How do you use social media?

[grovyle]

Reinterventions and reminders to not get lost/not doomscroll can be enabled too.

Exactly what I'm looking for, thank you!!! I had trouble trying to explain it in english, completely forgot about the term doomscroll haha

[Ninaiso]

Oooo hecc yeah interesting topic!! I have a bit of a complicated relationship with social media. At least when using the definition to mean things like Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook etc etc... Personally, I like to think all of the internet is some form of social media, including forums and chatrooms. I mean, we're socializing and exchanging media/information! But that's a semantics tangent.

For social media as we're classifying it here, I actually loved it quite a bit growing up! I grew up extremely isolated in a rural area, with pretty much no peers except my siblings as I was homeschooled. I started on sites like Quizilla and TONFA, though most of my online years were on deviantart. I just loved hanging out with people, and doing that on sites like deviantart, Gaia Online, pet sites, tumblr, you get the point.

But as time went on and it got bigger and more money focused, more spaces just... Became more hateful and toxic. Yes yes we had final fantasy house and the entirety of [auto redacted] I get it, it was toxic in the past too. BUT! I didn't see that crap. You ABSOLUTELY could curate your space SO much more effectively. The internet being "smaller" was definitely a big part of that imo. My online experience in the past was MUCH more pleasant guaranteed.

So I think it's not so much that I hate social media or want to abandon it, it's more like... I'm honestly kind of in the same boat as shevek. What I like and want out of social media is just not being fulfilled as it changes. I attempt to curate my space, but it keeps popping up somehow. It genuinely felt like a cultural shift to me.

So, honestly most of my social medias are barley active nowadays. I spend most of my online time on discord and forums fostering that sense of community and connection I love! Though I'm open to/fine with using social media if it can be a pleasant space to socialize with like-minded people.

Okay wall of text ramble over! Hopefully I answered the topic.

[creaturefeature]

i`ve experimented with a number of social media over the years, and so far the only ones that i´ve stuck to is like tumblr, discord and recently maybe mastodon/the federated web.

The others I'm not really as active there as I once was, they only serve to either just post my work and log off, or look up fanart or something.
Facebook, its pretty much dead to me? Instagram? terrible algorithm that is not worth the effort to post creative stuff, twitter? its on its way out, reddit? its was useful for resources and even then I was more of a lurker then a poster, and now again its on its way out due to recent events.

I´ve been trying to use it socmed less, and have started to use RSS for the first time ever, but it still slowly adding stuff I want to my fedd so it will take a while.

[wygolvillage]

RSS is really nice. I imagine if/when I stop using social media as much I'll still follow some friends or artists via feeds... Being able to conveniently get notified when podcasts, blogs, sites, etc. update is so convenient too. Because of the extra steps needed to build up my feed from scratch it's a lot more curated too rather than an all-encompassing Content Churn to endlessly scroll through 

[shevek]

I was really conflicted for months now if I wanna try Cohost or not, and now because of the forum suggestion it's come up for me again; technically, there is no harm in just trying it out or letting it sit there for a while, but I was also scared of getting caught up in feeds again.

To me, there undeniably is this air of superiority around being, to a degree and depending on definition, "social media free"? It's ridiculous and totally made up and akin to fake internet points, but in my opinion, it exists. Being nowhere at all aside from your own site, some services with low or no social aspects, and a forum is seen as the most sane and ethical thing to do, and you get the moral highground for not being on the privacy-scandal, brainwashing, dopamine overloading apps causing drama and depression like most people. Being on other services away from the big socials, like on the fediverse, or things like spacehey and cohost is seen as the lesser evil but still evil, I get the impression. Like it's better than the big ones, but you're still somewhat a weakling for wanting to be there and collect validation in terms of likes and followers?
I would love to hear if this is also your impression or not.

