A Year in Social Media
I created a Bluesky account a little over a year ago. I was initially somewhat sceptical of adopting a third social media messaging platform, because I had become quite comfortable using Mastodon as a replacement for Twitter/X. However, certain individuals that I wished to continue to follow were migrating to Bluesky, so I followed suit. It has always been my long term goal to pick one of these two newer services and make it my sole point of presence in social media terms. So far that hasn’t happened. Hence a year on I find myself juggling three such platforms. Twitter/X, Mastodon and Bluesky. I post links to my blog posts on all of these services. To be honest none of them generate any tangible traffic but this is how you promoted your website or blog 15 years ago and old habits die hard.
Twitter/X, Mastodon and Bluesky
I created a Bluesky account a little over a year ago. I was initially somewhat sceptical of adopting a third social media messaging platform, because I had become quite comfortable using Mastodon as a replacement for Twitter/X. However, certain individuals that I wished to continue to follow were migrating to Bluesky, so I followed suit. It has always been my long term goal to pick one of these two newer services and make it my sole point of presence in social media terms. So far that hasn’t happened. Hence a year on I find myself juggling three such platforms. Twitter/X, Mastodon and Bluesky. I post links to my blog posts on all of these services. To be honest none of them generate any tangible traffic but this is how you promoted your website or blog 15 years ago and old habits die hard.
One of the main reasons for moving to Bluesky was the decline of Twitter/X once Elon Musk took over the corporate reins. Although you can still theoretically control what you see or don’t see in your timeline, Musk circumnavigated these settings and so I am still seeing content I have no desire to see and things I find interesting becoming harder to find. Hence Bluesky initially felt like rolling back the clock. Sadly, a year on and despite a greater degree of control, I still find that too much politics finds its way into my timeline. Most of it hails from the US and I simply will not dignify such culture war, zero sum game, intellectually bankrupt bullshit into my life. I’m not especially keen on the same sort of shit that originates from UK politics. It is tedious and pointless, at least for me. I don’t think I’m a priority target for any lobby group seeking to sway opinion.
Therefore, 2025 has been notable for my declining participation on such social media. I promote my writing, communicate with online friends and follow a few folk who do interesting things. I like to check out what’s going on among peers but that’s more of a daily thing nowadays. It used to have Twitter/X open all the time on my PC. I think going forward, I will probably withdraw from Twitter/X in 2026, because to continue using it is questionable. I shall also review my continued use of Bluesky and at the very least mute a lot of names and keywords because I just don’t want to know about somethings. Stepping back from sociopolitical issues is good for your mental wellbeing, as is minimising your exposure to fools and the furiously hard of thinking. Overall, my plan is to focus more on Mastodon as my platform of choice. It seems to have more of a community ambience, with a focus around shared interests. I like its old school vibe.
Instagram and Facebook
I use Instagram to keep up with immediate family members. My son and daughter in-law use it prodigiously. I briefly increased my output on this platform while on holiday in Croatia this summer but overall I tend to use it to passively consume the nonsense that the algorithm feeds me. And man is that algorithm good and figuring out the trivial nonsense that appeals to me. When you step back from scrolling and consider the technology behind these platforms it is both equally fascinating and scary. Its addictive quality is also worrying. However, I’ve noticed an unpleasant trend regarding what you choose to view. If you watch such content as Fail Army or any other material that can be described as “humourous accidents” the algorithm starts feeding more extreme material. Fortunately you can filter out such content but the fact that it escalates in this way is concerning.
One of the problems with social media is that everyone favours differing platforms, hence I maintain a presence on Facebook simply to keep in touch with some friends who exclusively use it. Earlier this year my account was compromised and I logged in to find I was now Silke Kraus from Düsseldorf. Hence I created a new account. Despite providing minimal details for my user profile and expressing few interests, I started getting content recommendations from such vile and scurrilous calumniators (to coin a Dickensian phrase) as The Daily Mail, Daily Express and Reform UK, by default. These can be filtered out but seem to return regardless, proving how this platform’s owners have a clear political affiliation and agenda. Again, next year I shall see if I can encourage my friends to move to another platform because I don’t really want to be associated with this propaganda tool.
