What social media do you use?

[sam]

Prompted by the lamest ever notification:



Fine. I celebrated.
https://twitter.com/jollygoodthen/status/1757606056270668167
(Archived if you can't see tweets or don't want to give X clicks!)

[sam]

I'll raise my hand for all those except TikTok, though I Instagrammed so little it barely counts. FaceBook is my least favourite.

So far no admissions of Twitter. Mostly I find myself there after slipping through some link or another. There was a time I quite enjoyed seeing how much I could stuff into a tweet, and even after the allowable character count doubled (more if you go premium, but I'll never pay Elon a dime), I still regard that as a worthy challenge.

Fitzgerald said the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. In James Murray we're clearly dealing with high level brainpower. Then again I've never watched him tie his shoes.

= FAIL. I could've made that 'shoelaces' and hit 280 on the nose.

It's a fun way to to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and sometimes, deathdays. I also love that it can be like having an old-fashioned pen pal, allowing you to stay in touch with peeps from around the world, like this delightful Mexican scientist.

At the end of the day it's just another tool in the toolbox, and only as good, or bad, as you make it.


Twits & Awards


PS. Forgot YouTube in my social media roundup, but it's not really the same as the others.

PPS. The Unfriending.

[SpaceBadger]

It’s difficult to cover all, but Mastodon is a more notable omission from the list. The home of many former Twitter folk abandoning that cesspit.

[sam]

Added.

Anything else can be an 'Other', theoretically encouraging thread participation.

[SpaceBadger]

 

I didn’t think the list could be amended and had already voted as ‘other’. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

[sam]

Starting general than going specific made it a bit more complex.

Unfortunately the editing capability doesn't include the tickbox for allowing users to change their vote that appears when starting a poll; nor for me to change the number of options one can vote for.

I only ticked 'Blog' so I could see the results, and because that's primarily what I consider myself to be.* We're an endangered species.

It’s a form of discipline that complements yet more ambitious writing projects. It lubricates whereas Twitter too often dissipates.

*"Help I'm a blog!", sung to the tune of this song, is now going through my head.

[citoyen]

I didn’t tick blog but I’ve just remembered that last year I became a regular contributor (twice a month) to a crossword blog. Yes, really.

I finally ditched Twitter (eta: for the same reason RZ mentions in the following post) several months ago. Don’t miss it.

I’m on Bluesky which feels like Twitter was in the early days, ie quiet.

Haven’t got on to Mastodon yet.

Tried TikTok but soon realised it’s not for the likes of me.

Still on Facebook but find it increasingly unusable.

Still on Instagram but post infrequently.

[rogerzilla]

Facebook got far too creepy with its weird emails and the feed was full of useless sponsored shite.  Twitter got junked because Musk let all the psychos back in.

The trouble is that these are the only places some stuff exists now.  The Moulton bikes group on FB was good; the forum on the club website is barely used.

[ravenbait]

The thing I hate most about writing stuff one hopes someone else will buy is the requirement to have some sort of social media presence. I'm on Bluesky, which is pish, but has a lot of writer folk on there, and Mastodon, which I much prefer. I'm still on feckbook because that's where people I care about hang out, but I've abandoned most other social media.

Sam

[T42]

I'm still on feckbook because that's where people I care about hang out, but I've abandoned most other social media.

Sam

That's why I'm still there.  There's a filter add-on called Facebook Purity that keeps most of the sodaboutery out, and even allows filtering by text, e.g. I block anything containing "Suggested for you", "Zemmour", etc.

[Basil]

I have retained my twitter account because there are people that I enjoy still there.  I am completely inactive there.
I've never had a FaceAche account.
I have an Instagram account as some of the pubs and businesses around here use it.  Again, I am completely inactive.
I like Mastodon and occasionally post inconsequential stuff.  As I voted before it appeared as an option, that vote went to 'other'.
NextDoor is completely pants, but I pop into it to enjoy seeing what utter idiots live amongst us.  It is sometimes useful for getting rid of junk.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

I do have formerly-known-as-Twitter and Facebook accounts but never use them.  I might view content on the former if given a link but I never take it further.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Threads is missing from the list.

