this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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Signups opened this week for Loops, a short-form looping video app from the creator of Instagram alternative Pixelfed, reports TechCrunch.

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[–] [email protected] 281 points 4 weeks ago (13 children)

Maybe I'm just old, but I traveled by plane recently (I don't fly very often) and seeing everyone around me mindlessly scrolling short-form video content was shocking. Looked identical to the people in the space ship in WALL-E.

[–] [email protected] 257 points 4 weeks ago (7 children)

Dude, it's the airport. It's boring as fuck.

[–] [email protected] 113 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)
[–] [email protected] 113 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Maybe the next one won't be boring though

[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

One more video and ill stop

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

Millions upon millions disagree. Some people are alcoholics and some people can enjoy a drink now and then. It's the same with short form video content. Not everyone is an addict and I like that I can search something and actually get answers instead of an article or 10 minute video begging for subscribers and 1/3 of the video being an intro.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

TikTok quantified the precise amount of viewing it takes for someone to form a habit: 260 videos.

Kentucky authorities note that while it might seem a lot, TikTok videos can be just a few seconds long.

“Thus, in under 35 minutes, an average user is likely to become addicted to the platform,” the state investigators concluded.

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/12/g-s1-28040/teens-tiktok-addiction-lawsuit-investigation-documents

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

For what it's worth, getting in the habit of making excuses for one's use is part of alcoholism.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

They should go do a crossword puzzle and get off my lawn.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

You can have tons of fun at the airport as long as you don't mind getting on the no-fly list.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Fair, but I traveled for a music festival and saw lots of people pulling up their phones to get a few hits of TikTok/insta when there was a small lull in action. And most of them were with friends. Just enjoy your surroundings.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 weeks ago

I was at a party with a small group of friends recently. We were all talking in a group and then one guy started watching tik/insta/whatever with the volume on. Everyone kinda looked at each other like wtf? I asked our friend if he wanted to borrow my headphones to watch that. He took the hint and rejoined the conversation. I still was gobsmacked someone would do that while hanging out with people.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

What tf you want them to do?

I don't see how reading magazines, what people used to do, is any better.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 4 weeks ago

I’m not an expert, so take this as far as you’d like — reading has real benefits to our brains such as improving vocabulary, improving critical thinking skills, and improving focus. I don’t think short form videos give us the same brain benefits.

Here’s an article from Piedmont health on the benefits of reading. I haven’t seen such an article for short form videos, but am open to it if there is one.

https://www.piedmont.org/living-real-change/health-benefits-of-reading

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

You don't see how reading is better than watching a video?

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[–] [email protected] 135 points 4 weeks ago (8 children)

I don't think TikTok community is compatible with the idea of fediverse

TikTok exists to give you large floods of endorphins via either an algorithm trained to your interests or by giving you big numbers. And this is not exclusive to TikTok, this is just how modern "social" media works, it's the sole reason why bluesky succeeded more than mastodon

Modern social media is mostly a hive mind of people affirming each other driven by algorithms. Fediverse on the other hand, always boils down to a old fashioned usenet style network made just so people can talk with each other. You can't really get addicted to fedi

I wasn't really alive during the wild west internet (im 19). I got into the net during the transition from forums to modern social media and reddit was my first social. I tried getting into facebook and instagram because everyone else was there but I just didn't like it much.

I don't know why but "the algorithm" is really boring for me. I only tried algorithm driven feeds on reddit (after u/spez) and on tumblr but the recommendations were always extremely "fake". Other sorting methods like "new" or "by most active" just feel more like as if there was someone on the other side of the keyboard

[–] [email protected] 122 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

You can’t really get addicted to fedi

Hmm... anxiously eyeing my Lemmy post history...

[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, I’m not as addicted to Lemmy as I was with Reddit, because there aren’t as many comments and niche communities and an algorithm messing with me, but like I check Lemmy throughout each day and if I’m honest there’s not much purpose aside from getting that hit.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

An interesting point, that a lot of younger people might not know: social media wasn’t always like this.

When I joined facebook around 2008-09, it wasn’t algorithm driven, there weren’t even ads. You had a chronological feed of your friends’ interactions, so you could see if someone posts a photo, comments something, or shares a stupid quiz. It was a very-very different feeling compared to what we have now. It was useful and practical, but the enshittification killed it.

I would never sign up for something like this today, absolutely useless - only reason I’m still there is the messaging app, which I use daily with most of my friends/family.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

It's weird seeing how "the algorithm" has genuinely only made things worse. Falling into the YouTube rabbit hole was a thing, and it was entirely organic. From the loose connections of topics, you could start from any feel good funny video, and end in detailed documentary about MK Ultra.

The best algorithm was no algorithm and there's no way of ever going back to that. I feel pretty lucky to have experienced the internet before it became everything.

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

They don't have to sell or provide videos to third parties, because they can just do it themselves.

That's the nature of actual federation. It's not private.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

We are literally training the future AI that will suppress mankind by our social media chats.

Nice.

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[–] [email protected] 75 points 4 weeks ago (6 children)

Im guessing it's going to be missing all the features that make tiktok popular like duets and pedophilia.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 weeks ago

Thanks for the uncomfortable chuckle.

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 4 weeks ago (6 children)

My problem with tiktok/reels/shorts is not that they aren't federated. It's the entire format/concept I hate.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

I think I might like them better if they didn't auto-play. I hate anything that auto-plays.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 4 weeks ago (17 children)

Yes, and it will still be brainrot.

