Social Media in an Anti-Social World
Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2025 7:11 pm
I write a lot about social media, a lot about how Bluesky is screwing up because they're opening the gates to bad actors, or they're not really decentralized in a sense that anyone can just prop up a server. Or, how Reddit is aggressively pushing their AI upon users via advertisements on their own platform, or how Meta's AI has gone rogue and is deleting tons of Instagram accounts. But, I see people asking in different communities, how to "get more reactions" to what they post.
So, I want to break this down, because Twitter kind of ruined people's perception and expectations in regard to what social media is, and is supposed to be. I don't particularly want to say, "Twitter transformed millions of people into narcissists." But, the whole entire issue does stem from an embedded kind of selfishness. A view of the social internet wherein a person just cannot see past their own nose.
I've written before about how influencers are a parasitic presence on social media, in that they take, take, take, and give nothing back. That's the mindset we have to fight against here, as we rebuild the internet away from the oligarch-infested corporate internet.
It's important as a person to realize that when you're on Bluesky, or Pillowfort, or Mastodon, or any other such platform that's relatively new, or not entirely enshittified, it's important that you recognize that you are not a monolith. In the eyes of everyone else posting, you may not even exist to them. You are not owed "engagement" or "reactions" just by virtue of posting something.
Sure, people might see things you're posting, and hey, someone might hit like or fave every once in a while, but if you do nothing, you don't interact with others, you don't follow anyone, or, in the reverse, if you follow as many people as possible and your entire feed is just you ... people kind of get the hint that you're not actually interested in being social. You're just using the input box as an ego-stroker.
And, I can't stress this enough, this is the most annoying online persona one can have (outside of being a nazi).
Maybe you'd be like, "But Nova, you don't interact with people all that much!" Which brings me to yet another point: You don't have to interact with people. Some of us don't have the mental energy to be constantly speaking to strangers, or making conversation. That's fine. That's how I am. Sometimes I do just want to post and forget. Post what I'm doing, what I'm making, and fall asleep. Maybe follow someone back, fave their comment, give a reply here and there.
But, myself, like some others, I'm pretty low-energy nowadays.
The important thing, is that you don't get all self righteous about it.
"This site is dead! I get no engagement!"
Maybe your content is boring, maybe it's just not interesting, what you have to say. Or, maybe you're using the internet as a diary where you expect to be applauded for every thought you have, like a miniature digital Tom Cruise, with zero quid-pro-quo.
Twitter and the expectations it cultivated, was and were, largely, a mistake. But that doesn't mean you can't fix it. So, if you, the reader, find yourself wondering, "Is this site dead? Why is nobody interacting with ME?" Stop and ask yourself, "Do I post like I'm living in the vacuum of space, or do I interact with others in some way, shape, or form? When I see things that I like, do I re-share those things? Do I like and fave? When somebody takes their own personal time to actually speak to me, do I completely ignore them, or respond in a way that signifies that they aren't wasting finger strength?"
As more and more people flee from the algorithm poisoned corporate thunderdomes, it's my hope that at least one of them find this post and go, "OH! Dang."
Source: https://mkultra.monster/social-media/20 ... g-socials/
So, I want to break this down, because Twitter kind of ruined people's perception and expectations in regard to what social media is, and is supposed to be. I don't particularly want to say, "Twitter transformed millions of people into narcissists." But, the whole entire issue does stem from an embedded kind of selfishness. A view of the social internet wherein a person just cannot see past their own nose.
I've written before about how influencers are a parasitic presence on social media, in that they take, take, take, and give nothing back. That's the mindset we have to fight against here, as we rebuild the internet away from the oligarch-infested corporate internet.
It's important as a person to realize that when you're on Bluesky, or Pillowfort, or Mastodon, or any other such platform that's relatively new, or not entirely enshittified, it's important that you recognize that you are not a monolith. In the eyes of everyone else posting, you may not even exist to them. You are not owed "engagement" or "reactions" just by virtue of posting something.
Sure, people might see things you're posting, and hey, someone might hit like or fave every once in a while, but if you do nothing, you don't interact with others, you don't follow anyone, or, in the reverse, if you follow as many people as possible and your entire feed is just you ... people kind of get the hint that you're not actually interested in being social. You're just using the input box as an ego-stroker.
And, I can't stress this enough, this is the most annoying online persona one can have (outside of being a nazi).
Maybe you'd be like, "But Nova, you don't interact with people all that much!" Which brings me to yet another point: You don't have to interact with people. Some of us don't have the mental energy to be constantly speaking to strangers, or making conversation. That's fine. That's how I am. Sometimes I do just want to post and forget. Post what I'm doing, what I'm making, and fall asleep. Maybe follow someone back, fave their comment, give a reply here and there.
But, myself, like some others, I'm pretty low-energy nowadays.
The important thing, is that you don't get all self righteous about it.
"This site is dead! I get no engagement!"
Maybe your content is boring, maybe it's just not interesting, what you have to say. Or, maybe you're using the internet as a diary where you expect to be applauded for every thought you have, like a miniature digital Tom Cruise, with zero quid-pro-quo.
Twitter and the expectations it cultivated, was and were, largely, a mistake. But that doesn't mean you can't fix it. So, if you, the reader, find yourself wondering, "Is this site dead? Why is nobody interacting with ME?" Stop and ask yourself, "Do I post like I'm living in the vacuum of space, or do I interact with others in some way, shape, or form? When I see things that I like, do I re-share those things? Do I like and fave? When somebody takes their own personal time to actually speak to me, do I completely ignore them, or respond in a way that signifies that they aren't wasting finger strength?"
As more and more people flee from the algorithm poisoned corporate thunderdomes, it's my hope that at least one of them find this post and go, "OH! Dang."
Source: https://mkultra.monster/social-media/20 ... g-socials/