Christopher Mims

tech columnist @ wsj, here to make friends & chew bubblegum (& I'm all out of gum)

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Last Notes

2024-06-14 16:55:20

I'm a reporter looking to interview freelancers who have seen demand for their work go down -- or shift -- in the wake of ChatGPT and all the AI image generators.
This is for a story about how freelancers, specifically, have seen demand for their labor change as use of AI has spread.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

2024-05-17 13:14:12

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Here's the full article:
(new gift link)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/what-i-got-wrong-in-a-decade-of-predicting-the-future-of-tech-06420bba?st=rriznlgai9aw8y7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2024-05-17 13:13:38

5. We’ve got more power than we think
"Having all the wealth and technology in the world doesn’t matter if we don’t have the wisdom to use it in the right manner. Early in my career, I bought into the notion, espoused by science-fiction author William Gibson, that all cultural change is driven by technology.
I’ve now witnessed enough of both technological and social change to understand that the reverse is also—and perhaps more often—true."

2024-03-31 13:09:53

this is what I feel like anytime I try to use LinkedIn
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/190/452/115/061/967/original/72f2cdbaebd9f754.jpg

2024-03-24 14:20:24

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@npub1nfl…7t3d oh completely! I genuinely hope uses of it like this are regulated out of existence

2024-03-23 13:46:09

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Something real is going on here and it will profoundly alter the landscape of employment for millions of people -- there are 100 million 'knowledge workers' in the U.S. alone!
The only way to fully understand what's coming is to play with these AIs yourself. There's both less here than the zealots would have you believe, and way more than the critics argue.
(gift link)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/jobs-chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-openai-cea961d5?st=43o4w9gbeuhh30g&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
5/🧵

2024-03-23 13:45:31

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This is not to say that today's GPTs think, or reason, or any of that nonsense.
But their everyday utility gets lost in all the noise about turning them into AGI, or a future in which everyone's on UBI because the machines took over, or whatever.
4/🧵

2024-03-23 13:42:53

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At the other end of the spectrum, knowledge workers who perform a large number of tasks that can't be automated, are still going to be using all kinds of AI assistants in the not too distant future. (Plenty of them already are.)
Today's GPTs are way more capable at some things than is immediately apparent. They are starting to become plain-language programming environments.
Hence all the custom GPTs in the OpenAI GPT Store.
3/🧵
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/145/290/597/876/828/original/3f65f3c655cf967a.png

2024-03-23 13:41:42

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Here's the thing about ChatGPT and the like: The reason it has close to 200 million users is that there are tons of people -- freelancers, small businesses -- who find it genuinely useful.
You're doing your own marketing in your spare time and you need tools to make it much easier to get your message out? This is the way.
Wordsmiths (like me) and artists might not like it, but this is the future of a lot of tossed off but important "content"
2/🧵

2024-03-23 13:40:10

I spent the past two weeks using generative AI in every aspect of my life, both personal and professional.
At the end of my total immersion, here's my verdict:
The last time I had an experience this eye-opening and transformative was when I bought my first smartphone.
(gift link)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/jobs-chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-openai-cea961d5?st=wrosu8uv2tej8c8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
1/🧵

2024-02-28 13:09:40

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@npub10j9…xs4z aw, thanks :)

2024-02-17 13:26:12

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I don't mean to be glib about what LLM-powered chatbots and AI-powered answer engines could do to the internet.
Research by Ethan Mollick and others shows that when people ask an AI for answers, they *do not click on links* those answers are referenced from.
This is extremely bad for a lot of publishers.
2/🧵

2024-02-17 13:24:05

It’s the End of the Web as We Know It
And I feel... fine?
AI is eating the web from the bottom up, with AI-generated spam, and from the top down, through the replacement of search with AI and AI-powered "answer engines"
But look, the web has been enshittifying for a long time. Maybe this yields the kind of disruption we need?
this week's column (gift link)
1/🧵
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/its-the-end-of-the-web-as-we-know-it-2ab686a2?st=ba0hp8fxnytl78x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2024-02-17 13:18:41