Related, I also feel like with smaller, better initiatives and options comes a pressure to support it because you're scared otherwise it's gonna go down and the people go back to the worse stuff. That's also weird, because obviously its success doesn't hinge on you as a single person using it! But in my case, I still worry, and you wanna show that small group of people, or this minority, or that organization fighting against giants that their stuff is good, and the best way to do that is to engage with it, sign up, donate, whatever. And social media sites need to be populated and generate posts, else they die out and everyone leaves.

Anyway I did sign up and make a profile now, but admittedly, I feel dirty about it like I've somehow ruined the purity and moral highground! Totally ridiculous. Anyone else familiar with this type of thinking? How do you feel nowadays, with these certain stances and views in the web revival community, signing up for new socials or still staying on some that are frowned upon?

Edit: I thought this would still fit well within the "how you use social media" umbrella, but if not let me know and I'll split it off

[Ninaiso]

Ooooo shevek good post!

To me, there undeniably is this air of superiority around being, to a degree and depending on definition, "social media free"? It's ridiculous and totally made up and akin to fake internet points, but in my opinion, it exists. Being nowhere at all aside from your own site, some services with low or no social aspects, and a forum is seen as the most sane and ethical thing to do, and you get the moral highground for not being on the privacy-scandal, brainwashing, dopamine overloading apps causing drama and depression like most people. Being on other services away from the big socials, like on the fediverse, or things like spacehey and cohost is seen as the lesser evil but still evil, I get the impression. Like it's better than the big ones, but you're still somewhat a weakling for wanting to be there and collect validation in terms of likes and followers?
I would love to hear if this is also your impression or not.

So, yes I do feel this is true in a number of spaces, but... I don't give a crap!

Lol on a more serious note, I personally don't believe this is a healthy or helpful way to believe either. I wasn't participating in some "be social media free" movement, it was genuinely that social media I was using just became miserable to be on. (I also still on very rare occasion repost cool stuff I like on those social medias!) But due to a few of the first non social media spaces I went to preaching what you described, I kinda thought my leaving was to make some statement or be apart of some movement. Yet as I reflected on that, I realized it was more these beliefs were echoing my already there frustrations with social media so I lead to believe that's what I was doing. The privacy issues, the outrage culture, the misinformation; all of that are all things I've hated on social media. Seeing all of the misery was just genuinely draining and not good for me.

So when it consumed platforms I was on, I just left to look for those spaces that could give me kind and genuine discussions in good faith; as well as real connections! If I'm finding stuff like that on Mastodon or cohost, cool! Honestly, if I'm able to find those spaces I'll be apart of them whether they're social media or not! Human lives are fleeting, so my "greater good" is to find and give as much joy as possible! And I feel like preaching do not "social media" because "it bad" can do more harm than good in isolating people and creating more performative activist ego-filled toxic spaces we need to evolve from. It is much more helpful to discuss core issues and figure out what ways we can make effective change with what each of us have access to.

Related, I also feel like with smaller, better initiatives and options comes a pressure to support it because you're scared otherwise it's gonna go down and the people go back to the worse stuff. That's also weird, because obviously its success doesn't hinge on you as a single person using it! But in my case, I still worry, and you wanna show that small group of people, or this minority, or that organization fighting against giants that their stuff is good, and the best way to do that is to engage with it, sign up, donate, whatever. And social media sites need to be populated and generate posts, else they die out and everyone leaves.

I very much feel this!! And I don't think it's a completely bad thing! Of course, no one should stress themselves out to the point of unhappiness, but I do think it's worth supporting spaces that can carve a better internet.

Anyway I did sign up and make a profile now, but admittedly, I feel dirty about it like I've somehow ruined the purity and moral highground! Totally ridiculous. Anyone else familiar with this type of thinking? How do you feel nowadays, with these certain stances and views in the web revival community, signing up for new socials or still staying on some that are frowned upon?

I feel fine! Making connections and then coming together with those connections to discuss and make change in the world however we can works for me!

