Instagram's Co-founders Are Mounting a Comeback (platformer.news) 54
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are back. From a report: The Instagram co-founders, who departed Facebook in 2018 amid tensions with their parent company, have formed a new venture to explore ideas for next-generation social apps. Their first product is Artifact, a personalized news feed that uses machine learning to understand your interests and will soon let you discuss those articles with friends. Artifact -- the name represents the merging of articles, facts, and artificial intelligence -- is opening up its waiting list to the public today. The company plans to let users in quickly, Systrom says. You can sign up yourself here; the app is available for both Android and iOS.
The simplest way to understand Artifact is as a kind of TikTok for text, though you might also call it Google Reader reborn as a mobile app, or maybe even a surprise attack on Twitter. The app opens to a feed of popular articles chosen from a curated list of publishers ranging from leading news organizations like the New York Times to small-scale blogs about niche topics. Tap on articles that interest you and Artifact will serve you similar posts and stories in the future, just as watching videos on TikTok's For You page tunes its algorithm over time.
The simplest way to understand Artifact is as a kind of TikTok for text, though you might also call it Google Reader reborn as a mobile app, or maybe even a surprise attack on Twitter. The app opens to a feed of popular articles chosen from a curated list of publishers ranging from leading news organizations like the New York Times to small-scale blogs about niche topics. Tap on articles that interest you and Artifact will serve you similar posts and stories in the future, just as watching videos on TikTok's For You page tunes its algorithm over time.
Desperately Needed (Score:4, Insightful)
A social network for articles and text is desperately needed if we are to ever get people off Facebook. Reddit is kind of there, but it is also a cesspool and hard to curate.
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hard to curate
Maybe that's the point. Control freaks and SJWs can just go build their own platform.
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Re: Desperately Needed (Score:2)
I have no clue what that other person is on about, but what I am talking about is it is very hard to "get started" on Reddit nowadays, and it also has a lot of group think going on due to the whole nature of following subreddits.
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hard to curate
Maybe that's the point. Control freaks and SJWs can just go build their own platform.
Except for the "justice" part, all sounds like this [truthsocial.com] -- hard to curate, control freaks, "warriors" -- along with some irony in the name for good measure ...
Pixelfed? (Score:1)
Re: posting anonymously (Score:2)
WTF? (Score:1)
To login on Instagram.com?!
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A social network for articles and text is desperately needed if we are to ever get people off Facebook. Reddit is kind of there, but it is also a cesspool and hard to curate.
It sounds like an echo chamber though. "a personalized news feed that uses machine learning to understand your interests and will soon let you discuss those articles with friends."
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This is not different. This is not unique. This is Facebook, but with AI.
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For anyone looking for balanced views, AllSides app is pretty decent. It provides a bias rating for the site that published the article, and provides news from opposing view points. No connection to AllSides, just a happy user.
Oh boy! (Score:1)
I can't wait to be privacy-raped inside a filter bubble in this allegedly novel manner!
No thanks (Score:4, Insightful)
As a free thinker, I don't have any desire to have AI try to control how I think by filtering what news I see.
It's why I almost never use any services automated recommendation feeds, and usually find them full of garbage. I can manage my own curation.
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Free thinker? But you vote republican and use a Mac.
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As a free thinker, I don't have any desire to have AI try to control how I think by filtering what news I see.
Especially not by "learning" - that's a closed feedback loop on habits, which is never a good thing.
If you could tell the AI what you are interested in, that might go some way. I'd tell it to put a good helping of contrary views into my feed, even if I never click on them or spend much time reading them - just knowing that they exist grounds you.
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Look, someone is getting paid for trolling me in unrelated topics.
Wait. You're not getting paid? Seriously, you work bullshit jobs for free? I've got a garage to clean, interested?
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You've got three yes. Come over any time.
(though the first yes depends on your exact definition of "fun", but since you don't seem to have high standards, it'll probably work out)
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What makes you think my geographic location is Russia? (hint: it isn't)
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All your pro Russian propaganda.
Ah, I see. You have devolved to the point where dissenting opinions are mentally inacceptable and thus must be labeled as malicious so you can cope.
Sorry, that isn't my problem.
Sounds like another echo chamber (Score:4, Insightful)
Artifact: a marvelous game! (Score:1)
Slashvertisement?! (Score:1)
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Rather just go back to M:tG
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Rather play Yugioh, and Yugioh is utter shit, that is at least fun in a "How can I completely break this game" or "Fuck you! Turn 1 kill" kinda way.
Call me ... (Score:2)
Shove it. (Score:4, Interesting)
Everyone pushing it knows it's the latest way to attract venture cap.
Ever notice this? AI "XYZ" is free while you chumps train it, then suddenly... for some reason you have to pay for it... adobe for instance.
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It isn't "free," it is an app. It is not a website.
That means you pay for the AI by giving it your contacts, and continual access to your location data.
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Why assume such a narrow range of interests? (Score:3)
If this thing only showed me things in a narrow band of areas it thinks I find interesting, how will I ever develop new interests? This just seems like a very dumb idea and not much of an improvement over the Facebook News Feed that is so effective at creating echo chambers. I would rather have a feed that selected from a diverse pool of curated feeds so that I can see the unbelievable variety of human interest and experience. If I find something I like, diving into that feed area would be like falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
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Great (Score:2)
Do one search for Doug Winder, the guy who worked on the targetting system for the A-10 then moved onto working for the shuttle program, and suddently you're getting asked questions about your favorite furry.
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Piltdown Man once got their PhD
And now they post on slashdot!
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Your example is pretty bad to use for your argument. People claimed it was fraudulent from the very beginning. I can’t locate anyone who received a PhD over the hoax.
discuss those articles with friends (Score:5, Insightful)
oh great yet another algorithm based echo chamber where you and your "friends" can discuss exactly what you want to be told
sign me up
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Trash (Score:2)
Their first product is Artifact, a personalized news feed that uses machine learning to understand your interests and will soon let you discuss those articles with friends.
This has to be the most worthless feature of any social media site. Randomly sorted posts.
Worthless (Score:1)
Terrible start - no Terms, just enter phone number (Score:1)
They aren't off to a very good start - the signup page is: a text box where they expect me to enter my phone number?
No terms? No explanation of what they are going to do with my phone number? No company details?
No way I'm trusting a system that gets that first step so terribly wrong.
Well at least it's a step in the right direction.. (Score:3)
Lots of legit critique, but I do have to say: I'm sick of so many social media platforms moving towards mainly video content.
I like IG when it was just photos, and ignore all the video cotent. I don't visit Youtube. Have zero interest in Tik Tok or Snapchat.
Give me text any day. Sure, video has a role, but so much content now that could be a 20 second read is now a 2 minute video (probably with an additional 30sec of ads). Who's got time for that?
15 word news articles (Score:2)
and to ensure success, no words longer than 8 characters.
This app is going to overtake TikTok and Facebook all together.
Yeah (Score:2)