X's massive bot problem, in one chart, made by @npub12gs…q86j
https://o.simardcasanova.net/data-illustrates-that-x-formerly-twitter-has-a-serious-bot-problem/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/947/013/596/325/484/original/389d2a47a4630f7d.png

2024-02-13 18:14:00

just hit me that if Microsoft used the same naming conventions as Tesla, Copilot would be called Fully Sentient Humanoid Assistant
(also, it would cost $10,000 a seat and there'd be an entire subculture on X devoted to explaining why that's a bargain)

2024-02-10 14:30:19

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As usual if you're not a subscriber and you'd like a gift link lmk

2024-01-22 15:11:26

Mastodon, I could use your help. I want to get more out of Mastodon but I think I follow too many (lovely!) people.
How can I:
1. quickly cull my follow list
2. are there client apps that offer me an algorithmic feed? (yes I know, heresy, but ... I want it)

2024-01-22 15:02:54

New:
After a Sugar High of Free Money, These Billion-Dollar Technologies Need a Nap:
🥽 Metaverse
🚗 Autonomous Vehicles
⛓️ Blockchain
“When you move people in cities, you can’t afford to kill them—that’s the crucial issue”
gift link:
https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/after-a-sugar-high-of-free-money-these-billion-dollar-technologies-need-a-nap-dc4c4b20?st=hgicpa73dklexg9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2024-01-07 01:58:14

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@npub1jla…zr22 honestly the fact that android is so much more flexible (and in other ways too) has me thinking it's time to ditch ios

2024-01-06 13:55:42

Here's what your iPhone home screen can look like after you install the Blank Spaces app. I use and love it.
It's fundamentally changed how I interact with my device, shifting it from a source of distraction to a tool -- still an extraordinarily capable one, on which I can do important parts of my job even when I'm away from my desk.
(I also use and love Freedom for site blocking.)
There are countless minimalist launchers for Android, which is more flexible than iOS.
6/🧵
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/709/342/733/083/054/original/6afe9cb2dbfff608.png

2023-12-22 12:17:39

This is a bit beside the point but there's not much good evidence fitness trackers help, plenty that having a distraction on your wrist is bad for your mental health, and really we should probably take this Apple watch ban as a chance to rethink the genre of wearables.*
*people who use them for serious health stuff like heart monitoring, obviously that's a great application of it

2023-12-22 12:15:49

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@npub10j9…xs4z If you like this approach, have you ever read John McPhee? He inspired this book. His stuff on e.g. logistics and transportation just blew my mind, and he's a beautiful writer

2023-12-21 13:29:25

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@npub10j9…xs4z glad you’re enjoying! Feedback welcome. It was after all my first book. Lots to learn

2023-12-09 19:03:03

🧵 Something profoundly important (and scary) is happening.
Climate change is finally starting to break through the financial firewalls Americans and our government have put up, and affecting where people can live -- now in the future.
And there's an unlikely driver of this new reality:
The insurance industry.
1/🧵
gift link:
https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/climate-change-ai-california-texas-insurance-1d993873?st=pdr27dxahvmgcsp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2023-10-21 14:29:05

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Did you know the sole priority of the average transportation engineer is shaving a couple minutes off of the average car journey?
In 4 of 5 jurisdictions across the U.S., there is almost nothing on the books saying streets should seek to be safer and more accessible to all.
These policies haven't accomplished their stated goals -- by forcing everyone into cars, they create *more* traffic, which leads to average speeds low enough they could be matched with a more diverse mix of transit.
5/

2023-10-21 14:26:25

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Yes, it would be great if every American city had the transit options of, say, Zurich or Copenhagen.
But that's not happening anytime soon. In the meantime, micromobility and minimobility can bridge the gap -- and will always be part of any healthy city.
But how do you make it so people are actually safe in something that isn't a 2-ton SUV?
You've got to re-engineer streets.
4/
(gift link)
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/evs-electric-vehicles-micromobility-smart-car-ultracompact-4b6a6e6b?st=ye1u8w207ubq887&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2023-10-21 14:24:10