[shevek]

I went to preaching what you described, I kinda thought my leaving was to make some statement or be apart of some movement. Yet as I reflected on that, I realized it was more these beliefs were echoing my already there frustrations with social media so I lead to believe that's what I was doing. The privacy issues, the outrage culture, the misinformation; all of that are all things I've hated on social media. Seeing all of the misery was just genuinely draining and not good for me.

So when it consumed platforms I was on, I just left to look for those spaces that could give me kind and genuine discussions in good faith; as well as real connections! If I'm finding stuff like that on Mastodon or cohost, cool! Honestly, if I'm able to find those spaces I'll be apart of them whether they're social media or not! Human lives are fleeting, so my "greater good" is to find and give as much joy as possible! And I feel like preaching do not "social media" because "it bad" can do more harm than good in isolating people and creating more performative activist ego-filled toxic spaces we need to evolve from. It is much more helpful to discuss core issues and figure out what ways we can make effective change with what each of us have access to.

That is so true and a really helpful response from you, thank you. Sometimes it is worth remembering that while a lot of social media sites have turned bad, they didn't have to, they weren't necessarily destined to be (from the beginning, at least). It could have turned out differently and we can learn from it and make a change, demand change, create or host or support platforms that are this change. Now we have seen what route not to take, it may make it easier to hold a new generation of social media sites more accountable and see the signs earlier. It is already helpful that many of them (sadly, not all) are not just built on VC funding.

It may be worth working out what type of social media works for society, what works for ourselves specifically, and judge from that instead of blanket banning it all. I do have some baggage in regards to the latter

[Ninaiso]

That is so true and a really helpful response from you, thank you. Sometimes it is worth remembering that while a lot of social media sites have turned bad, they didn't have to, they weren't necessarily destined to be (from the beginning, at least). It could have turned out differently and we can learn from it and make a change, demand change, create or host or support platforms that are this change. Now we have seen what route not to take, it may make it easier to hold a new generation of social media sites more accountable and see the signs earlier. It is already helpful that many of them (sadly, not all) are not just built on VC funding.

Yes!!! Absolutely!! All of these words are so true and inspiring!!!!

It may be worth working out what type of social media works for society, what works for ourselves specifically, and judge from that instead of blanket banning it all. I do have some baggage in regards to the latter

Trust me, I STILL struggle with this baggage myself, especially when I peek in at places and see it's even more of a burning pit than when last was there. XD
But!! I believe we can do it! It just takes time!

I think we're already on the right track, so here's to helping ourselves and others get there too!

[starbreaker]

Being pretty new to the web revival scene, something that I struggle very much with is the part of me that feels the need to use social media vs the part of me that misses the old internet. I miss choosing when to engage with the internet when smartphones weren't much of a thing, but I also have become pretty reliant on social media for other stuff.

I built my first websites on The Globe in 1996 ("Angel of Metal" and "The Vampire Connection") and used to hang out on Excite's forums, so I remember when AOL was the Big Bad Walled Garden. I spent a lot of time on Google+ when it was actually kinda cool if you were a writer, artist, musician, or techie (but a ghost town if you were a marketer). I had actually gotten a small-press book deal on the basis of sharing my work on Ghost Town, and my first book sold well enough to complicate my tax returns for a couple of years.

Of course, I was also on Twitter and Facebook for a couple of years, trying to promote my work while writing another novel. That didn't work out so well; I burned out and my second book bombed.

The closest thing I have to a social media presence nowadays is an account on libranet.de, which runs Friendica. (I also have a Discord account that I use exclusively with my free company in Final Fantasy XIV.) Since Friendica speaks ActivityPub I can communicate with most of the Fediverse (barring servers the admin boycotts for various reasons). I mainly use my Friendica account to particupate in #WritingWonders challenges and to syndicate posts from my website.

What I'll do is write up a month's worth of posts for #WritingWonders for my website, and then schedule a post with each day's prompt. If people interact with me I'll reply. Otherwise, I'm trying not to post anything original on the Fediverse.

