I hate to sound like a grumpy old man, but modern social media trends, and a lot of other growing categories of sites (general betting markets like Polymarket and Kalshi, some general 'do this task for money/points' sites and apps, etc) feel like they're leading society down a very dark path. Like, something out of Black Mirror.

But I'm not entirely sure what to do about this. Exploitative businesses and platforms being banned or regulated is one thing, but dangerous trends catching on organically feels like a trickier situation to deal with.

The social media companies remove these kinds of videos after the fact but do nothing about the algorithm that encourages people to post more and more outrageous content. I honestly feel social media is a net-negative for society and I’m really hoping an AI slop avalanche kills it for good.