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Gigantic vehicles with hundreds of miles of range is a bizarre way to use EV technology in a world where most drivers commute around 20-30 miles a day.
The whole point of EVs is that they can be smaller, more compact, and do things no comparably-sized gas-powered vehicle can.
Take the Swiss/Italian Microlino:
3/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/273/457/146/264/731/original/891a9f49a395cd90.png

2023-10-21 14:22:18

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~42,000 Americans die on our roads every year
Other tremendous costs of our car culture are the anomie, alienation, environmental destruction and mass impoverishment of Americans brought on by the perceived necessity of buying ever-larger, ever-pricier vehicles just to keep from being slaughtered on our roads.
The average weight of American vehicles goes up every year.
This was true even before people started buying EVs which tend to be heavier on account of batteries.
2/

2023-10-21 14:17:24

America's car culture is broken -- cyclists and pedestrians know this.
But what's not acknowledged often enough is just how broken it is for *drivers*
Our roads are deadlier than they have been at any point in the past ~20 years.
And the average price of a new car now exceeds $40,000.
It doesn't have to be this way!
Pretty much the rest of the world is embracing micro- and mini-mobility.
Here's what that looks like.
(gift link)
🧵/1
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/evs-electric-vehicles-micromobility-smart-car-ultracompact-4b6a6e6b?st=mz0640r6cedjnr1&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2023-10-18 18:52:32

I was feeling like I was following too many people on Mastodon, but it turns out it was really just a handful of high-volume accounts posting and boosting stuff that wasn't quite my cup of tea.
A little pruning can go a long way to improving the utility of a feed!

2023-10-12 16:57:52

"...it has become unfortunately common for me to have promising opportunities or interesting projects quietly and suddenly shut down by rich men I’ve never met."
Ex-Gawker writer Read Max on what it's like to have projects killed at the last minute because executives decide everyone who ever wrote for Gawker is suspect / damaged goods.
https://maxread.substack.com/p/two-years-of-read-max?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=392873&post_id=137875836&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=7v2x&utm_medium=email

2023-10-10 14:04:31

I spent my first year on Mastodon following people like mad, now it feels like it's time to prune the ol' follow list.
Anyone have suggestions about the best way to do this? Best apps? Services?

2023-10-09 18:12:05

the iconic "on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog" cartoon just sold for $175,000
in case you want to know what art is worth when it's not an infinitely reproducible .jpg attached to a blockchain traded with made-up internet money
https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/peter-steiner-american-b-1940-on-the-internet-nobody-knows-you-re-a-dog-the-new-yorker-cartoon-july-1993ink/a/8137-71036.s
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/206/405/215/715/224/original/6151e0edfee6a239.jpg

2023-10-09 11:00:51

tis the season to think about how we’re all just skeletons on the inside
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/204/711/350/982/797/original/3db134acc7e47cd6.jpeg

2023-09-30 13:24:35

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"Those who don’t opt to use AI to help them summarize others’ reports (likely generated with the help of AI), respond to emails (ditto) or adapt to new business processes (also created with the help of AI) risk drowning in a fire hose of communications and increased complexity."
Now, honestly, I hope I am wrong. But I also think that in the not too distant future, opting not to use these tools will be like opting not to use email in 2023. Possible, but hard.
5/5
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/why-you-soon-wont-be-able-to-avoid-aiat-work-or-at-home-65febec7

2023-09-30 13:23:11

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In just the past two weeks:
🖥️ Microsoft announced deep integration of generative AI tools across Windows 11
🔍 Google rolled out changes to its Bard generative AI that allow it to use all your documents, emails and calendar items as fodder
🗨️ Amazon showed off the next generation of generative AI capabilities for Alexa, which should make it chattier and more flexible
💬 Meta announced a chat-based assistant for Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook
🧵/4

