17/06/2024
I’ve been putting off this moment, but it’s time to say bye to Twitter and Facebook. I’m not deactivating my accounts, but I’ve become so uncomfortable posting even article links that I can’t anymore, tho I’m missing my peeps very much. I've been on Tw since 2008, FB 2007. 😥
Posting these days feels like leaving a flyer on myself in a brown shirt club. Or sailing it into a maze with friends hidden between Minotaurs waiting to suck your energy. Bluesky contrasts starkly. I see my peeps’ posts immediately; I design my own algorithm; I learn cool stuff https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/10/bluesky-now-lets-you-personalize-its-main-discover-feed-using-new-controls/
Bluesky may look like Twitter, but it’s decentralized and part of the burgeoning Fediverse where users control their own experience. Feeds are what makes the diff. I’ve created 3: , , . https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/25/24108872/bluesky-ceo-graber-federation-social-media-decoder-interview
The Fediverse has exciting benefits: Design my own algorithm, choose to use my website or Bsky’s server as my user name, moderate the way I like, bridge Bluesky with mastodon, web, etc. It's a safer way to talk about personal things like .
The science & medical communities are growing tremendously. It’s exciting learning and asking questions in an environment sans trolls, bots. Theme chats using Feed Creators can exclude spam. Katharine Hayhoe invites ppl weekly to come over to Bsky to join the fun! bsky.app/profile/katharinehayhoe.com/post/3ksr7ay4wsr2m
Bluesky notices who contributes to community growth and meets with them, eg a Toronto writer. The team replies to our questions. It’s social. It’s community. I like how focus is on chat not collecting view counts, which isn’t social but merely mimics it. bsky.app/profile/emilyliu.me/post/3ktiijs5xry2s
Debbie Ohi has created a super helpful Starter Thread for those new to the social platform where you curate your experience, where how much you engage determines how much real engagement you get! (notice her user name in the screenshot!) debbieohi.link/starter
Unlike FB and whatever Tw is doing, Bluesky doesn’t steal copyright nor your content for AI generation nor sells your data. And so I’m starting to post my photos again outside of Flickr. It’s freeing!
The kidlit community is exploding. Librarian & too. It’d be awesome if the same happened w Bsky’s & communities. The TBI feed I created already has various types of posts from personal to scientific. https://debbieohi.com/2024/03/bluesky-tips/ -feeds
It’s noticeable, in a terrible way, how Canadian media and journalists prefer to stick with Tw tho the experience is troll-ridden, while American media, journalists, and experts fill Bluesky. I’d like to see more Canada on Bsky! TVO & a very few male journos are the exception.
I’m also staying on LinkedIn tho its algorithm defies any logic whatsoever! But at least I don’t get spammed in the eye when I go there. Going from there and Bsky to here makes me realize how vile T&F are and how fun, fascinating, educational Bsky is. Please join me at shireenj.bsky.social!
It’s a sad day saying bye to what I loved. 😭But time to let go and stop contributing to the anti-social zeitgeist of greed, fear-mongering, hatred, divisiveness of humanity just bc my corner is OK & instead be part of building a platform that creates trust and *social* media.
Maybe see you in the blue skies of the Fediverse? Nancy Howson Greg Ioannou Stephen Corbett