I'm finding some informative content on there.

[citoyen]

Re the 'forum' option - I am obviously still active on yacf, but there's also another non-cycling forum where I'm occasionally active.

NextDoor is completely pants, but I pop into it to enjoy seeing what utter idiots live amongst us.  It is sometimes useful for getting rid of junk.

I think I got rid of my NextDoor account - certainly haven't looked at it for ages. It did provide some very amusing insights into the mindsets of my neighbours. Still my favourite is the time someone posted a picture of a caterpillar in their garden and asked 'Is this a baby snake?'

[L CC]

Re the 'forum' option - I am obviously still active on yacf, but there's also another non-cycling forum where I'm occasionally active.

NextDoor is completely pants, but I pop into it to enjoy seeing what utter idiots live amongst us.  It is sometimes useful for getting rid of junk.

I think I got rid of my NextDoor account - certainly haven't looked at it for ages. It did provide some very amusing insights into the mindsets of my neighbours. Still my favourite is the time someone posted a picture of a caterpillar in their garden and asked 'Is this a baby snake?'

Reminds me of the infamous occasion in the "Guisborough News And Views" Facebook group where someone asked why all the trees in Guisborough Woods were turning brown. In the Autumn.

Facebook is where I share the irregular series "Bridge of the Day" and Insta is where I stalk my daughters weightlifting prowess.
I haven't used twitter for a decade. I can't be arsed with Mastadon/bluesky/threads. Never tried NextDoor on the basis I couldn't deal with the illiteracy. I don't join the local FB groups- Mr Smith does that so I don't have to.

Facebook is the site my Virtual bike Club use, and my activity there is directly related to how active I am within that group. I'd move "Bridge of the day" to Instagram except I know there are many more people on facebook who appear to be entertained by it than follow me on Instagram.

I often wonder what these things are really for, in a slightly philosophical way.
Most people, myself included, really aren't that interesting. Why do we spend so much time on their virtual output?

ETA: I also have reddit and discord accounts for various niche interests.

[Kim]

I abandoned Twitter after they killed off the API my client was using (shortly before it became a de-facto nazi bar).  Usenet's pining for the fjords.  I'm active on YACF, and inactive on a couple of other forums (there's only so much going-to-a-website-to-see-what's-new I can be bothered with).  I don't think I'm on any 'social' mailing lists any more.  Active on Sharkey^[1], because the Fediverse is the closest thing to the early-2000s internet (before all the idiots got iPhones and people realised there was money to be made from getting them to argue with each other), and while it skews heavily to techies, hippies and furries, it scores highly on random art/maker projects, and not being a LGBT-phobic hatefest.

Never had anything to do with Facebook, because it started off as Bullies Reunited and deteriorated from there.  WhatsApp and Instagram count as Facebook for refusenik purposes.  As a Kim^[2] I'm technically supposed to monitor Nextdoor for details of lost pets, but I can't stand the spelling.  I also avoid Discord, in spite of the alarming trend for open-source projects to use it instead of writing any documentation whatsoever.

Still using IRC on a daily basis, and lurk on the libera.chat #YACF channel that woollypigs created.

Does Strava count?  I quite like seeing what people have been up to, and random cat pictures always get kudos.


_{[1] 'Mastodon' to a first-order approximation, for those who don't care about the technical details.
[2] Opposite of 'Karen', apparently.}

[Ian H]

I'm on FB because I'm admin for the AUK group and some other smaller groups.  Plus a few others including Instagram and Xwitter, though to no great porpoise.

[sam]

Does Strava count?

A recent Velosolo Club ride broke club rules after turning {shudder} social when one became two. As we parted ways, the possibility of keeping in touch was broached.

