Your Posts on beBee are 90% Pointless?
One of the last posts of Jim Murray where he elaborated a theory that most of the content on social media is useless, actually prompted the writing of this post.
The world is drowning in useless content. Pointless blogs that are more self-indulgent than informative. ... The 90/10 Differential clearly states that 90% of digital content is crap and useless, mainly because it doesn’t get read and if it does it gets forgotten immediately. Some would argue that percentage is even higher.
Jim Murray
His words reminded me of the so-called Sturgeon's law originally known as Sturgeon's revelation - 90% of everything is crud. The last word is often quoted as 'crap'. This somewhat humorous aphorism means that most of anybody of published material, knowledge, or - more generally - of everything is worthless.
Daniel Dennett, an American philosopher, considers Sturgeon's law as one of the general-purpose thinking tools that have proved itself in a wide variety of contexts. The ‘law‘ extends to most things in life including areas such as science and academia.
For instance, a few years ago a subsequent verification of more than 50 peer-reviewed published studies in the field of cancer research showed that only 10% of all studies could be proven valid. That means almost 90% were flawed, yet published as valid.
Indeed, in the field of biomedical research, the vast majority of current published research findings are false, as John Ioannidis stated in his well-known paper. He charges that as much as 90% of the published medical information that doctors rely on is flawed. The results of many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to reproduce on a subsequent investigation largely due to positive-results bias. Not publishing the negative or inconclusive results leads to unnecessary repetitions of experiments already done. Such bad science not only addresses the safety and efficacy of medicines but also wastes an enormous amount of money spent on drug development based on false information.
Consequently, if the provocative Ioannidis' claim is true can we say that the majority (I dare not say 90%) of researchers in the biomedical field conduct their research for reasons other than the pursuit of truth, and their research is influenced by pharmaceutical companies that have a large financial stake in the results?
Suppose that Sturgeon's distribution of quality is true, then 90% of architecture isn't good architecture. Frank Gehry once said that we live in a world where 98% of what’s built today is rubbish, or 'pure shit' in his words. "There's no sense of design nor respect for humanity or anything. They're bad buildings, and that's it." Comparing to buildings dating back hundreds of years that still leave people in a state of admiration and disbelief of how they were built all those years ago, maybe he is right.
Although he implicitly exempted himself from that 98%, the ‘law‘ says that only 10% of his buildings isn't crud. A lot of his critics would agree with that ratio.
Many architects are frustrated with the fact that architecture today is nothing more than business. Some would argue it is about 90% business, meaning - clients, their taste and money, and only 10% design. And it is true for the starchitects as it is for the ordinary mortals in that profession. Money makes the world (and architecture) go around.
Back to the useless digital content and self-indulgent blogs from the beginning of the post. With that in mind, the obvious question then is: How much of what I produced on this platform is crud? Well, I certainly hope it is much less than 90%, and that in my 21 posts readers would find more than 2 of them to be 'not crud'. My ego tells me that I managed to beat Sturgeon’s law. Or maybe it is my inflated self-assessments?
Whether or not we agree with the adage that ninety per cent of everything is crud, Sturgeon's law holds water when it comes to media. But as always, what is or isn't crud depends on the eye of the beholder.
Reversing Sturgeon's Law
Sturgeon's law is quite pessimistic. The often forgotten part of Theodore Sturgeon's quote is more optimistic - it’s the 10% that isn’t crud that is important. There is a great deal of deplorable stuff, of all sorts in any field. Instead of focusing on poor examples, make sure you concentrate on the best stuff. If not, you will probably fail to notice the 10% which deserves our attention.
Therefore, I am a relentless proponent of reverse Sturgeon's law: 10% of everything is amazing.
Also, life is not only black and white, crud and non-crud, worthless and top stuff. Among 90% of what's considering crud, there are many shades of cruddiness. There is a difference between poor writing and actually cruddy content that's not worth reading: pointless listicles, posts with missing or misleading facts, bad and useless advice. After all, something that one person considers worthless may be considered valuable by someone else.
