This is a really good thoughtful thread with some excellent ideas in it. I think I had to a certain degree already made this turn myself - I took some time to get around to writing a proper manifesto for my site, and by that time my priorities had already changed from simply dunking on social media to discussing how aesthetic nostalgia does little to help the independent web, and that we should be using our nostalgia for the way the web used to function to inform what we fill our sites with.
But also, many points being made here about how we have to stop being so negative everywhere online - I left twitter shortly before Musk's takeover because I realised it was making me pissed off about stupid tiny things every single day. People have a joke about Jerma getting 'one guyed' where one person in chat will send him off on a rant, but this is like the principle of all current social media. I would regularly get mad because I saw One Tweet from a friend saying they saw someone ELSE say something stupid. What a waste of effort! That must be happening millions of times a minute! But it's definitely difficult to rewire that instinct to fire off a comment or make a ranting post about something you've seen, especially on more shortform discussion platforms. Slower communications like forums are great for that, but I think unfortunately it does mean a lot of us have forgotten what else there is to talk about.
Especially when we are used to the For You model we need to get a lot more okay again with not being showed stuff that is 'for us' all the time - if someones rambling about an interest you may not share there's an urge to be dismissive as it doesn't fall on your list of interests. Perhaps we should actively try to engage with and be more patient with stuff we don't already like a little more often?
This touches an interesting topic I've been reading about: We're not bored enough.
The entire advertising industry is based around attention economy and social media is also based around it: How can we keep people on these sites for as long as possible, so they can be advertised to? Enter: Engagement bait (rage bait, trauma bait, activism bait, etc).
I think letting ourselves be bored and, as you said, actively engage with stuff we don't already like is really healthy.
If I'm being honest, it was difficult to adjust to the novels that people write on forums like this (No offense to anyone!!
) because I've been used to reading others' thoughts via social media. I'd skim a lot of posts and hurry up and get to the end (which is bold, considering how much I type!). I'm much more patient with reading others' thoughts, even if they're trailing on and on, or if it's not particularly interesting to me. I feel like my brain has gotten some more wrinkles !
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