bigthymer (u/bigthymer)

bigthymer commented on Shifts in U.S. Social Media Use, 2020–2024: Decline, Fragmentation, Polarization (2025) arxiv.org/abs/2510.25417... · Posted by u/vinnyglennon

jeffbee · 3 days ago

This paper came out in October and I read it at the time. It is pretty surprising but it is also totally contradicted by other major surveys, so I am pretty sure it's just flawed. The most peculiar result is the dramatic reduction in reach for YouTube. This guy has YouTube with 60% reach and falling. Pew Americans’ Social Media Use 2025 has YouTube at 84% and rising, and 95% among 18-29 age cohort, which pretty much refutes this paper's core conclusion.

"Overall [social media] platform use slipped ... especially the youngest ... who no longer use social media at all" is the kind of wild claim that requires a much more significant investigation than this author undertook.

bigthymer · 2 days ago

The YouTube numbers surprised me the most. I agree with you. I was expecting a rise in viewership.

bigthymer commented on Film students who can no longer sit through films theatlantic.com/ideas/202... · Posted by u/haunter

ksymph · 11 days ago

That was my thinking too. Not everyone has been or will be interested in (slow) movies, but historically those people wouldn't be studying film. It's not exactly a lucrative field.

bigthymer · 11 days ago

I wonder if the students are going into film but actually just want to work in social media in which case it all makes sense.

bigthymer commented on Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades latimes.com/business/stor... · Posted by u/ValentineC

hn_throwaway_99 · a month ago

That's certainly part of it, but in the "buying mispriced assets" category, Buffer made some very smart, large bets. During the Great Financial Crisis, BH made a $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs that eventually made them billions in profit when everyone else was running for the hills.

bigthymer · a month ago

I actually think this is a deal only Buffett could have made. By bringing on Buffett as an investor, it sent a signal to the market that the bank was solvent and improved confidence in the company. Another investor would not have brought the same calm so would not have had the same return even if they bought the same amount at the same time.

bigthymer commented on Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes reuters.com/world/america... · Posted by u/jumpocelot

crystal_revenge · a month ago

But, we also still enjoy all of the benefits of being like this. Cheap oil(that impacts you even if you don't drive), globally very high income, resources of all varieties from all over the world, relative security etc. All these things don't happen to use because we're a nation of swell people. They happen because we do awful things to people around the world in a variety of ways in order to maintain our way of life.

The truth is Americans do want this, they just don't like that they want this.

Another comment was discussing how shocked they were with how brazen a move this was for oil, and that in the past the government wouldn't have been so honest. As though the issue were being honest with what we are doing.

bigthymer · a month ago

> The truth is Americans do want this

I'm not so sure. Sure, they want the benefits that are provided. However, if being aware of what the costs are to get those benefits apriori, I'm not sure Americans would think the exchange worthwhile.

bigthymer commented on Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades latimes.com/business/stor... · Posted by u/ValentineC

tim333 · a month ago

That wasn't their main thing. The main one was to buy stocks or companies for less than they were worth, either because the market mispriced them or because company owners wanted to retire and sell to Berkshire. They also were big into insurance float which is getting insurance premium money that doesn't have to be paid out for a while which provides a kind of free leverage. Buffett did a lot of other things too.

bigthymer · a month ago

I think over the last few decades, he could make deals just because the Buffett name held so much influence. If Buffett was investing, then others could assume that the company won't go bankrupt.

bigthymer commented on US Tech Force techforce.gov/... · Posted by u/purple_ferret

alexpotato · 2 months ago

Is this just US Digital Service V2?

https://www.usds.gov/

bigthymer · 2 months ago

Ever since USDS got renamed as DOGE, they've had trouble recruiting people. I suspect this move is maybe an effort to shed DOGE's negative image.

bigthymer commented on Django: what’s new in 6.0 adamj.eu/tech/2025/12/03/... · Posted by u/rbanffy

viiralvx · 2 months ago

Template Partials and HTMX seems like the Django equivalent of View Components and Stimulus for Rails, which is nice.

Also, good to see first class support for Tasks, among a lot of other niceties!

bigthymer · 2 months ago

Rails renders partials

https://guides.rubyonrails.org/layouts_and_rendering.html#pa...

bigthymer commented on Evidence from the One Laptop per Child program in rural Peru nber.org/papers/w34495... · Posted by u/danso

aserr · 2 months ago

There’s a book, The Charisma Machine (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537445/the-charisma-machine/), that examines outcomes from multiple OLPC initiatives and covers many of the failings.

bigthymer · 2 months ago

A youtube talk about the book for the lazy\busy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCeaQUPaze4