Steve Huffman

So the question isn't, do people want connection?

The question is, how do we deliver it?

And how do we deliver it on the internet intentionally?

So what would a more human internet look like?

Well, let's set a little context here.

If you were born after the year 2000, you have never experienced the internet without social media.

Social media and the internet are different things.

Social media is a distinct format that is unnatural, and it causes people to have to perform.

Social media, the analogy I use is the stage.

There's a spotlight, there's an audience, there's a performer.

There's someone or something trying to get your attention.

And so this environment creates performers.

Imagine going to a wedding with an open bar and an open mic, and everybody taking turns vying for attention.

It's kind of annoying.

As is social media.

The currency of social media is engagement.

It doesn't matter if it's positive or negative, just that somebody got your attention.

And so what this causes is it causes people to say things they don't even believe to get that attention.

And they very rarely say things they actually believe.

So it's fitting that the Oxford Word of the Year last year was rage bait.