Kevin

Has anyone else who uses #Mastodon as their main social media platform noticed a far lower level of personal stress?

After several months I feel almost like I’ve moved to a much, much better neighborhood with really great neighbors.

Personally, I am still concerned with lots of socioeconomic, environmental, and other issues the world faces, but I feel far less stressed about them.

It’s just better in so many ways.

#SocialMedia #MentalHealth

Apr 5, 2023 at 5:13amWeb
Show threadJack・怨霊見習い中Apr 5, 2023
@kevin I'm honestly surprised how much of a relief it is. I still care about all the issues I did before, but I feel more level about it bc I can actually look into things without the influence of toxic/hostile dialogues and pressures.
Show threadJim in Yamaguchi Apr 5, 2023
@kevin Yes. Very much so. Much lower levels of general anxiety and irritation. It's SO different. And so much better.
Show threadCrazy Ass  🍉🇵🇸Apr 5, 2023
@YamaguchiSake @kevin having less of nothing to get angry about has been a big help
Show threadsi_iriniApr 5, 2023
@YamaguchiSake @kevin
Yes it is!🫶🏻🫶🏻
Show threadAlan BradburneApr 5, 2023
@kevin I will occasionally think 'omg, I must be missing something', open it, scroll for 10 mins then realise I'm feeling angry, disillusioned with humanity and just stressed.
Show threadSarah T. Roberts, Ph.D.Apr 5, 2023
@kevin @mybarkingdogs Yes. But I also miss my community, the wit, the intellectual spark, just knowing what folks are up to, etc.
Show threadStegosaurusApr 5, 2023
@ubiquity75 @kevin @mybarkingdogs Hey' we're the new improved community. 😀 And just wait till we get warned up for whale-loads of wit.
Seriously mastadon reminds me of the early internet days. So excited. So young. So naive. 🙏
Show threadDuck Marshall 🚲Apr 5, 2023
@Stegasaurus @ubiquity75 @kevin @mybarkingdogs that's the comment I've been making to anyone who wants to hear me talk about Mastodon — it feels like the early days of social media. I'd wondered my memories were nothing but nostalgia until I joined here and it matches up to my memories!
Show threadsi_iriniApr 5, 2023
@marshant @Stegasaurus @ubiquity75 @kevin @[email protected]
Yes so true, and then I realize how old I am!🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️😂😂
Show threadStegosaurusApr 5, 2023
@si_irini @marshant @ubiquity75 @kevin @mybarkingdogs exactly!
Show threadsi_iriniApr 5, 2023

@Stegasaurus @marshant @ubiquity75 @kevin @[email protected]

😂😂😂😂
I remember the first steps at the web…it was so good…
OMG I am old…🤣🤣🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
I can‘t stop laughing…🤣🤣🤣🤣

I was taking photos with film..running to the darkroom yelling attention that no one hits you in the dark..damn..great times!

Show threadsi_iriniApr 5, 2023

@marshant @Stegasaurus @ubiquity75 @kevin @[email protected]

Sometimes when I see the 20 year old at work…I am thinking…thank god I am not 20 anymore…
Ok 30 was better…🤣🤣🤣
But that is over too, oh fuck how I became so old…??🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤣🤣🤣

Show threadGerbrand van DieyenApr 8, 2023
@marshant @Stegasaurus @ubiquity75 @kevin @mybarkingdogs nostalgia is a dangerous drug indeed. But for me, it also feels more like the volunteer ran phpbb2 servers, usenet, and fidonet I remember.
Show threadStegosaurusApr 8, 2023
@gerbrand @marshant @ubiquity75 @kevin @mybarkingdogs
True. All true.
🙏
Show threadC. R. Collins 🌳 🐸Apr 5, 2023

@ubiquity75 @kevin @mybarkingdogs

I get all this on Mastodon. Actually, the community here is better. I never had much of one on other sites.

Show threadMKSinSAApr 6, 2023

@ubiquity75

You're kinda sorta in the military brat category now. When you move around a lot, like back before text messages, you bought stamps and envelopes. And paid long distance fees. But you figured out how to stay in touch if it was important enough, eh?

