I've noticed a lot of content lately that purposely farms engagement through dark patterns. For instance: getting a detail wrong or poor spelling/grammar almost always draws a lot of responses to dunk on the original creator.
When platforms like Twitter and TikTok monetize engagement you realize that these can often be intentional. Once you recognize the patterns it becomes very hard to unsee.
Ask the average American worker if they'd like an extra $2300 a year. And yes I understand thats pre-tax. But even so, thats a non-negligible amount for a lot of people.
For whom $2,300 / year is meaningful is, dare I say, hard to answer question. Most of the people for whom an additional $2,300 / year is meaningful pay little to no taxes. However, a large chunk of these people also get Earning Income Credit. These people would lose at least part of this credit if their income increases. This question I believe can be answered by the bi-partisan U.S. Government Accountability Office or U.S Treasury- they certainly have the income returns for all Americans.
Stepped tax thresholds are always a problem when they incentivise low-earners to keep their income below a certain, arbitrary level. However, it would be inappropriate to deny employees a raise based on the existence of tax levels - after all, wouldn't the employees pay exactly no tax at all if they weren't paid? The tax is also guaranteed in most cases to improve the economy of the local area. I don't know the specifics of how it works in the USA, but I am aware of 'buy American' policies for federal public spending and equivalent rules for local government.
Say an employee effectively gets $10 less money, but the company effectively now pays the government $1000 in the same period. That might mean new bus subsidies, legal aid, development grants... things which make everyone slightly better off in the long-term. I think that's a good trade-off.
> For whom $2,300 / year is meaningful is, dare I say, hard to answer question
There were many articles written on the impact of the 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit (up to $1,800 per child over a 6 month period). The impact was very significant on lower-income families - which makes sense because for those earning less than $40,000 per year, that amount is more than the amount in one's paystub.
Glassdoor tells me the salaries of JPMorgan tellers ranges from $38,000 - $62,000 with a median of $42,000. So without digging into salary distribution at the entire company, I can yell you with certainty that it's a non-zero fraction.
In the US it exists but you have to be a bit more aware of body language and such. Not everyone is as open. But generally communities exist all around you in the US, you may just not be aware of them.*
* This is strictly in the cities. Suburban life is where isolation and loneliness thrive.
The cities and the countryside, actually. In rural areas, you may spend most of your time in your own territory, but when you encounter other people they'll probably stop and chat. (For one, when your cows get out and into your neighbor's field for the 6th time that year, you want to be on good enough terms to be able to go fetch them back...)
Suburbia is where we can have exactly what we think we want, and thereby discover that we're wrong.
I talk to my neighbors in the suburbs, something that has never occurred in denser areas. There's no reason for 'burbs by function and design to be "less friendly" than the countryside.
Your username is hilarious in context of this post. Sure there are a lot of horrible things that it's introduced. Replace social media with any other technology..what good have computers brought? What good has the automobile brought?
It is all perspective and humans will use tools for good and bad. There is plenty of good in the world thanks to social media.
I don't think there is any other technology that compares with social networks on the rate of bad to good consequences and is still widely adopted. Maybe mass manufactured military-spread drugs like they used in WWII. But it's quite hard to quantify those.
But, of course it created a bunch of good thing. Nothing that spreads that widely has only bad consequences. And yes, I like the good consequences quite a lot too. It's too bad most of the companies keeping those networks are adamant in destroying all the good value and keeping only the bad.
What are the long term good things social media brought that we did not have before and would not have without it? Let’s say a world where internet had exploded as it did but instead with many, not connected, forums, newsgroups and irc servers. Would we not have the same benefits without the crap part? What good part did social media do here?
I think any technology must be judged based on what it turns out to be long term. Computers and vehicles, for all their issues, have brought untold advancement and comfort to society. Social media.. well you tell me.
As someone who lives in NYC, there are a lot of "sides" to it. What you're describing definitely exists, but to generalize the whole city as a laundering operation would be akin to generalizing a large tech org based on your experience with one small team.
Bit of a laughable conclusion from the data if you ask me. The comments discussing it under the actual article do a good job debunking what this author was trying to suggest.
It just happened to me, slightly different situation than a "counter offer" but it was clear upon being let go that I was retained with a short term mindset, despite what I was pitched before deciding on whether or not to sign.
I'm not a meaningful Instagram user nor would I defend it as "good", but from a "success" perspective, for my demographic (I'm a 30-something US resident), it is clearly the most relevant social network.
When platforms like Twitter and TikTok monetize engagement you realize that these can often be intentional. Once you recognize the patterns it becomes very hard to unsee.