"Are you on Strava?" he asked. 

No, my KOMs are entirely unofficial. Regular old phone number exchange to the rescue.

WhatsApp and Instagram count as Facebook for refusenik purposes.

Agreed.

I signed up to WhatsApp when it became sister #2's preferred method of communication. It is currently being used primarily as a channel to showcase her first grandchild.

[ian]

Not much these days. I used to enjoy Twitter for cat pictures and stupid jokes, these days I've little interest in whatever the war du jour is. I tried Masterdon and discovered it was where all the boring people from Twitter went. Threads and BlueSky, I wouldn't know where to start, but then I'm unlikely to look.


I glance at the occasional link to Instagram and there's a local FB group I belong to, but Dear Finestre, the Demon of Such Things, is FB an awful user experience.


I'm on several WhatsApp groups, friends, colleagues old and new, etc.


Mostly on the internet, I read edited content written by grown-ups who can manage to write several hundred words. As someone sager than me once said, read books not Tweets. I've even started paying for stuff because it turns out that you do often get what you pay for.

[Kim]

On which note, long-form blogging (or as we used to call it: websites) never really stopped, and the death of RSS is something that got made up when they realised they couldn't monetise it.

[rogerzilla]

Personal webshites (as opposed to blogs) are quite rare now, because ISPs stopped giving you free web space and FTP facilities.  I suppose they were worried about being sued if someone set up a shrine to Hitler, or created their own gilf gallery.

[Graeme]

Could those on Bluesky share their handles so I can follow you? Or the other way round if you'd rather... I'm @fatherhilarious.blog . I like the way BlueSky feels like early twitter, I'm connecting with a whole new group, mainly around 35mm photography. There's some wonderful photos being shared. Also: LukeLukeLuke who simply recommends great mushroom pictures. It's quiet, it doesn't demand my attention and it feels like a nice place to read things, share things, and generally *like* stuff. #BelieveInFilm and #FilmIsNotDead even though hashtags don't work.

I left twitter after it was made public that Musk was financially incentivising hatred. Platforms are of no value without content and I don't see that I've got anything important enough to be said that I want to fund racists and mysogenists to say it.

I only keep Facebook because of the local groups and my public role, and I regularly delete my posts older than a month or so. Basically I keep no history there.

I've cut Instagram down to nine images. I like sharing pictures but have no desire to keep hundreds of images unlooked at.

I've lurked and occasionally posted here: the home of araldite, and smutty cycling. There's a comfort to the familiar voices and conversation.

Blogging: I really enjoy doing that and pay for my own website so that I'm not generating revenue for random advertisers that Google thinks appropriate to stick in the middle of my writing. My blog is a one way process. No comment, conversation or even the ability to *like* posts.

I think between Bluesky, yacf, and my blog I get a nice mix of interaction and creative freedom. I haven't grown bored of the internet yet, but if AI regurgitated meaninglessness begins to overwhelm the internet, if the internet eats itself, then I'll leave the places other than yacf and my home.

I'm enjoying reading everyone else's experiences in this conversation. Thanks.
 

[Kim]

Personal webshites (as opposed to blogs) are quite rare now, because ISPs stopped giving you free web space and FTP facilities.  I suppose they were worried about being sued if someone set up a shrine to Hitler, or created their own gilf gallery.

Or having to tech support FTP...

[Feanor]

FB initially because my cycling club organised stuffs there.
But then I began to post occasional stuffs about skiing, cycling, running and cooking, much the same as I do here.

Strava. Because I use it, I will often write up some shit about a ride.

And I do pop up on multi-user-notepad (IRC) from time to time.

[sam]

From the medium is the message dept., and speaking of blogging, Medium.com was one of the better ideas, I thought. Not a great fan of it anymore, for various reasons (and I'm not alone; Substack took over from Medium's failings).

• Bookshelved
• Media Studies
• The Last Folly