Masturbating their hindbrain to feel something
this post could’ve been a tweet
A while ago I signed into x using a Gmail account. Mostly I was being hasty and careless. Never really used the account even. Forgot about it.
Recently I went and deleted the account, but when I log in, the first thing I see is a ridiculous antisemitic conspiracy theory.
That’s the default algorithm.
I think I understand it just fine.
I post post adult content and I follow other people who do the same. There are some extremely niche fetish communities there that you’ll struggle finding anywhere else. I also like that since it’s not a dedicated porn site there’s a lot of people following and messaging me with their personal profiles and getting thirsty comments from closeted gay conservatives, muslims and even extremists is quite fun.
There are relatively small communities that have network effects there. For example, folks working on AI research are very clearly not welcome on mastodon or bluesky. So conference announcements, new results (and hot takes on them), and funding opportunities are best found there. Used to be a functional subreddit, but the exodus and spam killed that. I assume there are a dozen similar topics.
(Shame that the folks most institutionally able and interested in AI regulation are on the musk propaganda machine. That bothers me. But I get that many people are tired of AI being shoved in their face.)
twitter was great in the late 00s and pre 2016. it was just fun. i met plenty of great people in fandoms (same with david karp era tumblr).
after 2016, social media just started getting mean.
Twitter is mainly mental illness.
I never understood what compels people to post not-showerthoughts to the showerthoughts community.
Specifically to annoy you. Enjoy!
Isn’t any thought that originates under the shower a showerthought?
No.
From this communities sidebar:
A “Showerthought” is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you’re doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
This is borderline rule 3 violation because it’s just baiting people to shit on Twitter/X for political reasons - not that it doesn’t deserve it, but that’s not what this comm is for.
But what if I hated Elon before he was involved in politics?
Probably unpopular opinion: people hate “the algorithm” but you really need one for websites like Twitter; Mastodon feels absolutely dead due to lack of one. Just hashtags aren’t enough, a post looks ridiculous the more you put them.
I wish I didn’t have to use them but Reddit and Twitter are the go to for anything about local news and sports, and I occasionally see some absolutely banging content from people I’m not subscribed from their feeds.
I was the same, until I learned the term microblogging - the point of platforms like twitter is to present yourself to an audience. A tweet is like a small blog article. Of course interaction is desired, but the real point is to follow. It’s a form of self-presentation that is completely alien to me, esp. if it all happens on the same platform, it’s so competitive. Like one million birds just chittering away “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!”
I will cop to loving it when hundreds or thousands of strangers laugh at my jokes or agree with me, so I’m not gonna highroad anyone for seeking that.
The real reasons I have left all microblogging untouched are two things. McLuhan said “the medium is the message”. A medium that rewards brevity to a maximum is not one that thinks people should be talking a lot. It’s not a medium for communication so much as it is a medium for displays. All you get to do is strike a verbal pose on an infinite stage of other attention seekers.
The other reason is that I’m kinda verbose.
The other reason is that I’m kinda verbose.
Some say, “why many words when few work?”
Others express their freedom to choose exactly to what extent of verbosity and verbiage they consider necessary in order to accurately and effectively communicate their previously-unspoken thoughts either through private correspondence or statements to some subset of the general populace.
He words me.” — Hamlet
I’m not highroading anything; that sort of human behavior is just alien to me, which is why I did not get the point, which is what OP was asking about.
The bird comparison should be obvious I hope.
It wasn’t lost on me, I was just agreeing from my own perspective. I wish I could be above it all like you, and that’s not sarcastic. I’m more individualistic and self-contained than almost anyone I know - to the point that it does alienate me somewhat - but I still get a frisson from public speaking, and I still seek approval from the masses online. In Trek terms I think I’d be happier if I was purely Spock, but I’ve got just enough Kirk in me to know what I’m missing.
I wish I could be above it all like you
dafuq?
I have seen you around and I usually like your contributions but you really seem to misinterprete what I said here.
Well thanks, and apologies. It sounded like you were saying that the entire idea of presenting yourself to an audience for social approval is alien to you. Looking back I’m not sure what the takeaway should have been. I’ll go make coffee and try to wake up.
It being alien to me does not mean I am above it.
Ah, that’s the miscue. Haha, that’s too true though. There’s a lot about humanity I just refuse to understand.
Yes, you did. Meh.
It’s quite like reddit, but without threads or subs: just a nearly infinite list of comments made on anything. You only get to see what a comment (tweet) is about when there’s a tag on them or when they are a response to another tweet.
Twitter’s UX was generally better suited for some stuff like live events where you may want to see other people’s comments but only in real time - a 3 minute old tweet in this context is just useless data.
It always seemed like shouting in a room full of people. Any coherent thought instantly became an unreadable mess due to the post character limit. Never understood live-tweeting. You could DM some company’s support person… but why?
And I blame link shorteners’ existence on twitter, too.
For some people it kind of seems like just shouting at an empty room. I recently found a (now ex)friend’s Bluesky, which opened a whole can of worms.
But his whole thing was basically complaining about whatever he could with no one listening. Then complaining that no one was interacting.
It was like the equivalent of him having a stage in an empty room and just yelling about random shit. Then yelling that there’s no one else in the room. I don’t get it
i thought whatsapp would make a public version and clean up at some point but they never did
To be fair, I think the company’s support person one is the only thing it was useful for. I’ve heard plenty a story of someone not being able to get proper support through the main thing they’re using, but once they tweet the company it gets fixed. Definitely shouldn’t be like that, but it is what it is.
To be honest, I’ve never understood it either, but I’ve used it in the past to find artists and fanart. Only because I understood Tumblr even less. Twitter was great for artists, or at least for my art enjoyment.
From what i gather, they’re debating whether they are team Hitler or team new Hitler (Netanyahu)
