Mark Zuckerberg has a problem with your friends: they're the reason you signed up to use his platform, but they stubbornly refuse to organize your socialization to "maximize engagement." Every time you and your friends wrap up a social interaction and log off, Zuckerberg loses revenue.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/17/for-youze/#forever
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/17/for-youze/#forever
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/2
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/3
And speaking of argumentation: you and your friends probably don't argue that much - I mean, sure, you'll have "friendly disagreements" (again, by definition), but if there's a friend who sparks furious, frustrating, irresistible feuds that drag on and on, chances are that person won't be your friend anymore.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/4
But that, too, hit a limit. Most of us don't like having our limbic systems tormented by strangers.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/5
Enter Tiktok. Tiktok found a way to connect you to strangers who *don't* make you angry.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/6
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/7
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/8
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/9
It worked. Sorta. Thing is, some of those "content creators" are actually *very good*, and none of them appreciate being jerked around.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/10
What's a billionaire solipsist to do? Obviously, the answer is "AI creators."
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/11
https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/05/fisher-price-steering-wheel/#billionaire-solipsism
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/12
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/13
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/08/watch-the-surpluses/#exogenous-shocks
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/14
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/15
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/16
The key word here is *fungible*. A feed composed of things posted by people you have a personal connection to is non-fungible: it cannot be swapped for a feed of things posted by *strangers*.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/17
On the other hand: one feed of algorithmically selected, entertaining amateur dramatics is broadly equivalent to any other feed of algorithmically selected amateur dramatics.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/18
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/eof
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/17/live-by-the-swordlive-by-the-sword/#unfriending-tom
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Alx 🐈
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/3
Cory Doctorowudostępnił to.
soapone
•If you don't like it, don't use it.
Chris Hodges
•For those of us with friends that we can't persuade to move (or often big groups that would need reinventing on another platform), it's up there with adblocking as a way of rewriting the terms of the bargain in our favour by hiding anything you haven't chosen to follow. Extra stubbornness in our refusal to do things his way.
F.B. Purity - Clean Up + Customize Facebook
F.B PurityCory Doctorowudostępnił to.
Lily Star
•