Alexis Ohanian Says Hes A ‘techno Optimist, Despite Social Medias Impact On Society
Does Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian regret what he created? Speaking at an event at the University of Virginia, entrepreneur and venture capital founder Seven Seven Six expressed some rather negative views on the current social media landscape and the creative economy; I've trained so hard and now I'm conditioned to get likes and retweets and upvotes... I wish I was more optimistic, but we're seeing it before our eyes. Ultimately, though, he describes himself as a "techno-optimist," a clear nod to a16z general partner Marc Andreessen's suggestion that technology can solve all our problems.
"Guilty as charged," Ohanian told Kara Swisher in an interview. "I think the pendulum will swing back. Faster than I think. He thinks the war in the Middle East could also be a turning point, because it's now 'so clear' that we need something better than platforms to understand the world right now.
As you may recall, its founder resigned from Reddit's board of directors in 2020 due to disagreements over moderation and his desire to end violence and hatred in the community. It was a moment that summed up what his platform had done. At the time, he wanted a black board member to replace him. The company agreed, appointing Y Combinator partner Michael Seibel as its first Black Board member.
Reddit later banned several toxic communities, including r/donaldtrup, after the violence at the US Capitol, and Ohanian said the site was "getting better" and improving as a business.
But for social media in general, which is where Reddit can play a role, Ohanian says social media highlights "the worst parts of our nature in many ways." He also expressed concern that people want to be first and win regardless of the platform's ranking, which leads to a situation where misinformation can be spread.
"Now there's a lot of pressure to be first and UGC, user-generated content will always win. But this is not always true. But it became the center of the conversation. And then I wonder what percentage of our population is willing to take a breath and say: stop judging let me just leave it and wait for someone else to do the work, synthesize it and then help answer it.” he continued.
“We're also very connected to all these stories, whether they're from traditional media or user-generated; messages on someone's phone, you know, in a Telegram group. "We are overwhelmed and overwhelmed. , and unfortunately it appeals to the worst parts of our instincts," Ohanyan added.
Some of the challenges associated with the development of social media platforms are related to the way companies initially develop them. For example, Ohanian says Reddit was born to run a forum site in college, when he believed online communities were just as real as offline ones. He said he never imagined that the site would one day become a billion-dollar business with hundreds of millions of users. He said the idea would be "ridiculous". And of course, he never imagined that his startup would influence elections and democracy.
“To think, my God, that I'm going to be so lucky that this could have such a dramatic effect on democracy that it would bring a level of frustration that even I, as the first CEO, couldn't. "Of course it's a blind spot," he said.
Another part of the problem, Ohanian reveals, is that more people are online today than early adopters of the technology thought. While I welcome the expansion of access to technology, it has created many complications.
"I don't like the idea that the Internet, which I miss so much, is really an ivory tower," he says, but on the other hand, we are all connected in real time to more people than we are. we can never imagine. And that can lead to people disagreeing with each other and different versions of the truth for each person, even if their truth is a belief as absurd as the flat Earth, he said, pointing to the example of Reddit. .
Meanwhile, holding them accountable for verifying truth and accuracy on platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Reddit is a challenge, he said. Ohanian also called TikTok "an arm of the Chinese government" that is good at "giving us what we want when we want," meaning that TikTok isn't always a source of truth either.
Well, Ohanian praised Twitter (now called X) for offering the best moderation system.
"The community is realizing it, which I personally think is a good thing. This is the best way I've seen it. "Honestly, I wish we had thought of it earlier," he said.
However, he continued to promote the idea that platforms like X can become city squares.
"The analogy of the public square ... failed. Because if it is a public square, what does that mean? City or town? If you're the boss, you're the mayor. But there are no democratic elections," said Ohanyan. “You're the CEO, so you're like royalty. If you want to go to the town square, that's fine. Lord, say yes, this is the city. square, and I am an infinite tyrant, a tyrant.
While the problems with social media and their impact on society are urgent, Ohanian believes there is hope. For example, he has stated that the founders who have invested in his 776 funds are smarter and more informed about these issues than they were at their age. He believes that perhaps the next platform will be addictive, but "in a way that will not further undermine democracy".
He also believes that when we're in the perfect state of social media, our brains will begin to crave things we don't like. “I think we'll see a resurgence of in-person encounters and face-to-face experiences...on the bright side, I hope it can connect us to our humanity and things that artificial intelligence can't replace. ".
"I want to be optimistic," Ohanyan added. "And I think there's still a way to go, but we're fighting very, very strong human factors. If we can fix it, the benefits will be many. "It will really happen, because we will know that we have more in common than not," he said.