My blog posts probably are not all good, but those good are what matters. I am in the process of continuous improvement.
~ ~ ~
Author's Note: Although I feel I have written a good post, I apologise to my reader if this is just another pointless content. :)
~ ~ ~
Title Image: Plastic trash collected on the Oregon Coast transformed into spectacular art displays - from beach trash to ocean art.
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Komentari
Paul Walters
prije 2 godine #88
@Lada 🏡 Prkic Even better second time around.
Neil Smith
prije 2 godine #87
I'm definitely of the opinion that it's the 10% that matters. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a Prince.
Lyon Brave
prije 3 godine #86
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #85
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #84
Dear Praveen, to listen and respond to all our connections is "mission impossible". Some Bees try to do that by engaging to almost every post and responding to every comment promptly as if actually they live here. :) For me, social media is a place to visit not to live in. You are more than a good friend to me regarding responding to my posts. Thank you.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #83
Roberto, I post rarely (25 posts in three years). Although it is said that quality is more important than quality, this is not always the case. Some bloggers post a ton of stuff and despite that deliver value. In writing, you need both quantity and quality. Through the process of producing quantity you improve the quality of your writing. As I said, I post rarely but write many drafts that wait to see the light of day. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #82
Praveen, I am thankful for the beBee friends like you. Thanks for making 100th comment. :-)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #81
Thank you, and thanks for the information message about your book on LinkedIn.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #80
I meant but, not then. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #79
Thank you, Kevin Pashuk. I'm sorry to hear that Jim's magic hasn't worked on you. :) It's good to see you. We miss your presence on beBee.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #78
Thanks, Tausif. I said many times that I'm more of an observer than a participant when it comes to social media. In several of my posts on beBee, I tried to be vocal enough about what I noticed on this platform. This post and a post about empty praising (beBee, a Hive for Praise) are among most commenting. As Feynman discussed, there is no authority who decides what is a good idea. That said, everyone has an opinion of what is good content. Listicles are pointless to me but not for many others who like and share such articles. Surprisingly, listicles work very well on social media. Everyone's 10% is different. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #77
Paul, what to say then big Thank You. 😊
Mohammed Abdul Jawad
prije 4 godine #76
Kevin Pashuk
prije 4 godine #75
Paul Walters
prije 4 godine #74
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #73
Thanks, Claire. You're in the top 1%. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #72
Thank you, Bernard. Glad to see you in the comment stream.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #71
Michael, in a way, your comment is an addition to your article about WWW. I like your definition of the Web as the most powerful, broadly distributed publishing house in existence. So are the blogging platforms. Ideas around blogging are very egalitarian. Although the blogging platform is for everyone who wants to put thoughts into words or reach out expressing themselves, I would like people to think twice before posting. Not every idea or every little detail of their lives is worth writing about. :) And yes, there's an awful lot of good stuff on the Web if we dig deeply enough.
Phil Friedman
prije 4 godine #70
Claire L Cardwell -- latest app: DIYAppendixRemoval. Includes a stand for your smartphone so it can be used as a camera to view you self-surgery on a TV monitor. Even has a series of exercises to follow to learn how to view your own movements with a scalpel in reverse. And a jar filled with formaldehyde so you can later take a "selfie" with your appendix. Cheers!
Phil Friedman
prije 4 godine #69
Claire L Cardwell -- You guys (metaphorically speaking), are mired in the "old school" of quality and pride in one's work. Get with it. Now, you only need the right "app"... MyArchApp or QuickEngineer, for example. Study, schmudy. Degree, schmegree. Who cares. Buy the right app and be an engineer or an architect ten minutes later. Or a writer. Cheers!
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #68
Thank you Jerry. It means a lot to me. I usually post once in a few months, and maybe it's the reason my posts have high engagement rates.😁😉
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #67
If less than 10% of research studies are worthwhile we should all be very worried. :( As for pointless articles on beBee, I don't think that complimenting is the reason. Many write and publish despite almost zero engagement with their posts. Producer is one of many free blogging platforms where people try to express or promote themselves. The blogging platform is for everyone who wants to put thoughts into words. As you always say, the audience decides. I use the thumb up button or mute button.
