Outside of this, do you use anything that could be considered social media?

I originally had signed up for a few social media platforms in their early days but over time I felt that I wasn't seeing what I thought I wanted to see. As companies started tailoring their algorithms things started to get less relevant to my interests. As a result I left behind those platforms for a couple of years before discovering Mastodon instances.

It was basically everything I thought social media should be, I would again get updates from people I followed and in a chronological order without a mess of advertisements. There was no push to show me content I hadn't even asked to see, so that was really refreshing. I only recently realized that federated content platforms and their protocols were so versatile, given what we're on now feels very different from Mastodon. I can't help it but I am more than a bit excited about the potential!

What's your story? Do you use anything that could be considered social media or have you in the past?

Lor,

Let's see, i do have some social media i use. YouTube is probably the most common, followed by discord. I have an Instagram to find memes and chat with like one person, and i use Facebook for its marketplace.

Ignacio,
Ignacio avatar

I use Mastodon, YouTube (waiting for PeerTube to lift off too), Lemmy/Kbin (more Kbin than Lemmy), Whatsapp, Telegram, Discord, and Matrix.org recently.

xlonefoxx,

Reddit was the GOAT, it is hugely helpful for almost every issue you could face and if you pick your subreddits right it's significantly less toxic than other social media. Unfortunately they've been sabotaging themselves lately.

Instagram only to see how close real life friends are doing (I'm a teenager)

I don't like the short videos (YouTube shorts, TikTok etc) but both YouTube and Bilibili are great platforms with lots of great content.

Melancholia,
Melancholia avatar

I use facebook to keep up with people’s life updates, and to keep up with local news by following all the local news channels and newspapers on there. I barely post on facebook, mostly just check in once or twice a day to see what’s happening. I also like being available on facebook if someone needs to contact me who doesn’t otherwise have my contact info. Someone once was able to alert me to an emergency situation involving a relative, because they were able to track me down on facebook.

I’ve never liked the idea of twitter, so never even signed up. Not really interested in instagram either, maybe if I had pictures I wanted share with the world, but I don’t.

I use reddit and discord some, but I’m not very sociable, tend to just lurk. I’m trying to be social here.

Ashley,
Ashley avatar

Reddit was the main one, but I was using Tumblr up until they implemented a paid tier and ads after every other post. It’s too laggy and ugly to use now. I have an Instagram for my art but don’t like using it as social media.

LeafyPasserine,
LeafyPasserine avatar

Yeah, Tumblr is pretty much unusable without xkit blocking every ad and adding necessary tools.

exohuman,
exohuman avatar

Before kbin it was Reddit for me. That was where I interacted the most with folks. I mostly lurk and occasionally comment on the other social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, etc). I use Discord in my video game groups. I use YouTube a lot but rarely interact beyond liking, subscribing, and occasionally commenting but never making my own video.

As kind of a private person I could never understand Twitter’s appeal. It always felt off to me. I like Mastodon better but only because I like the people on Mastodon better. With Twitter, I really don’t care what celebs have to say and most famous figures seem to be using it to put their foot in their mouths, be hateful, or encourage their followers (and I don’t really follow like that).

Calcharger,
Calcharger avatar

Yeah I rotate between Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Discord and Telegram. Reddit was in there but I try not to go now.

I try not to go on Facebook either because there is literally zero content. All I ever read is like, this one girl I knew in highschool being manic and being reminded that it's my friend's birthdays.

Instagram has been stagnating too, none of my friends really post too much on there anymore and it's just ads.

TikTok at least pumps out that weird shit I crave, Telegram for news on Ukraine war from the trenches, and Discord to talk to friends.

Bout it

east,
east avatar

That's interesting, thanks for sharing. I'd forgotten about Discord. Definitely use Discord to keep up with friends for the most part as well.

Quichequeen,

I technically still have social media accounts, but I don’t use them (other than to access info I can’t without them, like my neighborhood’s announcements). I used to be more active on social media - even had a Friendster account, to give you history here! - but the algorithm interference has taken all joy out of it. Plus, conversations with strangers are less often in good faith, so I’m more reluctant to engage because if I get a response it’s 50/50 whether it will be worthwhile and civilized. Too many trolls, too many people trying to platform themselves, too much algorithm interference. I used to learn so much and have such fun online, but I’m pretty skittish/jaded/burnt out.

east,
east avatar

Wow! Yeah Friendster was one I missed. I have definitely noticed a lot of platforms won't even let you browse anymore without an account. Facebook marketplace, for instance, which is unfortunately the only "local" option for a marketplace available online as they pretty much killed Craigslist. Same with Twitter and not being able to read beyond a certain amount or search without joining. It's a real hassle, sometimes. That's understandable about being burned out a bit, I think I'm in the same boat for most traditional social media.

Ashley,
Ashley avatar

I have bad social anxiety and the internet used to be my go-to for making friends, but that experience has been ruined for me. I totally understand what you mean about feeling skittish and burnt out, you just never know if someone is going to be hostile. There were always trolls, but it’s on another level now. It’s just pure hate.

Quichequeen,

Exactly! Ugh, it’s painful. I was on Twitter 2009-2012, and I used to connect with people from all over. I’d reply to a random person’s tweet and - boom! - conversation. I took a break till about 2017, and when I returned it was desolate at best, a hellscape at worst. I tried tweeting to people, even IRL friends, and sometimes I might get a “like” but no real engagement. Then the negativity & trolls started rolling in, which sucks extra bad when you have anxiety. So I left.

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