A Healthier Approach

Since the death of Twitter I've been trying to figure out what my relationship with social media looks like. It's felt off for a while but I've never been able to quite put my finger on why. At the time--and continuing today--it was quite in vogue to place blame on the platforms themselves but I'm not so sure anymore.

BlueSky is probably the best version of a micro-blog social media site that currently exists and ATProto certainly is an exciting new take on the social web but I think the issue lies deeper than websites and protocols. I've come to the position that short form text based social media is just an inherently toxic place to exist. Some are more toxic than others sure, but the toxicity doesn't go away with a better implementation. It just becomes less acute.

This isn't to say that I think the problem lies with any individuals or groups of users. I think the whole premise is flawed. The entire idea of encouraging people to consume what are functionally streams of conscious from other people directly is toxic for just about everything good in life. Yes there is the odd insightful or interesting post and the allure of seeing "behind the curtain" of your favorite internet people is always tempting but the bad far outweighs the good.

In light of all that I've decided to limit my own exposure to that kind of social media. I want to be more intentional with the media I consume on the internet. To make time and space for that as an intentional action rather than a passive one to avoid boredom. My plan is to limit my main reading on the internet to blogs and news sites and to search them out intentionally. FOMO be damned. My usage of BlueSky will be limited to only on my computer and even then as a primarily write only platform.

Frankly the thought is uncomfortable but I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I need to try. That continuing to subject myself to the barrage that is micro-blogging is limiting my ability for clear thought and ideation.

Here's to a healthier internet.