[lbo-talk] with a whimper, not a bang

[Wojtek S]

Shag: "What you are seeing is not about old technology but the systematic
manipulation of our behavior. If these principles weren't being
systematically deployed in order to stave off what was, historically, the
typical lifecycle of interactive social media, then you would probably see
the same thing happening elsewhere."

[WS:] I am not I follow.  Do you argue that lbo-talk should use systematic
manipulation as other social media outlets to stay competitive?

I can understand that social interaction that is focused on technology such
as CB radio or FB may follow a life cycle of that technology - as the
technology becomes obsolete, the interest diminishes and so does the social
interaction that focuses on that technology.  However, I do not think that
lb-talk was focused on technology - it focused on the old fashioned debate
on ideological issues.  The use of email-based technology was incidental -
it facilitated the exchange process and perhaps added some streak of
nastiness that would not have occurred in a face-to-face discussion, but it
was no much different than exchanging ideas via other media, say, print.

 This is different than, say CB radio of FB which forces a type of
interaction that would have not occurred in their absence.  That is people
talk on CB radio or use FB not because they have something to say, but
because they have access to this new "cool" toy that requires them to say
something.

My own conjecture is that lbo-talk is not very successful in attracting
"new blood".  It is populated mainly by old farts whose postings are
predictable like bowel movement.  It is no surprise that after 10 or so
years they have told each other what there is to say - like an old couple.

 Only newcomers can provide new perspectives  that can stimulate interest
and new interaction.  The problem is, however, that newcomers either cannot
communicate in coherent paragraphs anymore thanks to debilitating influence
of technologies such as texting, or they can but they have no interest in
interacting with old farts and prefer more lively company - or perhaps an
illusion of it - on FB or twitter.  The analogy I would use is that of old
PA or WV mining town - most inhabitants are retirees who know each other in
and out and have nothing new to say to each other, while most of the
younger folk left the town for more sexy pursuits.

-- 
Wojtek

"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."