2023-09-30 13:20:43

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A recent global survey of 10,000 people by tech and consulting firm Capgemini found that people who have used generative AI tools for basic tasks like searching for and summarizing information were on the whole highly satisfied with them.
For now, the generative AI tools that can boost people’s productivity require an early adopter’s mindset ... BUT:
3/🧵

2023-09-30 13:19:19

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Jacky Liang is living in the future.
An artificial-intelligence engineer in Philadelphia, he uses generative AI at work and in his personal life “as much as possible—to the point that even my girlfriend is like ‘Babe, please.’”
Now I realize Jacky (please be nice to him if you run into him on the internet!) isn't typical.
But he does embody the "interpersonal AI arms race" I think we'll all soon find ourselves in.
2/🧵

2023-09-30 13:17:08

This week I wrote about what I think will be the unavoidability of using generative AI in both our work and, someday, personal lives.
For this simple reason: It really can make people more productive.
That creates a kind of communications arms race where the rest of us have to participate, or else risk drowning in the output of others.
Maybe I'm wrong. But here it is at length, and a brief thread on the subject.
🧵/1
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/why-you-soon-wont-be-able-to-avoid-aiat-work-or-at-home-65febec7

2023-09-27 19:31:23

my guess is *stylish* orb that peers into your eye and captures your biometric information
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/138/769/761/519/592/original/147f7a178cb73ec2.png

2023-09-21 16:34:50

All Those NFTs Are Officially Worthless
A new study suggests a huge number of NFT collections are now worth $0
https://kotaku.com/nft-meaning-scam-crypto-marketplace-price-bored-ape-1850860661

2023-09-18 18:38:52

This is bonkers:
Only 4 in 10 Americans know that "filling up" an EV is cheaper than filling up a gas-powered vehicle.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/09/15/ev-tipping-point-electric-poll/

2023-09-16 20:59:32

what's the best way to launch a personal blog in 2023 with the lowest odds that anyone who isn't me will ever have the power to take it down?
(i.e. not on substack or some similar platform controlled by others)

2023-09-15 20:01:45

the way arm-based laptops can get two days' worth of life out of a single charge is low-key a game changer

2023-09-14 13:47:52

What’s really driving ad revenue collapse at X?
📱new ad formats
📉crashing ad click through rates
🤪actions of a certain CEO
“Advertising experts told The Washington Post that the allegation that ADL is responsible for X’s falling revenue was laughable.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/14/musk-antisemitism-x-twitter-adl-netanyahu/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/063/807/661/293/186/original/101d96e4a5d82a69.jpeg

2023-09-04 11:34:40

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Tech workers who fled to Austin during the pandemic are being repelled — Austin is #3 in the country for outmigration now — by a summer that has smashed all records for heat, with well over a month of days above 100 degrees.
This is a profoundly different weather than Austin had 20 or 30 years ago.
🧵 #climatemigration #climatechange
https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-workers-moved-to-austin-regrets-2023-8
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/006/663/368/934/506/original/37fe8d43fec06290.jpeg

2023-09-01 19:02:38

New to Mastodon? Bookmark this handy glossary:
"toot" - post
"down the toot hole" - delete a post
"tootsday" - what we call Tuesday on here
"tootally" - self explanatory
"tickle the ivory" - post a toot
"miocene mastodonian" - old hand at tooting
"pliocene mastodonian" - just showed up, doesn't know it's called "tootsday"

2023-09-01 18:57:20

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@npub1j46…3gm7 no but I do like to shout into the void about it
https://www.wsj.com/articles/annoying-password-rules-actually-make-us-less-secure-a05edb70

2023-09-01 18:56:03

The biggest determinant of your health, on average?
Where you live, and the deeply historical reasons that public policy there is what it is.
"“Your health is only 10 percent influenced by the medical environment and maybe 20 or 30 percent in behavioral choices. The social and political determinants of health are overwhelmingly what you’re seeing in these maps.”"
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/09/01/america-life-expectancy-regions-00113369
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/991/407/321/954/919/original/d4a7dabea2631dd5.png

