Sheldon Chang 🇺🇸 on Nostr: Just finished Traffic by former BuzzFeed News Editor in Chief Ben Smith where he ...
Just finished Traffic by former BuzzFeed News Editor in Chief Ben Smith where he discusses the rise and plateau of the social media age told through the lens of the events that led up to his effort to infuse traditional journalism with a native digital media model and the aftermath of his failure to do so.
According to Ben, there won't be another Twitter or Facebook because the social media age driven by hyper-toxic virality has peaked. "Traffic" is an accounting of digital media history through 2020, drawing lines from dick pics, Obama's election, "The Dress", through to Trump.
His conclusions aren't in the book. The book merely sets up the following discussion of the impending decoupling of social media from publishing & decline of big social media:
https://www.theverge.com/23706621/social-media-buzzfeed-news-traffic-semafor-ben-smith
I find the book accurate & an easy read, but a too gossipy retelling of how humans competing for *traffic* led us from hopes & dreams to trolls & conspiracies.
The messages contained are relevant, but it could have been a blog post.
According to Ben, there won't be another Twitter or Facebook because the social media age driven by hyper-toxic virality has peaked. "Traffic" is an accounting of digital media history through 2020, drawing lines from dick pics, Obama's election, "The Dress", through to Trump.
His conclusions aren't in the book. The book merely sets up the following discussion of the impending decoupling of social media from publishing & decline of big social media:
https://www.theverge.com/23706621/social-media-buzzfeed-news-traffic-semafor-ben-smith
I find the book accurate & an easy read, but a too gossipy retelling of how humans competing for *traffic* led us from hopes & dreams to trolls & conspiracies.
The messages contained are relevant, but it could have been a blog post.