Social Media
I struggle with social media. I don't think it is evil by default. I never have. If you count Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems (and I do), then I have been on social media longer than many modern influencers have been alive (see note below).
Social media, on its own, can be great. Individuals connecting and sharing is awesome. I want more of it, not less. Isn't that what we are doing here?
Corporations are awful. The modern system of corporate capitalism is nightmarish. Because of that, social media platforms swallowed by the corporate machine are often just as awful and nightmarish.
But this isn't a defense of social media, this is a discussion on why I suck at it.
I spend most of my social media time on Bluesky (@scrivenersjest.com). You can boo and hiss, if you want, but the moderation tools are excellent. I find the writing and art communities there much more active, vibrant, and inviting. That is what I am looking for when I look for social media. Maybe someday, I will start my account on Writing.Exchange. I like what Matt is doing with the platform, and I don't mind niche communities. They need to be a community, though, not random people posting into the void.
I suppose that is the issue. I struggle with interaction on social media. I am happy to post a comment or respond to a prompt (this is why my Bluesky account is mostly a vss365 response account), but I've never been good at interactions. I can like a post or repost it, but responding always feels artificial. I feel like I am invading someone's space to start a conversation they probably don't want to have. Sure, they said something, but that doesn't mean they said it to me. It feel like I am in a bar pushing my way into an overheard conversation which I would never do.
So instead, I sit there, read a few cool posts, post my silly little poems, and never really connect with anyone. I know this is not a particularly unique problem. I think a lot of us are doing that. I just wish there was a better way to connect. There are some really cool people out there. I see them and read them, but they are lost, drifting in that void behind the screen. I sometimes wish they weren't.