Study: Social media probably can’t be fixed

Hmm…. -> https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/08/study-social-media-probably-cant-be-fixed/

I’m not sure that this is news. I mean, just the issues around content moderation on social networks have been known for a very long time. But what is fascinating about this study is that human behavior does not change on social networks regardless of algorithmic structure.

I am all for new niche networks where people can collaborate. But I think I’m officially done with even any testing or hope for large scale social media sites. The structural behavioral incentives are just too much to overcome or be worth anyone’s time.

And that goes even for “corporate free” and open source social media such as Mastodon, PixelFed, etc. If they are treated like networks…they get the exact same issues you’ll find anywhere on X, Reddit, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, wherever. However, I am still on board with treating all these networks like plain, ‘ole giant websites that can be connected via RSS and ActivityPub – hopefully spreading out the networks, nodes, and people.