Well, in that regard not too much changed, I think. Record labels always mostly pushed music and artists with mass appeal. They still do but have lost a lot of their power to companies like Spotify, Apple and Google (YouTube). But these players do pretty much the same with their algorithms. So I don’t think that popular music has changed too much. There are still influential companies that can pretty much dictate what people listen to. I still don’t think it has become much worse, since back in the day you weren’t even able to produce an album without a record deal because studio time, distribution and all that was so expensive. Today you can produce everything yourself in your bedroom. Sure, it’s unlikely that you will be very successful marketing your record - but at least it’s somewhat possible.

I don’t think music has gotten any worse. However, it is much easier and cheaper to produce music today: you don’t have to be able to play an instrument and professional production is possible with comparatively inexpensive software on any standard computer. This and also the changes in distribution (no more need for sound carriers, …) have probably led to a lot more music being produced today than in the past. Of course, this does not mean that music has become better as a result, but it also does not mean that it has become worse. You just have to find the gems among the admittedly gigantic amount of junk.

I think the so-called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are a major problem of our time, because they are often defined incorrectly or misunderstood. All too often, decision-makers seem to think that the pure number of followers, for example, or engagement metrics such as likes would indicate that an account or post is successful. However, this is often not the case when other important metrics are taken into account. In e-commerce, for example, a large number of followers or high engagement figures in themselves mean nothing at all: it is not uncommon for e-commerce companies to invest a lot of money in social media management and for the KPIs of their accounts to rise accordingly - but still not sell anything via this channel (that means that the investment is not worth it, of course, because the costs are disproportionate to the sales generated; the ROI is often not good at all). I think a similar situation can be assumed for many science accounts on Mastodon, for example. Although the number of followers maybe not very high here because there are less active useres, the quality of comments can still be a lot higher. But unfortunately this cannot be quantified, or at least not easily. I therefore think that everyone should first think about what they want to achieve with their social media accounts. It then makes sense to define suitable KPIs instead of being impressed by what can be considered an indicator of success elsewhere and in a completely different context.

I don’t really get why it takes news like this for people to understand that all those involved with this political program can’t be good people.

I mean Hitler was a dog lover. Does that make him a good person? I don’t think so.

Why BlueSky or even Threads tho?

✌️

The guy is a politician. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, he cannot show the gesture of his own political camp. So he will have to make do with this symbolic loan. But it fits in quite well with his election campaign, especially as he strangely portrays his opponents as fascists.

I’m not sure if that’s the right gesture when you’re constantly agitating against socialists:

Ender’s Game -> Gamer -> the plot thickens.

At this point I’m convinced that they are the only ones who can.

It depends, I would say. If the aliens ask unpleasant questions, they would probably be talked about and reported on continuously. Like:

Alien Ambassador: “Why are you destroying your habitat with your eyes open? We don’t understand. Your scientists have proven beyond doubt that you will become extinct if you don’t fundamentally change your ways. Why don’t you care at all?”

Continuous headlines:

“Aliens want to ban humanity from traveling”

“Space fascists want to raise gas prices”

“Go home job-stealing aliens: How outer world wokeness is destroying {any given country}”

…

Once in a while you just need to…stop…hammer time!

Exactly. What’s more, demographic change alone has led to an urgent need for workers from abroad in Germany. This applies to low-skilled as well as highly skilled workers - for example in crafts, catering, healthcare, nursing, IT or engineering, just to name a few sectors. What the right-wing parties and their supporters are propagating is not only inhumane and amoral, it is also economically disastrous. It is these unscrupulous opportunists who are ruining the country with their racist hate; not the migrants - quite the opposite.

How many wives have there actually been so far? I’m afraid I’ve lost track. I only vaguely remember that one of them apparently fell down the stairs and was then more or less buried on one of his golf courses for tax reasons.

In any case, the tax burden is not proportionate. You can’t be serious.

Why would you ask him anything? His answer will always be the same: Biden, Harris or foreigners are to blame is what he would say. Why bother? It’s a waste of time.

Yes, I think so too. I just can’t understand why so many people aren’t able to hold those who are to blame for their misery to account. Instead, they allow themselves to be duped by their own enemies. It is incomprehensible to me how people can be so stupid.

Posts like this are important, but unfortunately in vain, I’m afraid. Those who still don’t understand it will never understand it. I think they don’t want to. I don’t get it.

I’ve just accidentally burnt my boss to ashes. I then scratched my smartphone while I was writing this. Bloody fire breath and claws. I can’t even get through the door because my wings are in the way. And how am I supposed to pay tax on this huge gold hoard? Damn you, random internet people!

It’s not some anonymous force forcing you to act like many of your fellow citizens do on social media. It’s what the US believes, I’m affraid. Even on Lemmy. It’s all “I don’t like Trump” but strangely enough many still agree to some of his key positions when his name is not mentioned. It’s weird.