My attention span is just fine. I don't need to see it ruined by short format nonsense with about as much intellectual value as the nutritional value of a McDonald's cheeseburger.

I never installed TikTok or Snapchat on my phone, not because I had privacy concerns, but because I hate everything about the format.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

The problem with tiktok is not close-source and being centralised. It is being tiktok

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (4 children)

TikTok gathering data and selling it to whoever is a problem but it's not the problem.

The problem of TikTok and many other social media is that it drains our energy and motivation. It's like digital weed, creates the feeling that there's no reason to change things. We can just consume things.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 weeks ago

Barkbarkbark

TikTok is designed to make you consume and not meaningfully engage. As complex as the algorithm is, users' ability to participate in discussions is severely limited.

ByteDance is capable of writing software that predicts what you want to see next, but it can't write comment sorting, or basic threading like Reddit?

The severe limitations in communication are deliberate. You're not supposed to engage meaningfully, you're supposed to look at it, feel something, and then scroll.

One of the reasons I like seeing new social media startups (like Lemmy) is that the current offerings are harmful to us, and any challenge to them as the potential to make positive change.

Bark

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 4 weeks ago (6 children)

Hmmm…

Submissions: By directly sending us any question, comment, suggestion, idea, feedback, or other information about the Services ("Submissions"), you agree to assign to us all intellectual property rights in such Submission. You agree that we shall own this Submission and be entitled to its unrestricted use and dissemination for any lawful purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.

Contributions: The Services may invite you to chat, contribute to, or participate in blogs, message boards, online forums, and other functionality during which you may create, submit, post, display, transmit, publish, distribute, or broadcast content and materials to us or through the Services, including but not limited to text, writings, video, audio, photographs, music, graphics, comments, reviews, rating suggestions, personal information, or other material ("Contributions"). Any Submission that is publicly posted shall also be treated as a Contribution.

You understand that Contributions may be viewable by other users of the Services and possibly through third-party websites.

When you post Contributions, you grant us a license (including use of your name, trademarks, and logos): By posting any Contributions, you grant us an unrestricted, unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, fully-paid, worldwide right, and license to: use, copy, reproduce, distribute, sell, resell, publish, broadcast, retitle, store, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part), and exploit your Contributions (including, without limitation, your image, name, and voice) for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, your Contributions, and to sublicense the licenses granted in this section. Our use and distribution may occur in any media formats and through any media channels.

This license includes our use of your name, company name, and franchise name, as applicable, and any of the trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, and personal and commercial images you provide.

from https://loops.video/legal/terms-of-service

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

Ignoring the myriad of other issues listed in this thread, the bit about training AI is pretty misleading. It's not hard to scrape webpages for whatever kind of data you like, even if loops doesn't outright hand things over for third parties for that purpose.

And the kind of people who are downloading the entire internet to train AIs are the type to be willing to just scrape without permission.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

TikTok is popular because it's addicting, not because it's useful, so I don't understand why anyone would use this.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

TikTok is popular because it’s addicting, not because it’s useful

TikTok is profitable because it is addictive. But the idea that short-form video is less useful than print or radio is flawed.

I don’t understand why anyone would use this.

For the same reason someone would turn on the TV, download a podcast, or pick up a magazine.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 weeks ago (12 children)

ITT: People in their mid-twenties or later, who feel superior to those that like one form of media over their preferred media.

Elitism aside, I don't really see what federation solves here. What benefits does federation offer the user? How does the recommendation algorithm give users what they want? How will a decentralised platform perform the kind of centralised events a platform like TikTok is known for?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (5 children)

A distributed service is much less vulnerable to being bought up by a single narcissistic billionaire who can ruin the online experience of millions of people at once.

A distributed service like Lemmy is spread out over 600 Instances in countries all over the world. If someone buys the most popular Lemmy Instance and wrecks it, those users can simply move to the same communities on the second or third or fourth most popular Instance and the original Instance will wither and die. This also works for communities with power tripping moderators. You can quickly find out through a search which community is the "real" one by the number of subscribers it has.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

ITT: People in their mid-twenties or later, who feel superior to those that like one form of media over their preferred media.

You're just waving away an important fact, which is that shorts and their equivalents are notoriously known for killing attention spans and disrupting the management of dopamine in the brain, causing depression in particular.

We are no longer simply in the traditional custom of the elderly who despise the activities of the younger generations, we are talking about health.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

Very cool that its federated but to be honest i just dont like this kind of short form content. I ratherd watch a youtube video.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

Isn't it just a Pixelfed instance but yellow?

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (5 children)

Anyone actually got an email? I have signed up and haven’t gotten one all week :(

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[–] mark 20 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Not interested in the short-video concept. But I like the name, though. Short, sweet, doesn't sound too "techy", not too complicated to pronounce or spell.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (6 children)

Who is going to pay to host all this content?

Also wish it were 5 or 10 minute limit rather than 60 seconds.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 weeks ago

Awesome! This sounds like a much better way for me to share the occasional video of either or both of my dogs being super cute on c/dogs (and on other non-Lemmy forums) than relying on an anonymous YouTube account.

(I may have partially used this post as an excuse to share a video of one of my dogs being super cute.)

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Headline should say coming TO the Fediverse.

"It's coming for you!" has a more aggressive meaning.

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