💾 Archived View for kvothe.one › gemlog › 2020-09-09.gmi captured on 2020-09-24 at 00:47:46. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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A few days ago, I hopped off of the Fediverse, deleted the Toot application from my phone, et cetera. I still poke in from time to time in case I have a message or something, but it's been really good for me to not be on it. A bit like how deleting all my social media accounts was beneficial for me last year. There's not even an advertising incentive to make it so addictive, it's just the nature of the beast!
I think the nature of social media, Fediverse or otherwise, is performative. I think at the root of it is the "like" mechanism. I think it's just a terrible analogue for interaction. I find myself changing my behavior to cater to the ever-elusive "like," and I just don't like it. It's not how we talk to each other face-to-face or on other protocols like e-mail and IRC. It discourages us from feeling whole and satisfied for just existing. If you're not doing something that people react to, who ARE you, anyway?
C. told me that Twitter has some hashtag like #1000followers or somesuch where people poke fun at users with low follower counts. Man, if that doesn't summarize social media!
Anyway, it's been really good to take a step back from that. My phone usage has dropped pretty dramatically and I've swapped up my computer time with 1-on-1 conversations, journaling, and reading instead of shouting "pay attention to me, please" into the ether.
Until next time, be well!
kvothe.