Age Verification and Social Media Bans
I wrote a while ago about the age verification requirement that has become mandatory for certain online services in the UK, due to the Online Safety Act. Although well intentioned it misses the mark and can be easily circumnavigated. Such legislation is never good in the long term as it ultimately fails those it seeks to protect and brings the law into disrepute. Any lobby that arises against it will ultimately be usurped and become a trojan horse for more sinister political forces who want a totally unregulated environment. In Australia, as of this month they’ve gone so far as to ban social media access on specific platforms for under 16-year-olds. This has impacted upon 2 million young users. I am not against protecting children but find state intervention a blunt tool. Again I ask, shouldn’t parents be the first line of defence? No doubt my “year in social media|” summary next year will show if this “bold move” has proven positive.
Bluesky
A couple of weeks ago I decided, like so many others, to create an account on Bluesky. My decision to do so wasn’t so much driven by a personal dislike of Twitter/X but because so many people that I follow had gone. I fully recognise that Twitter has been in decline since it was bought by Elon Musk but I still have found the social media platform useful, even during recent months. Through judicious use of the block and mute facilities, I have managed to keep my timeline relatively free of crap. However, the advertising has become more pervasive of late and most of the people whose Tweets I have enjoyed over the years have either migrated to other platforms or simply stepped away from social media altogether. It was the desire to spend time with a like minded community that ultimately prompted my move to Bluesky.
A couple of weeks ago I decided, like so many others, to create an account on Bluesky. My decision to do so wasn’t so much driven by a personal dislike of Twitter/X but because so many people that I follow had gone. I fully recognise that Twitter has been in decline since it was bought by Elon Musk but I still have found the social media platform useful, even during recent months. Through judicious use of the block and mute facilities, I have managed to keep my timeline relatively free of crap. However, the advertising has become more pervasive of late and most of the people whose Tweets I have enjoyed over the years have either migrated to other platforms or simply stepped away from social media altogether. It was the desire to spend time with a like minded community that ultimately prompted my move to Bluesky.
I joined Twitter in August 2010. Most of the people I started following I knew from the video games blogging community. Twitter was a great means at that point to promote one’s work and share material. Over time, I started following a broader spectrum of individuals and found Twitter to be a great source of breaking news. At its peak, the social media platform was a key source of both social activity and information. I used Tweeten as my Twitter client and had it running continuously on my second monitor throughout the day. When I was away from my desk, I had Hootsuite on my phone. For a while, Twitter was very much a focal part of my day. However, overtime, I learned that this wasn’t necessarily a good thing and I curtailed my enthusiasm. The loss of key individuals that I followed, contributed a lot to this change in mindset. Social media is only as good as the people you follow.
New technological mediums often start with innovative pioneers that create a new market and subsequently dominate it for a while. Twitter falls into that category, just like Steam and Netflix. All have had their day in the sun where they effectively enjoyed a monopoly. However, competitors and a fragmenting market ultimately have knocked them all off their respective pedestals. In the case of Twitter, management decisions have contributed to the diminishment of the brand. I suspect that in time, there will be several social media platforms that become the established leaders and people will make their choice depending on a multitude of personal factors. Politics may be one. Friends, community and the ability to carefully curate your timeline may be others. A year or two from now, what social media platform you use may become a key question in market research.
With regard to Bluesky, I find that its functionality is nearly identical to that of Twitter. I was very pleased to find so many old friends so quickly and at present, there are many familiar faces in my timeline. Plus I have discovered many new people to follow with similar interests and hobbies. I have already started proactively policing my timeline to ensure it suits my needs. There is a lot that you can do to mute words, block people and generally ensure that you’re not exposed to a load of tedious and unnecessary bullshit. Social media has the capacity to do a lot of harm to one’s mental wellbeing, therefore it is very important to ensure that it serves you and not the other way round. As for Twitter, I still have an account but I’m not especially active. It is sad how things have changed but that is just the nature of life. Keep moving forward. See you on Bluesky.
