It’s bizarre to me how much experience in internet changed, especially tools which the purpose for was striking conversation and facilitating that. Many would say social media started with FB, but the reality was it already existed in MSN and then Skype, and before those it was forums and IIRC’s. MSN and Skype made it so we would talk to each other, be it in groups or 1-on-1, and it felt like we were all connected.
Along the way, somehow social media became…disconnected, lonely, anti-social itself. Most of the tools are made so you’re not talking with people. Likes, RTs, Reblogs, whatever else? It’s interaction but not socializing. We’re just screaming into the void, hoping someone sees, notices us, answers us. It’s become the antithesis of what social media should be. Interacting directly with words has become a bygone thing for a lot of people.
Many would say, well that’s why online friendships are not real, but even with family and friends that we know IRL there’s less interaction, less realness. A lot of things are staged, as if it only happens if it’s posted online, with pictures, and people congratulating you online even though that cousin? You haven’t seen them in 5 years, and never messages you. It’s very hypocrite.
Mostly though? It’s sad that we’ve had so much progress in technology, but it seems socially we’re devolving.
This is why mostly I am not in social medias, and by that it means I do HAVE them. I have a Twitter I sometimes check, a FB for family and friends, my websites to track what I do like GoodReads, Trakt, Anime-Planet, Grouvee, etc; but mostly? I prefer the social media that are made for actual messaging and talking with people, not at people. LINE is my fave because of the stickers, and my online friends are there. You can have groups and just chat about whatever. It’s so much more real than having a lot of followers which never speak to you, that act like robots just liking or RTing, and I’m not much better. It’s very easy to fall into those habits with social media like Twitter, it’s done so it’s fast-paced and forgettable. But I don’t want to forget, I want to connect, make friends, engage, be real, be unforgettable.
Disclaimer: I don’t like discord because it reminds me of IIRC days, which I really don’t like how it was.
Also just feeling nostalgic when internet was easier to be, to have fun, and connect, where it was just people hitting it off over common hobbies and likes. A lot of that has left. Social media has become a paradise for SJW/fandom patrollers, and become incredibly toxic even with block and mute buttons. That’s why I wasn’t surprised when YouTube is actually one of the few social media that gives less depression/anxiety. Why? Because in YT you control what you’re seeing. On social media like Twitter/etc, you can’t really truly control because friends will RT things, they’ll talk about things that might be heavy/downer without warning.
I also see a lot of people complain that they feel invisible online, and it’s no wonder when everyone is just screaming into a void, instead of speaking WITH people. Social media are no longer made to connect and talk with people, but instead a lot of platforms are made just to engage with big accounts, make money for the platforms, and they’re not even made for long discussions, in-depth talk. Instead they’re made for throwaway messages, mostly with gifs and memes, or likes. It’s no surprise that Twitter thrives. It’s the shortest of them.
Y’all might think, but bitch you’re right now writing a blog entry which is also a social media. Yes, but tell me, how popular ARE even blog platforms anymore? WordPress is popular, for those that blog or have websites. But it’s actually an incredibly small niche. Smaller than you think. I’ve been involved and the top bloggers for anime community are maybe 5-10 max. The rest falls to the wayside sooner or later. And the same will be for book reviewers, etc. Blogging has been something that’s steadily died, the same as forums. Big time forums have seen their users leave for popular social medias. Reddit is a micro-forum, in a sense, but it ephemeral and comment sections will not go on 800+ pages like in some forums for 1 game discussion. Umineko, and Higurashi, had 800+ pages of discussion on 1 forum for EACH game. That was back when the anime community was on forums.
Nowadays you can find them on popular social media, and some you can find on MAL forum of the discussions.
I’m not saying by this that there is NO forums, or NO bloggers. I’m saying it’s stopped being popular, people stopped engaging and wanting to discuss things. People nowadays just want to throw their opinion – their opinion as cement, their opinion as being the only right thing in the world.
I miss debates, I miss discussions, I miss engaging in a way that is not shallow with a lot of people I meet but I find I can’t deepen because it’s just awkward on those sites.
Messaging apps/websites are niche; blog websites like dreamwidth, Livejournal, WordPress are niche; and that’s a big pity.
As technology evolves, we get more detached as people from others because it’s just easier than having to do effort, than having to find a way to have long conversations. Twitter has DM limits, and also tweet limits, as does Tumblr, Facebook, etc. And that should tell you something.
Among the Deep 