My Evolving Views on Social Media

I used to believe that it was appropriate to blurt out everything re any topic on the Book of Face and later on my various blogs. Niche? Meh! Too much work. But when my mom received her pancreatic cancer diagnosis at the end of 2007, I began a private blog to post about her decline only and had an epiphany that it was kind of cool to keep things separate, and also that it was OK to have various accounts on social media for different purposes, similar to keeping separate email accounts for work and personal matters. Likewise, it made sense to create a few accounts on Twitter (as it was called back in the days of sanity) to keep my writing/self-publishing nyms separate from my general jabbering. Eventually, I consolidated those into one account, since no one bought my books regardless of focus. On my old WordPress blog, it was basically anything goes: opinions, music, pics, poetry and fiction written to prompts, hosting my own prompts, whatever floated my boat, as the wise one says, and that became a sprawling, overwhelming mess (for me) to the point that I couldn't deal with it any longer.

Last year, I took a big step back to reevaluate my approach to social media. I had been off Twitter/X for a while and decided to join Bluesky to see what that was all about. It's a fun place, for the most part ~ after mass-blocking antisemites and various other ick ~ but I don't "know" very many people there, plus I am aware that everything is public (more on that in a minute), so I am careful what I say. Also, I am not a fan of the screed in 27 parts or reading a series of screenshots, so I don't feel it's a good place for lengthy writing of any kind. What's it good for? Memes, humorous cartoon blips, cat photos, SSCs, song links to music themes, and various other one and done type of posts. After a few hiccups, I have decided I like it there.

Instagram, by its nature, is the perfect place to post photos to share with peeps, so that's what I use it for, not to opine about politics, click over to ridiculous recipes, or anything else that's an effort. The reason I joined at all was to see the pics/videos my daughter and her hubby upload re their aquarium adventures, but they hardly post anything, so I had to follow other accounts. I don't enjoy seeing the same memes there that I do on Facebook and Bluesky; too much of that gets an account muted. The problem with Insta is its algorithm ~ if you happen to like one kitty pic, it will show you every fucking cat photo on the planet and nothing else. Stupid! I have been trying to like a variety of photos and say "not interested" when the feed gets clogged with a single subject, which helps. Lately, I've been enjoying a lot of videos of birds of prey and bears grabbing fish out of the water. 

Have you ever thought about what eats fish? Fish eat fish, seals eat fish, bears eat fish, birds eat fish, cats eat fish, humans eat fish. What doesn't eat fish? Deer, I guess. Monkeys? Would a monkey eat a nice tuna sandwich for lunch? Idk.

Anyway. So, I have Bluesky for quick funnies and Insta for photos/videos. Facebook is simply to stay connected to friends because many won't interact on other media (it's weird). I am not looking for new friends on FB, no matter how hard Meta tries to push them at me; in fact, I dumped about a dozen last October because they were awful. I had rejoined in April 2020 when I was lonely from the lockdown with my sole purpose being to reconnect with old friends I had lost touch with, and that's what I do. I don't like to comment much on other people's posts because I don't want to be attacked sideways from one of their rando friends. I actually comment more on Bluesky because I feel relatively confident that the accounts I interact with have also blocked terror supporters... but I am still a bit wary and often delete a reply I have written before hitting send.

That brings us to this blog, which I resurrected because I realized that I do need a place to post reviews of books and movies and food, etc., and sometimes I really enjoy rambling on about nothing (see: this post). I don't feel these lengthy, unfocused posts are appropriate anywhere else. Blogger is perfect for me because it's simple, doesn't have ads, and doesn't tempt me to do more than I want to do. I sure hope Google doesn't do away with it like it did G-chat and Google groups. Most of the platforms now seem hyper-focused on business blogs, so we shall see what happens; I could always write out my opinions longhand and stash them in my sock drawer.

I am sure you are wondering where I find it appropriate to post political opinions. How about nowhere at all? Wouldn't that be great?! Imagine going onto your social media of choice and not seeing anyone rant about that asshole ever again. No endless links to articles in the "news" that support your position on whatever issue. No massive, nasty "debates" about abortion or guns or the Middle East et cetera that never change anyone's mind. Welp, obviously I'm in fantasyland here, since people seem to feel an endless need to post about this stuff. I am guilty of same, to a lesser degree. I will respond to some of it too, with at least a like if a particular post resonates. But I don't have to add to the vitriol with my own opinions that mirror many others and aren't going to make one whit of difference. When I first arrived on the internet, I sought conflict interaction as a way to spice up my life, but now I assiduously try to avoid it. Swerving around most political stuff helps to keep drama away from me online. If you must post about politics, I think that sites that are geared toward longer essays, such as Medium or Substack, are more appropriate than FB, Insta, or blogs for such opining. Bluesky, like Twitter/X, is full of politics, but the quick memes are less obnoxious and more easily ignored than a FB friend or fellow blogger. That's how I see it anyway.

I am sure my views will evolve more as time goes on. Oh, I forgot TikTok. Yeah, let's forget it, please. I hate that place ~ I have an account, but I almost never log on. Actually, I don't know if you have to "log on." The whole concept of TikTok confuses me, and I think I tried to delete my account once but failed to do so. I told you I watched the first episode of that Mormon Wives ickiness, and it's all based around these swinging wives with hair extensions down to their knees showing off their surgically enhanced bodies in sexy vids. That's what the entire platform is for, I guess ~ to build an audience by "dancing" or prancing around the kitchen in a skimpy outfit cooking for your man in hopes that you'll amass enough followers so some company will pay you to hold their bottle of juice or whatever. Gross. Get a job!

Regarding stuff being public. This blog is public, and while I can't control who reads it, I can control which comments I allow to pass through. That's a bit different from any rando wackadoo commenting on a Bluesky post or popping out of the woodwork to attack me on FB (in a friend's comment thread), which is why I am more careful on both those sites than here. My Insta is set to private, not that I trust settings so much, and I decline all new follower requests from people I don't know. I have no illusions that anything is really private anymore, however, even email, so I proceed accordingly. I do what I can to keep myself safe and sane while still valuing online connections... maybe someday I will decide to go off social media entirely. Could happen. 

Remember, the above is all just my opinion, and you are welcome to your own.