JamesI believe in the #forkiverse. I believe in the #Fediverse. I like the optimism of it, reaching for greater group ownership and less corporate control, trying to make the world a little better. It's why I've signed up. But... the thing I'm struggling with right now - is social media itself, the very broad notion of it, just fundamentally bad for us? I'm feeling something nagging at my brain to check the feed, to get more engagement, to do better... is it all just inevitably damned?
I mean, is this just the best possible way to do something that is always bad for humans at a fundamental level? Not that good can't come from it, but might our lives and the world still be slightly better if we all just packed up and went home and let our brains recover? Impossible, I know, but... What if we're just trying to find the best way to bind the demon and bend it to our will?
I'm running this as an experiment - I've never really tried to engage on the Twitter that was, never used Facebook, have never done any of the old, mysterious practices of internet past. And, admitedly, felt superior for it. But #forkiverse inspires me to try to be part of something good... Maybe we can save the demon and get it grow into a greater being. Or maybe... maybe it'll be best to accept it can never fundamentally change its nature.
SupermoosieThe nature of the Fediverse, is the people trying too hard don't to well. We don't care about your follow count or your engagement stats.
We like mundane.
Tell us about your day. What you had for breakfast ( Cocopops and Just Right mixed with milk), about things you enjoyed today. #ThreeGoodThings, about your cat, dog, duck, goat, chicken etc.
Take a picture of ants, or some flowers, moss, a lizard you saw, the sea, werid cars, something out of place. Something funny that happened at work, or rant about stress you had.
What ever comes to mind.
Or just lurk and enjoy other humans.
It doesn't have to be about Hustle, Self Promotion, Politics
iredave@SuperMoosie @jameswarlock the lack of politics is so lovely
Yes. I still see enough of news and politics on here, to know what is going on. I see things before they reach main stream news here.
People are human and talk about how things make them feel and how it will effect them or people they know.
But my filters block stuff out to an extent.
And this has a different feel. I am not arguing and debating people like I used to on Twitter.
I am reading and learning more here across all sorts of topics.
For example, there used to be an account on here about how mediaeval people used eels. They would use them as currency. Pay your rent and debts in eels. The documents from the time are full of eel references. The account just made it interesting. It had zero relevance to my life, but just loved each post.
Ben@SuperMoosie @jameswarlock slice of sourdough toast with fancy crunchy peanut butter, and a shot of espresso.
Michelle / The Giddy Stitcher@jameswarlock In all honesty I'd just give it time. You're coming from a world where these platforms punish you for not using them correctly or being engaged enough or posting the right kind of content or etc etc etc.
So as the excitement of the new thing wears off and you slowly realise that the fediverse doesn't care whether you use it or not, it's natural to relax a bit :D
@thegiddystitcher Thank you - that’s a thoughtful and kind reply. I will bear it in mind and see what happens.
Bram Meehan@jameswarlock @thegiddystitcher Also, one of the things is “no algorithm.” Sure, I had all kinds of blockers, lists, forced a chronological feed. It took me, probably, years, to fully appreciate what it looks like when you remove those incentives.
FinchHaven sfba"I'm feeling something nagging at my brain to check the feed, to get more engagement, to do better... is it all just inevitably damned?"
Yup
The #Forkiverse sounds like it was made with exactly you in mind
Emsquared@jameswarlock I get everything you say. Social media may always be toxic or maybe there will be a space for an alternative that might just be safe but niche. But then the fediverse isn't just social media. There's more reddit-like platforms such as piefed, Facebook alternatives like Friendica, photo sharing areas like pixelfed and vernisage, newsletter alternatives like ghost along with Flipboard and micro.bllog and even WordPress for old school blogs that can share to and get comments from here
Doug Wade@jameswarlock I got this feeling very strongly when loops came around and thought “are we sure short-form video isn’t super bad for you?” But I’ve come around to the belief that ByteDance has made a hole in the hearts of humans in the shape of TikTok, and that we can only fill it with something better, not take it away completely. Once TikTok has been made, it cannot be unmade — someone will always launch a clone. The best we can do is make the best possible version and hope.
Ethan Reedy@jameswarlock As with all things, there are elements in social networks that inherently lean toward harm. But there are elements of social networks that are wonderful. I LOVED the early years of FB. I reconnected with so many lost friends. But FB's drive to maximize attention turned all of my friends away, and now it is a ghost town.
@jameswarlock I love the idea of a social network that I moderate. In my first 30 minutes, I don't love everything I see here, but I've already muted a few people I know I don't want to see. Great! That's the way it should be. I may connect with people who seem thoughtful and reasonable, even if I don't agree with them. That should make my life richer than it is today, and that is a good thing.
KichaeJames Honestly, much of this is just the energy of novelty. Jumping on board with something, seeing that there are others there doing something, feeling part of it all, and having a place to actually explore for the first time in a little while.
When I first landed here, the mania was palpable. There were hundreds of others coming over too, followed a couple of months later by tens of thousands. There was so much buzz, so much energy, and this real drive to feel like I was a real denizen here that it did start to feel compulsive.
But then that drive calmed down. I began tending to my feed, and got more and more familiar with the usernames and PFPs that kept popping up, and it all got a lot more comfortable and healthy. When there isn’t a constant stream of engagement bait being thrown at you, you get to have actual conversations with real people who actually see what you say, and not just agitators and “allies” down in the muck of the comments.
@kichae That’s an optimistic vision for a future here, and I like it. I can see the sense in tending your relationship to the site/app just as you tend your feed to keep it healthy, happy, positive and useful.
Just need to make sure it doesn’t lock into a dysfunctional part of one’s psyche.
Just need to make sure it doesn’t lock into a dysfunctional part of one’s psyche.
James Indeed. The good news is, though, that there isn’t any system here underpinning the site/app/network (because it truly is a network of different websites – I’m not even using a site that’s running Mastodon!) that’s actively but secretly trying to figure out what the dysfunctional parts of your psyche are so that it can hand-feed you those things. There’s just the local feed (posts by other Forkiverse members), the global feed (posts by those of us on other websites), and the home feed (posts by the people that you’ve chosen to follow). If you can avoid the temptations of your own demons (and learn where the block and report buttons are on your app/site), then hopefully you’re in the clear and can find interesting people to talk to.