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.
> 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: each sentence written must be true. Grok ranking people's posts based on truth will be interesting.
I don't know where they went. The devs I personally know who left the platform didn't go anywhere. They just stopped using services along those lines entirely. They're an older group, though. That might matter.
> Where do you go for casual interactions with a broader range of tech-ish folk across disciplines?
My own blog, and then having conversations with people through e-mail (strangely enough). I feel that if I just am on my own platform, nobody is going to rug-pull me in a few years to come, contributing online to social media has left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't care for the other platforms either.
I follow plenty of technical accounts on Mastodon, a lot more gamedev accounts on Bluesky (which is where most of the Twitter diaspora ended up I think.) Discovery can be a bit awkward on Mastodon (it seems easier on Bluesky.)
Of all the social media platforms I use, X is the easiest to shape into what I want. Use muted words, unfollow and mute engagement farmers, and follow small high quality accounts. If you’re still seeing gas station fights, your feed needs further curating.
when u think about, all platforms are just words and pics. no place is better or worse than another. it’s just what you make of it. even the whole idea of “somewhere” is silly on an e-reader/phone screen.
I went to threads. I'm not anti-twitter, I just stopped getting engagement from real people. I knew many hundreds of real people who follow me, and I know they're active on twitter, but I just stopped appearing in their feeds.
I still use it. But frequent algorithm changes is making me lose the motivation to post. No engagement. It's become full of AI slop rage and engagement baiting.
A lot of noise only works if you have a huge audience.
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
> 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: each sentence written must be true. Grok ranking people's posts based on truth will be interesting.
Grok ranking based on truth or what Elon wants you to believe? ;)
you don’t talk to nice pretty girls on there?
I don't know where they went. The devs I personally know who left the platform didn't go anywhere. They just stopped using services along those lines entirely. They're an older group, though. That might matter.
> Where do you go for casual interactions with a broader range of tech-ish folk across disciplines?
I go here.
My own blog, and then having conversations with people through e-mail (strangely enough). I feel that if I just am on my own platform, nobody is going to rug-pull me in a few years to come, contributing online to social media has left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't care for the other platforms either.
I follow plenty of technical accounts on Mastodon, a lot more gamedev accounts on Bluesky (which is where most of the Twitter diaspora ended up I think.) Discovery can be a bit awkward on Mastodon (it seems easier on Bluesky.)
Of all the social media platforms I use, X is the easiest to shape into what I want. Use muted words, unfollow and mute engagement farmers, and follow small high quality accounts. If you’re still seeing gas station fights, your feed needs further curating.
Somewhere less loathesome.
when u think about, all platforms are just words and pics. no place is better or worse than another. it’s just what you make of it. even the whole idea of “somewhere” is silly on an e-reader/phone screen.
Hard disagree. That's like saying no books are better or worse than others because they're just made up of words.
The people, the moderators, the customizability, the owners, and the userbase play heavily into the quality of a "platform."
I went to threads. I'm not anti-twitter, I just stopped getting engagement from real people. I knew many hundreds of real people who follow me, and I know they're active on twitter, but I just stopped appearing in their feeds.
I still use it. But frequent algorithm changes is making me lose the motivation to post. No engagement. It's become full of AI slop rage and engagement baiting.
A lot of noise only works if you have a huge audience.