Phil Friedman
prije 4 godine #66
Jerry Fletcher
prije 4 godine #65
Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸
prije 4 godine #64
🤩🤩🤩😂😂😂👍👍👍👍
Joyce 🐝 Bowen Brand Ambassador @ beBee
prije 4 godine #63
So did I. Until I learned science is no longer science. Science has been replaced by marketing.
Bill Stankiewicz
prije 4 godine #62
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #61
Thanks, Joyce, and for the share too. I also became sceptical about research studies and the validity of scientific findings, and take them with a grain of salt. But I have trust in science.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #60
Thank you, Franci. There's no better compliment to my writing. :)
Joyce 🐝 Bowen Brand Ambassador @ beBee
prije 4 godine #59
Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸
prije 4 godine #58
Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸
prije 4 godine #57
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #56
Thank you for reading and commenting, Kevin. I appreciate it. As you said, we can't read everything everyone writes. I am more than grateful if someone has read my article and think it's meaningful and worth commenting.
Harvey Lloyd
prije 5 godina #55
I appreciate contrarian views. But the defensive view and the contrarian view look very similar. The defensive view meaning you are right and i am wrong. A contrarian view would offer me the needed thoughts to bridge my thinking over to a different perspective. Its ok to say i am wrong. But you have to offer up something other than facts that offer up my wrongness as a straw-man to butcher. When i experience a contrarian opinion, i wish to probe. Bring me to where you are so that i might see what you see. In most cases i find its really not a contrarian view but rather a position that is being defended. Its not always understood why the individaul needs folks to know this very personal view but it is presented as everyone should have the same thought. Intriguing dialogue that furthers ones own personal views is always engaging. The differences can be shared from a contrarian view as long as the view is offering bridges to a new perspective. My thought is that Phil has a more engaging opinion on these thoughts based on his background. But my view is that we can expand each other’s views through building bridges within contrarian dialogue. Defending a view is neither helpful to others nor is it engaging. Its just a fence post in a long line of other posts that never moves nor invites dialogue. It just stands. Great dialogue and thoughts here. Thanks for inviting the dialogue.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #54
You're right Timothy. Generalisation of any kind is, to say the least - problematic. People tend to draw conclusions about many things in life from a limited amount of experience. Sturgeon's law, the Pareto principle (80/20 rule) and other such rules, often interpret literally with the false mathematical precision.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #53
Thanks, John. Hope all is well with you. You share almost the same thought about your disappointment with social media as in your comment on my last post about excessive praising. I summed up both as follows: 1. Articles that repeat what's been said over and over again. 2. Lack of meaningful discussions. 3. Lack of contrarian thinkers that would make things more interesting. 4. Discussions come down to people making drive-by comments. 5. Mindless back and forth chatter between individuals giving themselves each a high verbal five. I would like to hear what Phil Friedman have to say on that especially about the lack of the contrarian point of view about the world and business today. I agree that we need more contrarian point of view to push things forward, but not people who disagree just for the sake of disagreement. It's immensely hard to change your mindset if you are not open to constructive feedback.
Lyon Brave
prije 5 godina #52
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #51
Thank you kind Sir! ☺️
Harvey Lloyd
prije 5 godina #50
The post on Split has a few synapses hard wired as a place of comfort and discovery. I enjoy posts that allow me to experience someone else's fish bowl as my own is very comfortable but i sense there is more than one fish bowl on the planet. For a few words i get to enjoy what others view within their own fish bowl. Agreement is not necessary for the view, but rather, just a world view from a different tank. Thanks for sharing your fish bowl of Split.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #49
Harvey, as always you brought a different perspective to the discussion. There is no such thing as "crud-meter" to tell people what's worthless. It is all matter of perspective and personal inclination. As proven many times, crud is in the eye of the beholder. With that in mind, 10% of the not-crud stuff could actually represent the whole spectre of cruddiness because everyone's ten per cent is different. Thank you for enriching the discussion with your thoughts. P.S. I'm glad you remember my post about Split.
