Andy Piper

Remember when “social media” was “social networking”?

What changed? That second word: media. It’s all about capturing your attention and selling you stuff.

Humans are social and want to connect with one another. That’s what makes the #fediverse special to me - authentic connection. We haven’t forgotten the social part.

Jul 30, 2025 at 8:44amWeb
Show threaddick_turpin  Jul 30, 2025
@andypiper I think the word "Media" was tacked on as an alternative to "Networking", networking sounds like some sort of business venture, which is usually a turn off for most people, whereas "Media" means you might get a Meme of Pepe the frog.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_the_Frog
Pepe the Frog - Wikipedia

Show threadTom MorrisJul 30, 2025
@andypiper I remember when it was “social software”. Software that’s useful and made more useful by data from others.
Show threadAndy PiperJul 30, 2025
@tommorris yes. Flickr was "social photo sharing". Last.FM was "social music". Back in Web 2.0 when things became more interactive and social components were added to things.
Show threadAndy PiperJul 30, 2025
@tommorris I wrote an outline for a book that was going to be titled "Social Everything", somewhere around 2010 ish; obviously, I was too lazy to actually write it.
Show threadGregoryJul 30, 2025
@andypiper the main thing that changed is that logo accounts and algorithmic feeds were introduced. Because it turns out much more ads can be shown to you if you have an endless stream of content from strangers and meme pages and celebrities and influencers.
Show threadGregoryJul 30, 2025
@andypiper the "problem" with early-Facebook-style social networking is that you open it several times a day, read all the new updates in your feed, maybe comment on a few, and that's it. The rest of the time you just live your life. That's clearly unacceptable for a VC-backed company. Facebook would inject ads into your dreams while you sleep if they had the opportunity.
Show threadTedAug 1, 2025

@grishka @andypiper

I agree that feels like the inflection point.
I miss having just 20 or so friends on livejournal, and they were all real friends with mostly meaningful updates.

But I also wonder if there's a way to facilitate discovery in a more healthy way, because it is something I do like.

I suppose tags are the current solution, but I think more of a more-like-this type algorithm is what I'd like.

Maybe we need a return of web rings.

Show threadGregoryAug 1, 2025

@tschundler @andypiper my opinion is that there should be separate platforms for social networking (content from your friends) and for TV-like entertainment (content from influencers, celebrities, brands, etc).

For discovering people you know on a new platform, there are only two ways: extended search (like on Facebook/VK) or importing your preexisting contact/friend list from somewhere else.

Show threadRobee? Na! 🌈Jul 30, 2025
@andypiper I feel this. It’s nice to not be compelled to chase an algorithm or get likes, and interactions feel more genuine here.
Show threadChee Aun 🤔Jul 30, 2025
@andypiper I think only Japan (and surrounding countries) sticked with it until now but termed as SNS instead.
Show threadBryan Jul 30, 2025
@andypiper I think because everyone was searching for a phrase to describe something different from “traditional media”. Social networks like MySpace really focused on media as bandwidth got better in the early 2000’s.
Show threadDr Zoyander StreetJul 30, 2025
@andypiper THIS I had the same thought earlier this week. It has only recently sunk in for me that the "social" is secondary, and perhaps always was.
Show threadhiphopheavenJul 30, 2025
@andypiper it's so cool the lack of politicians and businesses. What i hate about the fediverse ia memes. Fortunatly i can block them
Show threadSimon WolfJul 30, 2025
@andypiper I’m just catching up on my feed over a late lunch and have to say that I agree. I’ve just spoted something to LinkedIn about it in response to someone saying they’d had enough of all of the nonsense there.
Show threadeconadsJul 31, 2025
@simon @andypiper Go to linked in when I'm looking for a new job only
Show threadSimon WolfJul 31, 2025
@econads Do you have any luck with that? People I know have had very limited success via it. Although maybe they just have a terrible network!
Show threadeconadsJul 31, 2025

@simon well to be fair I usually just read the recruiter messages until I find something that sounds close enough. I wouldn't say I have a network as such.

The whole site makes me feel icky because I'm not anonymous there, I feel very surveilled and performative. Dance pleb!

Show threadSimon WolfJul 31, 2025
@econads It’s terrible and I’m completely paranoid about checking anyone’s profile because they might be a premium aubscriber and able to tell. I hate the whole wretched thing.
Show threadYesterday's RoseJul 30, 2025

@andypiper

I was always sceptical of "social networking". Because it sounded too much like "networking". You know. The thing the capitalist douchebags do.

