Not only do we want it, we have to have it.