Paul Walters
prije 5 godina #48
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #47
Jerry, I must admit I never heard of the find-the-pony phrase before. Like an optimist son from the joke who find value or good where none is evident, I believe that there is much more than 10% of the worthwhile stuff that deserved to be found. How deep you are going to dig to find the gold nugget depends on each person. Thanks for joining the discussion and for the kind words.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #46
I'm so glad to see your comment on my post, Don. Thank you for the kind words. There are so many amazing things in our lives we do not notice. And I didn't mean my post. :-)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #45
Dear Jennifer, your blog also disproved the law. :) As Franci\ud83d\udc1dEugenia Hoffman, beBee Brand Ambassador said in the comment below we never know what kind of treasure we can find checking on a buzz by a newbee author. You've proved your quality as a writer from the start.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #44
My thoughts also about the discussion, Zacharias. I think the audience decided about the post. :-)
John Rylance
prije 5 godina #43
Harvey Lloyd
prije 5 godina #42
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #41
Ken, I always put your words not in 10% basket but in 1% basket, which is 10% of 10% if we think of Sturgeon's law as a recursive law. Obviously, we can't use the same standards to categorise 90% of everything in the field as crud. Sturgeon's law is a figurative expression that is understood literally giving it false mathematical precision. Nevertheless, it is accepted as a general guideline in evaluating quality in many areas. I took biomedical science as a clear example in which the proportion of bad to good science could be somewhat "measured" based on the relevant data such as Prof. Ioannidis' paper. I concur with what you said about architecture and extensive use of templates. I thought to mention construction and civil engineers, but we are just "mere" executors of architects' dream. :) There's a saying: If a building looks good, everyone appreciates the architect. If not, or something went wrong, everyone blames the civil engineer.
Jerry Fletcher
prije 5 godina #40
don kerr
prije 5 godina #39
Zacharias 🐝 Voulgaris
prije 5 godina #38
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #37
Interesting reflection, Preston. If you put things in such a context, then there's no crud. I always look for the good in people, but lots of social media contents are indeed useless and have no value. You can't find a microscopic-size gold nugget no matter how deep you dig. :-)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #36
Gert Scholtz. Gert, thanks as always for commenting on my posts. Your scientific approach reminded me of a funny banker parable. :-))
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #35
Thanks Mohammed. I'm also glad to see many thought-provoking comments.
Ali Anani
prije 5 godina #34
Preston \ud83d\udc1d Vander Ven- Thank you and I accept and approve your comment. There is a saying" somebody's waste is somebody's else starting material". Well-said my friend.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #33
#40 Praveen, your memory is exceptional. The comments are more than 90% similar. :-) First, I like your comparison of readers with bees who suck the honey wherever available and move on if there's none. The Internet is like an endless meadow. But there are plants and flowers that repel bees, just like contents that not attract readers. :) You said we need to exercise our power of discrimination when it comes to what we want to read. We all do that every day when selectively read newspapers because of limited time for reading. I often practise glancing at the post headlines and a few first sentences before deciding what to read. Discriminating reading is definitely a topic that I'm going to explore more.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #32
Ken, thank you for enriching the thread with such elaborated and on-topic comment. I'll respond to your first comment, too. The post title may seem somewhat harsh, but it just follows the premise of the mentioned 'law' and also leans on Jim's post which was an inspiration for pointless blogs. As Jim said in the comment, it doesn't mean that 90% of each individual's posts are rubbish, although that might apply in certain cases. Some people do good stuff most of the time and some not so much. The other thing is how much of that 'good stuff' possibly interesting to us we noticed and read. Among 10% of posts which is considered good, there are also topics which are not of my great interest, such as poetry. Also, the quality of published content cannot always be measured in numbers (likes, shares and comments). Getting a group of people to agree on what content is good, is a difficult task. We all decide based on our own needs and tastes, but also (what is evident on beBee) we mostly rely on the writer's authority, and we assume in advance that his/her content is good. Most time it does, but not always. I am with Zacharia's comment on Feynman's quote that there is no authority who decides what is a good idea. If so, then there is no authority but yourself.