2023-09-01 13:31:50

WSJ proper may be paywalled, but all our podcasts are free.
Here's an episode I helped with, for our awesome series The Future of Everything, about my experience with an EV with such extreme range that it can go all day without stopping to recharge.
The experience was wild. And it taught me A LOT about what it's going to take to make America's auto fleet go full EV.
Take a listen here:
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/wsj-the-future-of-everything/no-more-charging-stops-we-take-a-road-trip-in-an-ultralong-range-ev/7dd7c647-acd6-4bd7-a416-078f32f549fd

2023-08-31 14:33:49

one of the most enlightening things about seeing people opine about an industry you're actually a part of is realizing how many opinions that go viral are just a person's biases, put in such a way that other people agree
this isn't meant as judgment -- it's just human nature
this teaches me as much about *myself* and my own beliefs as anything

2023-08-30 22:39:55

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"Giuliani lost his defamation suit because he's every boomer parent who doesn't understand or use iCloud / Dropbox / Google Drive / Onedrive" isn't a headline you're likely to see, but maybe you should?

2023-08-30 22:38:48

Funny to think that Giuliani forfeited his defamation case because, in part, he didn't have adequate cloud-based backups of his personal devices.
From today:
"Giuliani had claimed that the FBI seizure of his electronic devices years ago had complicated his ability to access his records..."
From 2021:
"Federal prosecutors seized 18 electronic devices belonging to Rudy Giuliani and more than one of his employees when they raided his home and office last month"
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/politics/rudy-giuliani-georgia-election-workers

2023-08-28 20:02:29

delightful Tolkien quote I stumbled into today:
“I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit (generally with meticulous care for distances). The other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities, and in any case it is weary work to compose a map from a story.”
https://tolkienlibrary.com/press/1152-tolkien-writings-to-understand-rules-of-life.php

2023-08-28 13:54:41

my least favorite category of pitch is "incredibly successful rich person finds work/life balance" because it's never, ever about the vast resources the person in question can command to do so (domestic help, child care, coaching, etc.)
obviously, we'd all rebalance our lives if we could just outsource more tasks

2023-08-25 18:41:11

YIKES.
Following Elon Musk’s lead, Big Tech is surrendering to disinformation
Facebook and YouTube are receding from their role as watchdogs against conspiracy theories ahead of the 2024 presidential election
"The evolution of the companies’ practices was described by more than a dozen current and former employees... The new approach marks a sharp shift from the 2020 election."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/25/political-conspiracies-facebook-youtube-elon-musk/

2023-08-23 21:07:53

can’t stop thinking about this toot
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/940/965/579/443/370/original/9fb3e6c39c78a29c.jpeg

2023-08-22 12:02:26

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@npub1eee…e209 need a keyboard maker that advertises their boards as faithful reproductions of specific old ones (I know they do for the old IBM ones)

2023-08-19 15:26:17

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4/
More than any other field, maintenance leverages every mode of robot there is:
Robots that fly, walk, swim and crawl, bristling with visual and thermal cameras, conductivity sensors, even digital “noses”.
This data is then run through machine learning algorithms and funneled into digital twins to asses the state of assets and determine what needs to be fixed, when.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/916/974/993/040/498/original/0828fe2dc2c10d46.jpeg

2023-08-19 15:06:02

“Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.“
- Kurt Vonnegut
This week, I went in search of the companies digitizing the upkeep of the least sexy, but most important part of our world.
What I found was a bestiary of robots unlike any I’ve encountered in any other industry.
🧵
https://www.wsj.com/tech/inspection-robots-infrastructure-ebb4172c
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/916/892/234/275/398/original/20a4f30e159461c0.jpeg

2023-08-18 19:20:19

I refuse to stop calling them toots, sorry

2023-08-18 19:18:11

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@npub18r7…xrw4 ahahaha... I take it you're not making big demands on this google sheet?

