Haven't seen a huge amount of peeps talking abt using twitter or... x *shudders* So I thought My reply might also be helpful to why I still use it :D
Facebook - I quit Facebook around three years ago. It had become a negative environment, and I was connected with over 2,000 "friends" who didn't really matter to me. The constant comparison was detrimental to my mental health.
Instagram - I use instagram as my main art platform my anime art and small business (i seem to get th emost traction on there since it's basically only dedicated to tomoko kuroki lmao). I don't particularly like or dislike the reels function, I just think it's kind of there. A lot of instagram is changing how you post to "optimize algorithmic growth" which usually just means posting an image as a reel instead. I hear a lot of talk about the AI scraping stuff but I'm personally not phased by it, the likelihood of all my art already having been stolen and scraped is so high I think the panic rn is a little odd imo.
TikTok - I can also agree it's addictive, probably also because it's almost entirely a video only format. Video formats at such a quick pace are extremely visually stimulating, and as an autist I can definitely say I've fallen into its trap before
![Drat! Hwow did this happen! :drat:](https://forum.melonland.net/Smileys/ALIEN/facepalm.gif)
I think personally there are 3 reasons why it's so toxic on there. 1. The only way to engage with people is either making a video yourself on commenting
on a video. Unless you use private messages there's almost no other way to voice your opinion on stuff, and since the video tool is so accessible, it easily leads to nasty people causing infighting in communities. 2. Obviously the demographic on there is just... way too young. It reminds me of the animation meme community in the way users try hold moral superiority over others while acting the same. It's like teens fighting in the courtyard, only this time a lot of doxxing and harassment from others gets involed. 3. I think because it's already so bad, it's seen as okay to get worse or stay bad, it's kike the status quo now
![Very Sad!! :sad:](https://forum.melonland.net/Smileys/ALIEN/cry.gif)
I think there's a lot of good to be had on the site, but with the way it is rn I don't really like using it
Twitter - Twitter is a weird site for me. I loath so much about it yet post 10 times a day. It's a place where I can say my thoughts and (thanks to my art and insanity for watamote) have people listen. I can be weird, annoying, or just spam hundreds of screenshots from my favourite manga. It's almost freeing being able to have a space that let's me be a little weird. A lot of people don't like venting publicly (for good reasons) but I also think they don't understand the catharsis of having your issues be seen, yet not having anyone try and intervene (mostly cuz they're thousands of miles away). This isn't to say I vent on there, but it gives me the freedom to talk to people without the weight of social standards or physical human interaction. A lot of artists I like are also on there so I guess the ship is sinking and I'm gonna be on it
Reddit - Reddit I barely use, if I want to look into a niche community, or if I want to find an answer for a very obscure problem someone else solved 8 years ago, then it's perfect. I don't find myself really thinking of going on there at any given time though. It's more just there when I remember.
Tumblr - My Tumblr is enjoyable to use whenever I'm on it, but something about how the site looks just makes me less inclined to use it idk? Nothing in particular just the UI's
vibePinterest - I love looking at pictures on pinterest !! I love saving them in little categories and then going about my day. My phone storage hates all the pins i download and my boyfriend hates me filling his storage by sending them !! No but in all honesty I like pinterest a lot, although again the community seems to skew really young? Unsure why
Other - For other I have 6 !!
- Youtube: I love youtube. I've almost always got a video playing in the background while i work and i love the freedom it allows for anyone to post on their. However i do feel the bar for quality is getting higher and higher making it a lot less accessible
- Sheezy.art: This is one I haven't seen mentioned but i LOVE it. It's based of the original sheezy.net from "back in the day" and has a wonderful small community. The gallery site format it has is something I've missed for so long :( !!! I try and engage with the art and community on there as much as possible (currently at over 1k comments lmao) and I also have a lot of fun using the html page customization !! If you're an artist or art enjoyer I recommend checking it out (although registration slots fill up FAST)
- Furaffinity: I really like the UI of furaffinity but I do mostly use it to look at art more than anything else. Every now and then I'll get a random person giving me $100 for a YCH or commission I've had open for a year with no sales though so that's always nice :) The community is kinda weird (bad weird) and moderation too, but what site doesn't have it's issues.
- Neocities: The community on neocities is really nice. I don't really see it as a "clout competition" or anything, it's more just like chatting with peers about our day or what we wanna do with our sites, it's lovely !! Not much else to say on the social aspect, although i could probably implement a guest book to get a little more interaction
- Melonland (you are here!!): I love this place so far. I love the UI i love the people i love the customization, i love everything !!! i can't wait to engage more here ^_^ (obviously don't have too much to say considering i joined yesterday lol)
- Some other stragglers like fediverses, bluesky, etc: I mostly just have these for more niche stuff or in case another site just like... dies
I'm a bit of a sitehopper in the sense I am always on something, doing something, what that will be will vary site to site ofcourse. I love hearing how others use sites though. The ecosystems and subcommunities that form within social websites feels like something that should be studied more than it is (maybe I'll be the first
![I am seeing things! :eyes:](https://forum.melonland.net/Smileys/ALIEN/eyes.gif)
)
Kind regards, Atari @743.84