And I actually wrote a rant today about syndicating with other social platforms/content farms like Twitter, Threads, Bluesky, Medium, Reddit, Substack, etc. If you've seen GoodFellas you probably know the tl;dr, but my website's material is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, I regard sharing my stuff on commercial social media as a non-consensual commercial use of my work, and if a commercial platform wants to share my work then I think it should negotiate a commercial license, pay me, and then pull my site's RSS feed (or pay me consultant's rates to make sure their silo can handle RSS and Atom).

I've come to think that we never needed "social media" in the first place. Your website should be your profile. Your blog and RSS feed should be your timeline. If you want to follow other people, pull their RSS feeds. If you want to chat with people, use email. But maybe I'm being a bit elitist, so I try not to make my preference a prescription others must follow. If somebody wants to talk to me on the Fediverse, for example, I won't insist that they email me instead.

But if somebody outside my FC DMs me on Discord they get blocked. I'd rather not have a Discord at all, but FFXIV doesn't have voice chat and it's sometimes useful when coordinating tactics in raids.

[zanarkand]

i consider myself pretty anti-social media, by which i mean i personally despise twitter, instagram, tiktok, etc. i had a really unhealthy relationship with social media throughout my 20's so it has been much better for me now that i'm not on anything but tumblr. i feel like i've curated my tumblr experience to the point that i rarely if ever see something that bothers or upsets me, and if i do i can just block and move on and the filtering system works pretty well because there's a good culture of tagging on tumblr.

as for other social media, these are my experiences:

• twitter: used to be a really regular twitter user, but it was probably the worst possible thing for my mental health. i used to be wayyy too public on twitter and posted a lot of unhinged personal thoughts that would have been better kept for my therapist. also, i would just constantly see the worst things possible being said and intense arguments and it just wasn't good for me. i left right before the big purchase and i felt like i sold my ticket to the titanic XD
• instagram: maybe tied for the worst thing ever for my brain. i was super insecure and obsessed with validation while i was on this app, which is sad because i remember when it first started it was really fun and creative and a good way to stay in touch with people and find local events. i technically still have an instagram but it's totally blank and i only use it if it's the only way to look up a local event or group.
• tiktok: i downloaded it once to see what all the fuss was and immediately deleted it. my brain just doesn't like all those super short fast videos and i really dislike all the "sounds" and trends. it's also just a really young and thin app which isn't good for my self image. if there's anything exceptionally good, it'll eventually make its way off tiktok and i'll see it at some point 
• facebook: had facebook from high school through college, then of course it kinda died out and i only know like my mom and my friends parents that use it.

[dirtnap]

i don't.

i have...complicated...feelings on whether or not social media is inherently harmful, or exploitative, or whatever, but i don't think anyone is a bad person or making wrong choices because they use it.

my non-use of social media is not moral but preference. by sheer coincidence, it does nothing for me. i am immune to whatever makes it addictive for others. presumably, because i'm asocial, though it's probably more complex than that.

i did used to use livejournal, and i think nowadays blogs are automatically considered social media. i disagree. i think a certain kind of blog, the oldstyle longform blogs, weren't (and still aren't, where they exist) social media.

i view social media as a service where a human's need for social interaction is commodified by the site itself. that doesn't happen on longform blogs or forums.

discord therefore counting as social media, i think, depends on how you use it. if you're just using it the way you would use any other instant messenger, it's an instant messenger. though, honestly, discord's aggressive enshittification is making me less willing to use it even as that.

to me, it's weird to see reddit or youtube called social media, because reddit can be used in a way that mirrors the old usage of forums, and if all you do on youtube is watch videos, then to you, youtube isn't social media, it's a video host.

so to answer OP:

tumblr: joined very early on, used it sporadically across a handful of accounts and sideblogs and such. never quite got into it because i was trying to use it as a livejournal/forum experience and everyone else was trying to use it as tumblr. also was very slow to adopt memespeak or tumblinguistics (i used to be a linguistic prescriptivist. i got better.) and was generally rather resistant at first to a lot of things that i now accept and embrace as being key to tumblr culture and internet culture as a whole. eventually came to use it a lot for very specific fandoms that were focused almost entirely on tumblr until other factors drove me away.

