an ode to forums
Sep. 23rd, 2020 12:08 pmwhyyy did i stop posting on forums, they're so freaking nice and warm and full of redic helpful and knowledgeable folks let alone me already reconnecting with several dA-era acquaintances! The experience to twitter has been literal night and day and I'm still cackling that I accidentally made a straight full loop back to my very first online haunts.
Or at least dA era type of profile; post sleezy as hell artwork, maybe make a journal or two, play FE9, go on said FE forums, and that's it. Pair that with getting some absolutely lovely private comments about my latest art being so validating and I'm convinced this is exactly the kind of low content-and-consumption-split-profile I want.
God I really feel for the kiddos being inundated in all kinds of bullshit on socmed. it doesn't have to be - was not - like this.
Or at least dA era type of profile; post sleezy as hell artwork, maybe make a journal or two, play FE9, go on said FE forums, and that's it. Pair that with getting some absolutely lovely private comments about my latest art being so validating and I'm convinced this is exactly the kind of low content-and-consumption-split-profile I want.
God I really feel for the kiddos being inundated in all kinds of bullshit on socmed. it doesn't have to be - was not - like this.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-09-24 12:14 am (UTC)One can still, arguably do those things, but it feels so much harder now with how the internet is...oriented. Watch one hateful video out of morbid curiosity and the algorithm throws another one right in your feed and its called click "bait" for a reason, many people take it.
You have less one on one with people, follow and friend lists or readers are more potential "customer" base and you are the commodity. Your art, your daily postings, maybe even your own cycle of outrage and despair or incredulity at how bonkers this all is.
Glad you've found some nice forums though, forums are so nice, I should look for some to join! :3
(no subject)
Date: 2020-09-24 01:19 am (UTC)but absolutely, yeah - 4chan existed and there was always similar sites, but as you said, you actively had to seek it out, and even once on there, you generally knew what you were expecting and i almost want to say... a little more psychologically shielded? what genuinely *hurts* about twitter is [fun post, fun post, genuinely distressing/mildly triggery IRL event, fun post] and the sheer whiplash there. If i just want to scroll through art to relax, it does not mean we're avoidant - it just means we're trying to make that hedge for ourselves against capitalisim and this fuckin' year, you know?
another thing I think it is is the whole ... consumption and creation that are both shown publicly. it's created this sense of always being watched by others so you don't step out of line and "accidentially read something against the hivemind", even if, say you're reading it to get an informed opinion or just hearing what the other party has to say. add the '(click)bait' algorithim as you said and just... yeesh. no wonder people are dropping off of twitter like flies.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-09-24 01:56 am (UTC)It's almost worse on twitter and no amoubt of blocking and filtering has helped, back on tumblr I became a strong advocate for using filters but, it's to the point where I try not to look at my twitter feed at all any time I check messages, discourse is so inescapable because that's just *become* how people interact in fandom these days the same way we'd all go to ED articles or 4chan or drama comms on lj. Like you said, back then we sought that out because a some point all of us are little gremlins with low empathy but it was...a willing dunk in the scum tub. Now you're barley touching the floor in an ocean's undertow of constant outrage, IRL disaster, awareness posts and the dissolve of fandom into..just petty nonsense.
We need these hedges and we need these walls, not just for community safety and curation (for instance, keeping kiddos and trouble makers out of adult spaces and vice versa)but for our mental health too! Scroll consumption of social media is so exhausting, we weren't really meant to handle it, we shouldn't need to handle this kind of overload of constant negativity.