Content nausea
I am finally bored shitless with content. An exciting place in the form of an internet community has always been some kind of solace for me. Maybe it’s that the younger generation grew up in a time and place — the past is another country. When I was a teenager much of the socialising I did was online. Social media was part of that, sure — but what really formed the basis of my friendships in the 2000’s were forums. I frequented a few forums. Mainly for Mac software, particularly games, which were always in short supply back then. I even made a few little freeware games myself and uploaded them to such communities. For the most part, the internet was a retreat away from judgement.
Oh, how things have changed. I remember Facebook becoming popular. I also remember seeing it peak as a platform and the sad inevitable decline. I quit using Facebook sometime in 2015, once my friendship group abandoned the platform (thanks to some falling-out over he said she said nonsense). I then remember the great migration to Instagram. Without a doubt this is my favourite social media app. At least, it was, until all the Facebook Lurkers realised that party had moved on elsewhere. For a number of years, especially through the pandemic, Instagram was my lifeline to the world. I could write a whole series of posts just about that.
I’ve got a lot of nice things to say about Instagram for someone who’s totally sick of it. I’m mature enough to know there is no return to the old days; it’s true about small forum communities from 20 years ago, and the same is also true of Instagram. When Facebook started to fill with half-acquaintances and annoying family members, that’s when I had to move on. And that’s what I think is wrong: Instagram is now mostly full of lurkers rather than active participants. Problem is, these lurkers know you in some capacity. Instagram has also become a place where people are quite judgemental, which isn’t new, but they’re especially harsh. And I think there’s also a large contingent of anti-social-media types who look at the whole thing with contempt, without ever paying attention to the parts of social media that make it fulfilling. It’s nice to see what your friends are up to, yes. Its not nice to turn it into a compulsion, which is what most lurkers seem to do.
Anyway. What do I really have to add to this conversation? I just want lots of little online communities again, held together with donations and passion-project love. It seems such a shame that the younger generation didn’t really experience this. Maybe little projects like Bearblog will help give people an idea of what it was like.
I’m meandering.
My name isn’t important. I can tell you that I’m self employed, I’m in my mid thirties, and I travel to Germany a lot.
I suppose I hope to use my blog to talk about my life away from the lurkers and acquaintances who are mainly following me on social media only to check if my life is getting any worse. Maybe I will rediscover the same “web magic” that captured my attention so many years ago in the process.