Gladly, the only platform for "social networking" these days is LinkedIn, and I'm like "glad I'm here, I don't want to read the posts by the middle management dipwonks who very clearly still can't form a coherent sentence, I'm here *just* for the job board, thank you".

Show threadDavid Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Jul 30, 2025

@andypiper

I remember when we called them 'advertising platforms'. The fact that they persuaded journalists to refer to them as 'social media' was a very impressive piece of marketing.

Show threadAlan is @cogdog 🇨🇦Jul 30, 2025

@andypiper What happened to Clay Shirky? Anyone remember his definition "Social software is stuff that gets spammed.”

Of course the original link dies at CloudFlare calling on a sifting of the internet Archive (bless the Srchive! bless and support the Archive!) for the source

https://web.archive.org/web/20201202215443/https://corante.com/many/tags-run-amok/

Tags run amok! – Corante

Show threadAndy PiperJul 30, 2025
@cogdog Here Comes Everybody!
Show threadRichard MacManusJul 30, 2025
@andypiper @cogdog As you implied Alan, it was "social software" back in 2003-04. I liked that term, although it was too geeky for the non-blogging population.
Show threadAlan is @cogdog 🇨🇦Jul 30, 2025
@ricmac @andypiper Now just understanding URLs is too geeky.
Show threadAlan is @cogdog 🇨🇦Jul 30, 2025

@andypiper Along with "it's not information overload, it's filter failure."

That has aged well.

Show threadbit101Jul 30, 2025
@andypiper I loved Twitter in the early days when it was just people talking to each other. Same with Instagram, sharing photos with friends / family. Then it all became brands and marketing and politics and algorithms and gross. Coming to the fediverse was like taking a time machine to the good old days.
Show threadMichael MathyJul 30, 2025
@bit101 @andypiper
Same here and that is why also I hope that the fediverse do not have too much "success" if we equal success with number of active users.
They are already enough people on mastodon saying interesting stuff and not enough time to read everything.
Show threadbit101Jul 30, 2025
@michaelmathy @andypiper I've said the same thing often. I hope we never "win". Let the other networks siphon off the crap.
Show threadMichael MathyJul 30, 2025
@bit101 @andypiper Yes. And Andy, correct me if I am wrong, but there is nothing technically in Mastodon that will prevent the service to degrade as in Twitter if there is too much people using it.
We can always argue that moderation is decentralized and shared between multiple servers, if everybody sign up on mastodon.online or mastodon.social, these 2 instances will not be blocked by everybody I suppose.
Show threadbit101Jul 30, 2025
@michaelmathy @andypiper I'm not deluding myself that Mastodon will always be what it is now. But I'm enjoying it for now and hope it lasts as long as possible.
Show threadMichael MathyJul 30, 2025
@bit101 @andypiper Same
Show threadSnackTracesJul 30, 2025

@andypiper
On that...

Hi!

Show threadDave bauerJul 30, 2025
@andypiper Before it was "social" anything it was just online community. I hate instagram but have built so much of a community on there, and I haven't figured out how to migrate it off just yet. I suspect I'll need to build it myself, or one-by-one guide my friends somewhere else.
Show threadDeborah MakariosJul 30, 2025
@andypiper Media is the plural of medium, "so called because it is neither rare nor well done."
Show threadOld Fucking PunkJul 31, 2025

@andypiper The big tech platforms provide "social control media".

Some (like #Techrights) argue that Mastodon instances, and any other social application that allowa server side enforcing of codes of conduct, fall into that category. I would argue that the right to join a gated community is more "self control" than "social control", but I prefer self filtering over server filtering.

Show threadSimon BrookeJul 31, 2025

@andypiper or the network part. We see not only what our friends post, but also what they boost; and very often what they boost will be the posts of people whose views resonate with our own — friends whom we have not yet encountered.

The thing which makes #Mastodon (and the whole #ActivityPub ecosystem) so good is that it does the network part so well.

Show threadThomas KräftnerJul 31, 2025
@andypiper Surprised by how that seems to have happened a very long time ago already:
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2007-01-01%202015-01-01&q=Social%20Media,Social%20Networks,Social%20Networking
Show threadJesse KarmaniJul 31, 2025
@andypiper 💯 I try to be intentional about not using “social media” and using “social network” instead for this very reason. When you describe something as “social media” to someone they focus on the “media” part and expect that kind of experience.