2023-08-16 23:43:19

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@npub1eee…e209 holy cow this museum of old calculators, please bring back whatever this is
https://www.hpmuseum.org/9100/9100aqm.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/901/945/710/408/606/original/2d5d34423e0b6b29.png

2023-08-16 21:02:16

in a world in which algorithmic propagation of despair is the primary tool for keeping us paralyzed in the face of existential doom, joy and optimism are a radical and revolutionary acts

2023-08-16 13:15:56

I finally found a keyboard that got me to ditch my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard
saying that as someone whose middle-aged body and extremely well-used typing muscles both cry out in pain the moment I touch a non-ergo keyboard
also it's sub $200 which seems rare for this category
https://epomaker.com/products/feker-alice

2023-08-12 18:06:17

Showing the kids Master and Commander for the first time, discovering that in the years since it came out I have become such a big naval history nerd that I can give a running director’s commentary, explaining what’s going on at every turn.
Everyone needs a hobby…
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/877/970/180/222/728/original/b07f15634d8aa677.jpeg

2023-08-11 13:30:35

"if it's not an enthusiastic yes, it's a no" is the best advice I've put into action in years

2023-08-11 11:27:09

we blame social media, polarization, stuff in the water, the u.s. culture of overwork -- all of which are factors-- but my lived experience suggests that the most central driver of isolation, anomie and despair in America is the fact that most of us no longer live in a way that makes it easy to bump into neighbors and turn them into friends
https://mastodon.social/@dmoser/110870241174666061

2023-08-10 13:31:05

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want to expand on this and say people can be a nerd about literally anything
I once rode shotgun with a long haul trucker who was absolutely a trucking nerd, he talked for about 8 hours straight, it was fantastic

2023-08-10 13:22:28

it's funny to me how 'nerd' is sort of its own nationality, and wherever I go & whatever someone's background, if we have this in common, we can connect

2023-08-09 18:32:56

The chaos at Twitter after Musk's takeover was so complete that the company missed a deadline to comply with a Justice Department subpoena of the contents of Trump's account.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/09/special-counsel-obtained-search-warrant-for-donald-trumps-twitter-account-00110484
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/861/086/357/148/064/original/754e30a2b4d78173.png

2023-08-08 13:52:31

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@npub1fkm…qhj4 it's weird that in all the takes I've read on "what's up with Musk" zero of them have been "also maybe Grimes is an enabler"

2023-08-08 13:38:41

Grimes predicts the Musk v. Zuckerberg cage match will actually happen:
"Dudes need some outlet for trad masculinity. I told Sam Altman there should be a follow-up, him against Demis."
(context: Demis is head of AI at Google...)
https://www.wired.com/story/grimes-big-interview/

2023-08-07 16:07:45

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watching the two billionaires taunt each other about a cage match that probably won't happen is just truly amazing, no one would believe this in a scripted show that wasn't satire

2023-08-07 16:06:39

ours is truly the silliest timeline
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/849/180/328/286/533/original/04cc6d5e3d4d7c03.png

2023-08-07 14:35:14

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@npub1jla…zr22 @npub12dd…jscn brilliant in its simplicity, and the way you distill what we all suspect about spicy autocomplete when we use it. Plus the reference to LinkedIn’s auto responder was funny and relatable.

2023-08-07 14:30:12

“Trying to solve a social problem with tech often only creates new social problems.“
@npub1jla…zr22 in @npub12dd…jscn
on why AI crammed into every communications app you can name doesn’t actually accomplish anything
https://www.wired.com/story/is-in-app-ai-useful/

2023-08-04 16:18:36

the world is on fire and Jeep just introduced a 19-foot long vehicle with a built-in mini fridge that gets 16 miles to the gallon
https://www.wsj.com/articles/2023-grand-wagoneer-l-series-iii-reivew-how-big-is-too-big-5dcc419d
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/832/245/294/351/935/original/782a2e8b8ad88fe8.jpeg

2023-07-28 14:25:48

much as I love that Mastodon has a group norm of providing rich alt text for images posted on here, you just know we're all collectively training the next generation of art-generating AIs with our efforts

2023-07-17 15:00:39

prediction:
someone's going to (at least try to) disrupt Google by creating a search engine not full of content generated by AI

2023-07-17 14:39:51

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@npub1ulm…hweg had that experience on threads which makes me wonder how much of this is just early excitement on a new network followed by inevitable drop-off in engagement?
and then the question becomes: who comes back? What lasts?

