Back in Oct 2006, I created a twitter account. 16 years and 1 day later, I find myself here. In those early days of social platforms, more naïve and hopeful days, anthropologist Grant McCracken evoked the idea of phatic communication to describe the purpose of messages shared:

1. I exist.
2. I’m ok.
3. You exist.
4. You’re ok.
5. The channel is open.
6. The network exists.
7. The network is active.
8. The network is flowing.
https://cultureby.com/2007/07/how-social-netw.html

Feels fitting to consider that once more.