Why I’m not enjoying Mastodon anymore

With a clickbait title I wanted to share some thoughts I’ve had about Mastodon, and social networks in general.

Skipping past my usage history of social networks, at some point I came to think that Mastodon was the solution to social networking (for whatever problem) and the fediverse was the one and only way to go forward. I still largely maintain this somewhat vague statement, however a bit differently at this point.

The issue with Mastodon and the fediverse is that it’s niche. That is not a problem in and of itself, but I am progressively thinking it is not for me. Why? Well, it doesn’t solve the most important issue for me in social networking - and that is staying up to date with friends. The idea that the fediverse is the Linux of social networking feels even more relevant to me.

I despise Instagram in many ways, but it always brings me joy being able to see how some of my good friends are living their lives, and what cool things they are doing. It helps me still stay connected to them, and I think they might feel the same way if I posted more. The fediverse in contrast hasn’t given me much of these feelings.

And to the idea of using social networks for “making friends” - I am not entirely sure if making friends online is how I want to approach it. I find that this digital element overall doesn’t help or encourage friendship. I am certainly more vocal online than offline, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing, and I gather many “fully online” people are too.

So maybe really the issue is just that I am no longer enjoying social networks in general. I find myself too addicted to “responses” and “likes” - even on Mastodon (which is supposedly anti-addiction). I get repulsed by reading peoples aggressive opinions on things. In most social networks, you also often get berated for “just being”. People argue all the time. There is drama all the time.

I can’t argue that I haven’t played my part in this. But to that I say, that social networks encourage this.

And so- in recent days I have come to feel less excited about posting or reading anything on Mastodon, or any social network for that matter.