I wonder if the golden age of social media is over. Facebook felt like a birthday party with family and friends, Twitter like the digital village Cafe. Now it's mostly a dystopia of ads and nasty behavior.
@localjoost imagining a golden age is maybe not the best way to keep the present pleasant
@WizardOfDocs I know. I just feel sad. I feel we lost something. Or maybe I lost something I imagined we had.

@localjoost Mastodon feels more like a village cafe to me than Twitter ever did

Possibly because I joined Twitter in the first place for a marketing job

And/or because my home instance has always had some level of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon vibes

I agree that it often feels like losing things, but what we're losing can, and arguably must, be rebuilt in direct defiance of the things trying to take it away

@WizardOfDocs I joined in July 2007, I remember things were different then. After 15 years, I may well remember incorrectly. But I had conversations with total strangers, like now

@localjoost my partner also says Twitter was better that far back

shrug

Not worth my spoons to wish we were back there