Thinking about Gene Sharp who wrote his dissertation on Gandhi in 1968 and died at age 90 in 2018. Like in the 1970's, many who thought of themselves as conservatives are asking what to do in response to authoritarian regimes of stupidity. Turn again to Gandhi, MLK, and Sharp?
(8) I don't mind being wrong or being disagreed with on any of these points I think! Just processing aloud! Peace!
(7) There are way fewer anonymous bomb throwing trolls and insulters who just pile on instantly and reflexively on Bluesky than X at this point.
(6) Be gracious and helpful on all sites. AND realize the engine of these sites are people burning to discover and share truth: writers, artists, journalists, teachers, philosophers, and academics. A site with civility is worthless without the passionate sharing of ideas so be tolerant of some zeal.
(5) If people stay at X, maybe it is best to succumb to it fully and pay to be a bluecheck so your replies and posts get seen and you perhaps get paid?
3) So far there are fewer sports experts and coaches at Bluesky as compared with X so there are less embedded videos in my feeds. But videos work just as well there.
(4) There are more links to external articles (newspapers, magazines, Substack, podcasts, journal articles) at Bluesky.
(2) It's best to crosspost at Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon if you want to engage everyone. Then see which one(s) you yourself enjoy consuming—knowing some social media is useful and lots takes away from real life good habits and reading books.
Some thoughts on social media after the great migration to Bluesky:
(1) I wish liberals AND conservatives migrated over. Bluesky is a better product because you are not dependent on one algorithm like X and Threads are. But it is less valuable for learning if people think it is just for liberals.
Finished Beartown: A Novel by Fredrik Backman for my high school friends Zoom book club. It is about teenage athletes and their parents and we as a group have seen a lot of the stuff in the novel so it will be fun to discuss. Themes like Friday Night Lights but hockey.
"The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory" (Dec 2024) by Tim Alberta. A long profile of the-ends-justify-the-means, no-coherence, no-shame-about-peddling-misinformation, disregard-for-Jesus'-teaching, "evangelicals" and some evangelicals who were appalled and resisted all of this. Recommended.
