[dvt]

Slightly off-topic: are there any social networks out there not polluted by news -- fake or otherwise? Is there room for a new social network that's for, you know, people?

Snapchat's a tabloid, Facebook is basically a news RSS feed, and I'm even starting to get news "stories" when browsing hashtags on Instagram. I just want to discover people and talk to people. Apart from dating apps (Tinder/Bumble/etc.), it seems that all social networks have become news networks.

[NoGravitas]

Mastodon has a norm that news/current events are hidden behind a content warning/subject line. So if you want a news-free timeline, you can have it. You're still responsible for who you follow, but the timeline is straight reverse-chronological with no algorithmic fiddling, and numbers aren't shown for favs and boosts unless you zoom in on a post's details. There's less incentive for clickbait and outrage.

It could get worse in the future, as it's relatively small (1 million known active users) and has a positive founder effect, but for now it's very good.

https://joinmastodon.org/

[emodendroket]

That might be because "the news" isn't some abstract thing that has no effect on people's lives, so people want to talk to people about the news and politics.

[dvt]

Not saying you're wrong, but I don't know, I was perfectly happy chatting with friends on AIM messenger a decade ago. Myspace was also super spammy, but never became a (literal) news feed. I don't mind stupid pro/anti-Trump memes or whatnot, but giving news distribution companies (from Breitbart to the Economist) a platform on your social network seems like an anti-pattern.

[emodendroket]

I'd much rather see a news article someone thought was trenchant or interesting than a meme image that serves no purpose but to try and rile people up. Which one is a better basis for conversation?

[dvt]

Let me rephrase: I think it's perfectly fine to share news articles and talk about them, etc. But the distribution of news has become fundamental to FB and Snapchat (and to a lesser extent Twitter and IG) -- see FB's trending stories, or Snapchat's "Discover" tab. It's not at all like "oh Bob thought this Fox News article was interesting" -- although to be honest, I would actively discourage that, too.

[emodendroket]

I get a lot of news in my feed, but I willingly subscribed to multiple news sources and regularly comment on articles, so I can't comment on the idea of news being foist upon me.

[yesenadam]

Well, my FB isn't polluted by news. I don't know why people talk as if they're forced to look at their news feeds, I hardly ever do. I use it for chatting with friends around the world, looking at their pics sometimes, making friends.

[MaxBarraclough]

Sounds like you should try Hacker News.

[romanovcode]

I'm sorry if my question seems stupid but I have to ask: Why do you even need a social network?

[darkstar999]

In my experience, Instagram is the closest. But the downside is that it's only images.