@kevin @mybarkingdogs

Show threadINPCApr 5, 2023

@kevin Yes, that's what happens when you're not deliberately confronted with content to drive your emotions.

People become almost human again! 

Show threadAndrew BurgessApr 5, 2023
@kevin huge reduction in #DoomScrolling, and overal much less time spent online. Feeling much happier 🤗
Show threadKevin Karhan Apr 5, 2023
@kevin yes.
Show threadRoni Rolle LaukkarinenApr 5, 2023
@kevin Yes!
Show threadMETADESTROYER !! (He/Him)Apr 5, 2023
@kevin the #fediverse has not only lowered my anxiety on the internet, it has actually improved my health - intellectual, moral, emotional all over!
Show threadJames HoldenApr 5, 2023
@kevin Genuinely a nicer place to be. Like birdsite before the trolls. Like the Internet before AOL.
Show threadVijay PremaApr 5, 2023

@kevin I certainly have, though its not just Mastodon, its a combination of steps I have taken to remove algorithmic feeds from my life. e,g, RSS reader, FreeTube etc.

I also waste a lot less time on the Internet because with Mastodon, ill open it and give it a quick scroll but often nothing much interesting at the time and that is 100% OK... vs normal social media where its always the most addicting, triggering, sucking-in time-wasting stuff immediately dropped in your face every single time.

Show threadDenzil FerreiraApr 5, 2023
@kevin yep... A lot of fearmongering and engagement farming on bird (now dog) site.
Show threadPandkaApr 5, 2023
@kevin Totally agree. I still use reddit to some extent and facebook (just for uni things), but overall experience is far better here in #fedi than in other mainstream social media.
Show threadDavid ZaslavskyApr 5, 2023
@kevin It's definitely better here than on Twitter or Facebook, but still I think time spent on Mastodon overall raises my stress level rather than lowering it.
Show threadnathanlovestreesApr 5, 2023
@diazona @kevin honestly it doesn't lower my stress being on here compared to not being on here (I haven't used any other social media for 3 or 4 years, so I just comparing using Mastodon with not using Mastodon). It is a nicer place to be from what I remember but not less stressful per se
Show threadMicheleApr 5, 2023
@kevin I feel like part of it is because we can essentially choose our own neighbourhood, rather than have one unique plaza where everyone is trying to shout louder than the other.
The other part is because this is very niche still, so there's less agenda, especially from mass media.
Show threadKiermasz Dla Palestyny @bioApr 5, 2023
@kevin yeah, but it's not something that mastodon does, it's something mastodon doesn't do, it doesn't have algorithms that calculate best way to keep you engaged is by feeding you with toxic content that gives you anxiety. Just as if to interact this way was not a human nature but a burgeois plot from the beginning. Not again!
Show threadRobertApr 5, 2023
@kevin definitely
Show threadZbigniew 'Emill' Pławecki ♿️🎮Apr 5, 2023
@kevin yes, because twitter loves to shove You all those issues (and a lot of other, much less important ones) straight into Your mouth, because that creates interaction, polarization, argues, dramas and so on = engagment.. one could say twitter is built on (and for) people's stress
Show threadStefan Midjich ꙮ҄Apr 5, 2023
@kevin Mastodon was my only social media, since 2018 (gnusocial before that in 2017). And tbh I've noticed a higher level of stress since all the people came in and started accusing me of being a fascist. so I'm leaving the fedi soon, just waiting for my 3 month period to expire on my instance so I can shut it down and move on with my life.
Show threadElisabeth Anderson Apr 5, 2023
@kevin Same for me. I occasionally visit "the old neighbourhood" and within seconds it's terrible and I need to leave again. I'm glad I moved.
Show threadScarlet Rain  PL/ENGApr 5, 2023
@kevin I deleted all social media except Reddit and I love Mastodon for less stress
Show threadAhri Boy (archived)Apr 5, 2023
@kevin yes, but I'm using Misskey. The Fediverse is the future
Show threadKoraunuiPakehaApr 5, 2023
@kevin Definitely
Show threadRonanApr 5, 2023
@kevin this¹⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰
Show threadVulcanTourist [MOVED]Apr 5, 2023

@kevin

Just a week into my tenure here I've had a couple unpleasant confusing run-ins with people who shouldn't have been opponents but were, though no choice of mine. It's left me a bit shell-shocked, but there have been juxtaposed pleasant exchanges that counterbalance the unexpected weirdness. Jury is still out on the long term, but it can't demographically be any worse than alternatives.