John Prpich
prije 5 godina #31
Ali Anani
prije 5 godina #30
Zacharias \ud83d\udc1d Voulgaris- a great quote indeed
Gert Scholtz
prije 5 godina #29
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #28
And I forgot to add the level of the knowledge to be able to evaluate the content.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #27
Thank you Deabsish for the kind words and sharing. If I may say a different opinion, I don't think we are too insignificant to judge whether contents are pointless or to the point. It's all about different tastes, sense of value, and personal inclination. What's valuable or worthless to me doesn't have to be for someone else.
Zacharias 🐝 Voulgaris
prije 5 godina #26
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #25
Ken Boddie
prije 5 godina #24
Mohammed Abdul Jawad
prije 5 godina #23
Ken Boddie
prije 5 godina #22
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #21
Pascal you've made me smile. My inner critic is much harsher. :-)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #20
Not that I think I brought out my inner genius in writing. I unleashed my passion for writing. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #19
Thank you, dear Savvy, for a poetic comment. Many people underestimate their ability and never encourage themselves to bring out the inner genius. I was one of those people when it comes to writing for the public. Fear of failure and criticism hold us back because those who criticise are the loudest. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #18
Thank you, dear Savy, for a poetic comment. Many people underestimate their ability and never encourage themselves to bring out the inner genius. I was one of those people when it comes to writing for the public. Fear of failure and criticism hold us back because those who criticise are the loudest. :)
Ali Anani
prije 5 godina #17
Debasish Majumder
prije 5 godina #16
your comment sir Ali \ud83d\udc1d Anani, Brand Ambassador @beBee trigger me to once more ponder to Robert Frost's poem, where the poet's dilemma reveals which road he may adopt in between two roads he confront. surely the choice make a different destination and one can be bestow with gold while other may turn into charcoal! it is perhaps called the tryst with destiny. i firmly believe that it is the available condition which influence one to produce content and no body perhaps can envisage whether he is producing in golden moment or a trashy moment. but, both having the potential to change into something special in character, depending about the circumstances he or she is confronting with. however, you never cease me to amaze how you capable to retain your golden hue in your buzzes as well comments. thank you for such ;lovely illuminating comment sir.
Debasish Majumder
prije 5 godina #15
Zacharias 🐝 Voulgaris
prije 5 godina #14
Pascal Derrien
prije 5 godina #13
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #12
Thank you, Steve Wertheimer, and welcome to beBee. It's always nice to see a new face in the comment thread. Here, on this platform, you'll surely find contents that worth your time. You can start with reading blogs of all the commenters in this thread. They are excellent writers and thinkers. Am so glad you think of my post as a nice little nugget. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #11
Glad to see you, Phil. We have both been less active on beBee lately. Thank you as always for your kind words about my writing. Like I said in the post, I am in the process of continuous improvement. On the other side, your posts and your knowledge totally disproved the Sturgeon's distribution of quality. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #10
Phil Friedman
prije 5 godina #9
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #8
While searching the web for the topic, I also found that article which explores its iterative nature and the fallacy of subpopulation. Sturgeon's law is not a scientific law - it's more an empirical rule of thumb that points to a lot of mediocre and poorly done works in every field, which is more than evident. Ted Sturgeon's speech, from which the quote derived, has a good moral and that is not to waste time attacking a strawman. As Daniel Dennett says: Go after the good stuff or leave it alone.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #7
Thanks, Jim. As I said, your post was an inspiration for this post about Sturgeon's law. I am not a fan of generalisation, and the distribution of quality surely can't be uniform irrespective of what field we are talking about. However, Sturgeon's law has proved itself in a wide variety of situations although in somewhat different proportion.
CityVP Manjit
prije 5 godina #6
Jim Murray
prije 5 godina #5
Jim Murray
prije 5 godina #4
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #3
Thank you, dear Ali. What amazes me is how you always find the right words to appreciate someone's work. I agree with you - there's gold even in cruddiness.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #2
Ali Anani
prije 5 godina #1