It was a hot week. I caught some sort of stomach bug (more of a minor irritation than anything that knocked me down for the count). And I've just been trying to hold on. I wasn't really paying attention to, you know, everything.
Although, if a certain someone gets outside forces to take out Los Angeles, that's me. I'm not in Los Angeles proper, but a good nuclear blast would be close enough to take out my city. So, that attack was personal.
Anyway, I'm being lazy this week with a video I stumbled across. It talks about Goodhart's Law, which states, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure". In this video, at about 3:54, they say something very interesting about how they started measuring social media engagement, and discovered that outrage keeps people online longer. This explains a lot about our current online issues. Food for thought.
But I can't leave this post without some "resisting" content, so from Rachel Maddow, the word most picked by people to describe you-know-who is corrupt. Unsurprising, really.
I hear there are No Kings protests coming this weekend. Just a heads-up in case you hadn't heard (like I hadn't until just before writing this post).
Never heard of Goodhart’s Law, but it makes a lot of sense. The more time passes, the less I am interested in any SM besides blogging, where it’s still possible to curate your own experience. Hope you’re feeling better!
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling better, Various stomach bugs are making the rounds where I live and I hope you are feeling better. I hadn't heard of Charles Goodhart or his law. I've read the story of the Soviet nail factory and the Cobra effect..Algorithms. Anger and fear are such strong emotions; social media has become totally toxic, and we've only begun to see the havoc machine intelligence will cause. The paper clip effect and your first video is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
ReplyDeleteI think forewarned is forearmed here. It we're aware that it's a problem, we can counteract it.
DeleteI am so sorry you were ill, Liz. I hope you are feeling better, dear friend. I have never heard of Goodhart's Law, either, but I agree that it does make a lot of sense! The only social media I do is blogging.
ReplyDeleteI closed my Facebook account in April 2025 after decades, and it felt great! It was initially find and helpful for me in finding family members and doing my family tree, but it just began to get negative in people were complaining, gossiping, etc., and I realized that this was not what I signed up for and decided to get rid of it.
For myself, I find my blog therapeutic, it gives me an avenue to express myself and to communicate with people. I am not good at writing as some are, which is why I do my blog in the way I do, but I find it rewarding to be able to make others smile, laugh...and have a place to come to escape the chaos, even if just for a few moments.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Blogging is a nice social media, at least the way we do it ;)
DeleteI hadn’t heard of Goodhart’s Law before, but it really does explain why social media feels so messy now. Outrage everywhere, and it just keeps people glued to the screen. I’m glad blogging is still a space where we can share without all that noise. Take care and rest up from the stomach bug.
ReplyDeleteOutrage keeps people online! That's interesting. In a way online engagement is better than violent ones.
ReplyDeleteI need to look into Good Hart Law.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure this weekend's no Kings protests targeted at the 76ers by Nick fans who don't want LeBron in the East division
ReplyDeleteThe line about a measure becoming a target is easy to remember, I’ll probably start spotting it everywhere now. Thanks for sharing the video, Liz. Hope the stomach bug is gone by now.
ReplyDeleteWe live in strange times. A nuclear blast would devastate miles and miles around the target site. I'm about 200+ miles from DC but a blast there would affect me. It's not something to joke about at all. I hope you're feeling better.
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