(Image by CAMRA)
A thousand or so words about following, and what – and possibly whom - social media is for.
This was prompted by the comedian whom Andy Miller drew to our attention the other day, the one who imperiously pronounced that he – I presume for no good reason that it was a “he” - would “unfollow” anyone who didn’t allow replies to their Bluesky posts because he was there for “community, not to receive other’s [sic] output.” Is there a meaningful difference between the two? Use the comments box below to tell me what that is.
You know something? I know Bluesky isn’t a high-end operation and is probably going to fall apart in the near future due to its comparative lack of resources and limited number of users (45 million sounds impressive, but set it against the 300 billion who use Xitter – some of whom, I am assured, are actual human beings – and the fact that user numbers have not exponentially increased over the last year, and you do get the feeling that it’s preaching to the converted).
Above everything, however, it’s supposed to be fun to use, like Twitter used to be. It’s a way of keeping in touch with like-minded people who can empathise and expand on what you say, or provide a different angle; in other words, in the fashion of an old-school pub conversation. Yes, the purism gets in the way of Bluesky quite a bit – those horrible, misapplied block lists, the near-complete absence of humour or understanding of irony or nuance. There is a self-anointed aura of implied perfection which is almost impossible to dent or penetrate.
I suspect that aura is projected onto some of Bluesky’s users, and I myself may well have been one of them. At the weekend I had a bit of a where-is-everybody moan. Then I checked my settings and there was the answer – I had muted hundreds of accounts, for whatever long-forgotten reasons (I think mostly to do with not wanting to read anything about politics – well, that’s understandable, isn’t it?). I unmuted most of them and what do you know, my timeline sprang back into life, as though somebody had pulled the curtains open and let the sunshine in through the window. It was…fun again.
So, what’s following on Bluesky all about? It’s hard to improve on what Andy said, viz.: "I’m here to receive and transmit ideas, jokes and opinions with people I trust. I’m not here to explain myself to random strangers who don’t know what I’m on about," largely because that’s what social media should be all about. Firstly there’s a hardcore of followers with whom you feel absolutely secure. Next come the perfectly fine people who nonetheless irk you enough occasionally to mute them for a bit – not for any bad reasons, but just the fact that, nice as they generally are, they can sometimes become a teeny-tiny bit irritating and you have to give them a break for a little while.
Last come the trolls, bots and professional ingrates, as well as people with whom you are evidently never going to agree about anything. That’s part and parcel of the metaphorical contract that you sign with social media. Above them, though, come what I’d call more problematic types; the ones you like but have to tread very cautiously – sometimes tiptoeing on eggshells – not to offend what I suspect are very fragile egos. Say something out of context and boom they unfollow you, though do tend to follow things up with a spot of passive-aggressive subposting.
I don’t think that tiptoeing on eggshells, being meticulously careful not to offend and cause an unintended explosion, is what being on social media should be all about. I had to do more than enough of that with my father when I was growing up and it isn’t enjoyable; communicating becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. Isn’t it a lot better just to let the fragile ego go and open up, to accept that I’m not you and you’re not me and nobody else is me or you and therefore we’re all going to have different opinions about things?
Were I so inclined, I could embark upon a rant in the manner of, well I’m sorry but, as things stand, you are fundamentally a stranger and don’t know the first fecking thing about me, what I’ve done with my life, the nightmares I’ve seen or what’s happened to me in order to shape the way I think and believe about things. Or – so you’re bitter that your life didn’t turn out the way it has. Look at yourself first – I mean really, really examine yourself in forensic detail – and try to work out why that has happened and see how much you yourself may have contributed to that state of being.
As things do stand, however, I’m not on Bluesky to impress or flatter strangers. I’m there to converse and hopefully laugh with others because for innumerable thoroughly-documented reasons I don’t go to pubs etc. and these are not the sort of things I can readily discuss with others at work (where it is all work talk). Social media is supposed to be daft and transitory. It isn’t the Bible or a declaration of renewable principles.
And maybe it’s just the case…hi, click clack ladies…that I learned a very important lesson on Sunday; to open up, stop hiding, only have one little life and so forth. I fume and fumble at the woes of the world on Bluesky like anybody else. But the fuming and fumbling aren’t all there is to me. If they are the only things to you then I’m afraid that you perhaps aren’t the sort of person who’s cut out to use social media. If you just want people to stand in awe and admire you, then organise a gallery exhibition, start a religion or audition for Britain’s Got Talent. But social media is about communicating with others, and that includes letting in people and beliefs which might not be remotely concomitant with yours.
And, for Christ’s sake, just let it all go. It’s supposed to be a laugh.
