Bluesky and a very unpresidential election
I sure did pick a weird week to join Bluesky.
— Jacob (@cobb.land) November 6, 2024 at 8:35 AM
I’ve avoided using social media1 for the past few years, ever since setting out on The Big Trip. But, finally, a new platform has interested me enough to jump back into the mess: Bluesky. And—much like when I first started using Twitter X (?!?!?) back in the day, it happened during a presidential election.
The timeline of events is a little hazy in my memory, but I’m pretty sure it went like this:
- Musk bought
TwitterX (?!?!?!11!1??!!). - Instagram’s feed stopped showing me most things posted by those I followed.
- I started The Big Trip.
- I couldn’t look at a starry sky or a nice plant without thinking I should take a picture of it and post it on social media.
- I deleted all my social media accounts.
After a few weeks of feeling the absence of those online platforms like phantom limbs, I got over it—and was better for it. I’ve enjoyed these past few years of peace. The promised increase of productivity failed to materialize, however. My lizard brain has managed to find plenty of other ways to waste time.
Ironically, it was Cory Doctorow’s piece on Bluesky and enshittification that finally convinced me to give Bluesky a try. I agree with all of his reasons not to use the platform, but I run less of a risk of becoming trapped, because I don’t have much of an audience and don’t plan on building one. I can quit whenever I want2.
Imagine there’s a clever segue here.
Which brings me to the election. Wow. This really sucks. I really didn’t think we’d have to deal with Trump again. But here we are.
The last time, back when I’d first joined Twi—X (?!?!?!1?!?!?!?!11?!?!?!), Obama was in the middle of being elected president. I remember watching links to news stories scroll by as more and more states started reporting their votes. I remember the cheers and congratulations. I remember the hope.
Things didn’t really pan out back then like a lot of us had hoped they would. And they certainly didn’t this time around. But that’s beside the point. What mattered then, and what I think matters even more now, is community3. So I guess I’m back on social media.
Yeah, I’ve used Mastodon sporadically, but I don’t count that, because… Just because!↩︎
Shut up! I can!↩︎
A big ol’ argument can be made that social media is not the best place for community building, but that’s beyond the scope of this post. Besides, I’m here trying to justify my use of said social media, so leave me alone!↩︎