tumblr is significant to me personally as a site i used to be on because of all the fandoms and cultures i've been a part of (or at least bore direct witness to), and because it allowed me to discover a lot of things that are still important to me. tumblr definitely introduced me to some big and lifechanging things, but tumblr itself can't be blamed for that: i'd have found them one way or another regardless.

also, neither otherkin nor fictionkin started on tumblr: both predate the site by decades.

twitter: never appealed. i didn't, and still don't, understand the appeal of the character limit around which the site was founded. considering that everyone just makes multiple consecutive tweets anyway, it seems like most of twitter's users also don't actually like the character limit.

any other social media: never used it, probably don't fully understand what it's supposed to be or why it's useful.

[Tommie ΘΔ]

Im an artist, so I think its pretty self-explanatory how I use my socials! Usually, I just post art, but on Tumblr ill update about my life and just post whatever I feel like. I used twitter for about a year and I got some good traction on there, but I decided to leave because I felt that I had become addicted to the app. 

I post fandom-related art content on my main Instagram and Tumblr accs, and I post personal art on my personal Insta and Tumblr. I say "personally" but in all honesty, the accounts are open to anyone who cares enough about my art to interact. Social media can be rad!! But i really think your experience is curated based on how you interact with the apps and the people on them.

While I like socials for art posting, I much prefer niche forums for opinion posting and whatnot.

[andou]

i'm a full time freelance illustrator and streamer on twitch, so social media is a crucial part of my job. as much as i would love for clients to flock to me without the use of social media, it just really isn't possible to make income without it. i have a bit of a following on twitter at this point, and utilizing it is important if i want to make enough money for bills. if anyone has figured out a way to get commission clients without social media, please share your knowledge LOL

getting involved with the web revival scene was me desperately trying to reclaim any sort of joy i feel for being online. luckily, it's REALLY helped. i love messing with my website on neocities, and participating in these forums has been enriching for me in a way social media cannot provide for me at this point.

essentially, social media is for work, neocities and melonland forums are for play!

[MrsMoe]

I mostly use social media just to find cool art and share it. I'm not super obsessed with sharing every single detail of my life and I think my relationship with it is relatively healthier for that reason. I'll make small jokes about stuff that's happened to me irl and the occasional vent post, but that's about it.

Honestly, I think that's the one thing that makes me nervous about returning to a forum-based internet. I might be wrong, but I'm worried artists' work won't have as much traction and widespread reach as it did before.

[owlhari]

the only social media we're super active on anymore is tumblr and mastodon/fedi. we've been on tumblr for years, and although we've taken breaks before, it's the one place we've been able to stick with. don't really have the brainpower to write an analysis on why at the moment, but it's probably a mixture of the vibe and also the lack of corporate/celebrity accounts for the most part.

we have a mastodon account basically only to have a semi-professional place to post art that we think is portfolio-worthy. all our quicker fanarts and doodles get posted to our tumblr, but the majority of the stuff on mastodon is just finished pieces. still haven't gotten a commission from fedi yet, but maybe one day.

we used to have an art instagram (two, in fact. if you know what ponygram is... yeah.) but eventually we realized how badly it was affecting our mental health. we'd get caught up in the algorithm of the explore feed and were obsessed with checking how many likes our posts got. and because they never got very many, it felt soul-crushing every time we checked our notifications.

we technically still have a personal instagram for friends, even though we haven't posted in years. we try not to use it, and at this point if someone asks we just say we don't have one. every time we open the app we get trapped in the explore feed, which endlessly serves up posts that make us angry or upset, and that's never good. we're very close to deleting or hiding the app in some extremely inconvenient way so we won't be tempted unless we genuinely want to message our high school friends or something (very unlikely)

overall, we use social media for sharing art. if we weren't an artist, we probably wouldn't be on any social media at all. maybe we'd have a tumblr for all the funny text posts, but that'd be it.