Comment by runjake
3 months ago
I can't speak for others but I just stopped. I still hang out on IRC and in a couple Discords but I mostly scroll through RSS now -- or read books.
I briefly scan X maybe once a week, but its a firehose of brainrot and view farming. My Bluesky feeds seem very politically angry and they talk about Elon more than people do on X. I feel for the anger, given the situation in the US, but it's just not mentally healthy. Mastodon is that, but worst -- share any non-mainstream thought and your replies are full of haters. I follow "famous" tech people and engineers, if it matters.
In many ways, I like it better this way. I'm forced to be bored more, and when I get the urge to check X or something, the mess that it is, curbs that pretty quickly.
Social media is the online content equivalent of sugary breakfast cereal. It's engaging, but toxic for you in just about every possible way, no matter which end of the political spectrum you have chosen. People who are addicted to social media end up with a biased and extreme view of the world, fucked up hormones (dopamine, cortisol, adrenaline, etc), and most egregiously, waste enormous amounts of time that would be better spent curating a hobby or bonding with their friends and family in real life.
I would LOVE to join a social media network that very heavily discourages political content and negative news. Just cool people who like to bond over shared interests and maybe meet up to chat once in awhile. Unfortunately that isn't what sells ads.
talk to some cute art girls on there
I am in the same boat, however I dont go on X at all. I deleted my account last year for good and dont miss it. BlueSky for me is a mix of people who are trying their hardest in my city to make improvements but also creating a very insular community and people who are perpetually upset (maybe rightfully so) at just about everything. I have a mastodon account but never go on it. I basically read books, play call of duty (or something else low stakes and easy to put down), and watch youtube videos of DIY stuff I need to learn so I can fix things around the house.
I deleted Reddit, Instagram, and Bluesky off my phone last weekend (coming up on day 9 I think) and its been nice trying to readjust myself to being bored and not grabbing my phone.
you don’t talk to nice pretty girls on there?
> share any non-mainstream thought and your replies are full of haters
This may be a failure of the platform protocol. I wish the protocol was: [phrase-redacted]. Grok ranking people's posts based on truth will be interesting.
Grok ranking based on truth or what Elon wants you to believe? ;)
Considering much of the vile nonsense Musk spews is verifiably false, there's about a 0% chance that Grok will ever rank posts based on actual truth.