2023-07-15 11:19:16

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Another conclusion:
Much has been made of the surge and sudden drop in usage of Threads.
If you’ve never looked at the chart of the usage of a service when it goes supersonic, you might naively think this means Threads is already in trouble.
But a saw-tooth pattern where adoption is followed by a decline in usage – and then subsequent waves of re-engagement – is normal.
3/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/717/821/054/075/438/original/c89d91eceb09a4e9.png

2023-07-15 11:17:16

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Here’s the conclusion, for those who want the headline and then would rather move on with their lives.
Traffic to Twitter appears to be declining over time. Threads seems to be responsible for a little of that decline, when it first launched. But really, what’s happening is a story of long-term decline in engagement with Twitter. 2/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/717/813/719/362/906/original/1730a11809738275.png

2023-07-15 11:15:00

There’s been a lot of chatter over the past week about what’s happening to Twitter’s traffic and engagement, as well as that of Threads, and whether the two are related and ~what’s it all mean for the future of social media~
This is my attempt to cut through some of the noise, with actual data – and empirical observations.
All derives from this week’s column in the @npub1s5q…4t4w
1/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-how-twitter-could-become-irrelevant-b2b027af

2023-07-14 13:22:59

bluesky is fun, threads is fun, but I don't think I'll ever forget the lesson of Twitter:
if you don't control your own social graph, someone else controls an increasingly important part of your life

2023-07-13 16:20:44

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@npub1ye6…pwej It did not, but it had outsize power to draw people's attention to things, which I always suspected meant they'd be shared more often in other places that, collectively, did generate a lot of traffic -- everywhere from Facebook and "dark social" to (if you're that sort of journalist) media hits on cable news

2023-07-13 16:18:19

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The way that Twitter engagement has plummeted but it's still on everyone's bios, their "about" pages, Techmeme, a million other places, just shows how long it takes to re-plumb the infrastructure of sharing and commentary. There's tremendous inertia in the system.

2023-07-13 16:17:09

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A very common occurrence these days is to see big stories being posted by journalists to Twitter and getting practically zero engagement. Like, almost none. And I know this because @npub1zh3…8rtv is still linking to those sad, neglected tweets.

2023-07-05 10:59:20

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that said, yes, obviously, the nature of a new technology determines the size of its ultimate audience
the fact that only "all-consuming" = good is a product of the growth at all costs mindset, doesn't reflect what actually makes online social networks good for individual users

2023-07-05 10:57:51

it's weird how often people blame the technology of Mastodon for the failure of users to stick around instead of the most blindingly obvious, actual reasons:
1. habits are hard to break. people used to twitter or insta or FB are going to instinctually open those apps first
2. network effects are incredibly powerful. switching social networks isn't like trying a new toothpaste. networks move to new services *slowly* even when they're incredibly popular

2023-06-30 11:19:38

Mastodon really is the embodiment of "slow social" isn't it?
with all the challenges (stuff doesn't spread as quickly, different stuff spreads) and benefits (see same, in previous parenthetical) that implies

2023-04-06 15:28:45

Twitter is essentially a religion.
To unpack that:
Here's the best analysis of why so many remain stubbornly devoted to the bird site I have yet read.
"the feeling of losing oneself to a shared identity through ritual action creates access to phenomena considered sacred, which are reflections of society itself."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/06/twitter-religion-blue-checks-reformation-priesthood/