Show threadMichael DunlapApr 5, 2023
@kevin Absolutely. To the point that when my deactivated Twitter account finally was deleted, I thought, “well that’s nice.” Mastodon isn’t programmed to raise my blood pressure in order to “drive engagement.”
Show thread(((o))) Acoustic MirrorApr 5, 2023
@kevin 🙋🏽‍♂️
Show threadSimplescribblerApr 5, 2023
@kevin up to a point. Except the scientist and people discussing the climate crisis seem more honest, sad and truthful. Real facts shared. I had a thread of hope that it was exaggerated and maybe I am wrong to be so anxious. Mastodon has taken away that hope. But so many enjoyable facets to the fediverse and that is a small consolation.
Show threadMark Taylor 🇳🇿Apr 5, 2023

@kevin Twitter was a news source for me.

Here, I talk to folks and they respond in a normal polite manner.

Go figure.

Show threadThe People's WookieApr 5, 2023
@kevin 100% no algorithm pushing for anger based engagement
Show threadMarventhApr 5, 2023
@kevin @radpanda I did!
Show threadAdeptVeritatisApr 5, 2023

@kevin

Some days ago I cleaned up maybe 200 open tabs from Twitter, I still wanted to read. Didn't just mass-close them but really looked through them.

And although they were some kind of presorted, after half of it, I felt so much aggression and fury. I forced me to continue, so I will never need to do that again.

Closing all at once would have created another form of pain, so I decided to work through it.

Hard to believe, that I used to feel like this everyday.

What a relief ...

Show threadLFpeteApr 5, 2023
@kevin Out of 20th Century stuff, into 21st Century.
Show threadBread Ninja  Apr 5, 2023
@kevin Yes! I moved here when I was stressed about everything and felt like I was forced to stay in a specific group, where drama was a daily thing. Since I am here, everything is much more chill and I love communicating with new people, which was not really possible before! 
Show threadJanApr 5, 2023
@kevin the constant rage and dopamine hits I got from twitter really started to impact my physical health as well as mental health. It was all hate. Anyway, my hair has stopped falling out and I’m spending more time in the real world.
Show threadBrittany et alApr 5, 2023
@kevin Yes. I've noticed this.
Show threadpaxApr 5, 2023
@kevin yep fediverse is great for your mental health in general.
Show threadAlien AnomalyApr 5, 2023

@kevin

Yup. Much more Alien friendly.

Show threadsheislaurenceApr 5, 2023
@kevin 100%! I used to be addicted to #Birdsite. I occasionally feel a pang of #fomo when i go back on there (I still have an account, mostly to read posts from my Madagascar community that hasn't left), when I see hot takes on #breakingnews but I then realise there is literally no benefit to be in on the news at 3.14pm over 7.12pm, because the #newscycle is so fast it *will* reach #Mastodon or other media outlets in plenty of time for me to decide whether I care or not.
Show threadKerri LevineApr 5, 2023

@kevin

I hear ya. I'm still on FB because of the many friends I have there, but Twitter can kiss mah grits.

#Mastadon

Show threadDaniel MartinApr 5, 2023
@kevin
Don't know about you, but the ability to edit for typos is such a stress reducer.
Show threadTerriApr 5, 2023
@kevin Yes, from the moment I deactivated my twitter account.
Show threadRyan SchultzApr 5, 2023
@kevin Yes, I have noticed a big difference. I also make liberal use of filters in Mastodon to avoid seeing certain triggering topics, e.g. a certain former U.S. president 😉
Show threadBrian S.Apr 5, 2023
@kevin For the most part, I was able to avoid interacting much with the lunatics at the old neighborhood, but yeah... I know what you mean.
Show threadNate MApr 5, 2023
@kevin Well yeah after enabling a ton of filters.
Show threadThe Mighty QuinnApr 5, 2023
@kevin 💯