The Absurdity of Social Media and the Fediverse
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The Absurdity of Social Media and the Fediverse

Byrichard

It’s Ten Fourty Eight on a Monday and i have barely touched social media. I have barely touched social media for two reasons. People don’t see it as socialising anymore. They take a utilitarian approach to social media, which makes it absurd. The second reason is that we see how ignorant the world is about current affairs.


In the past when we used social media we were looking to have conversations, share ideas and do more. Now people want to promote books, and fill gaps in time between when they are with family, friends or colleagues, without considering that social networks, for decades, were about connecting people who lived alone, or were too introverted to be the life and soul of “physical world” parties.


Everyone on Twitter says “I am not looking for friendships” and “I am not looking to meet online friends in real life” and as I see these posts every so often I think “then what the fork am I still doing on the Fediverse, and Twitter?” I am not on Twitter anymore, but I wrote that out of habit.


If the people I interact with on Social Media don’t actually want to be social, then my use of social media has become absurd, because I want one thing, and everyone else is utilitarian. It nullifies the use of these social networks.


The uphill battle that I have strived towards, for decades, is absurd as it was in the 90s. It’s as lonely to use social networks as it was in the 90s.


Meetup


I did consider dumping the Fediverse for Meetup.com, to meet with people in person, and to do pleasant sports. I changed my mind when I saw that they want 30 CHF per person, per event, in some cases. When I’m doing the driving and navigating I don’t want to pay someone 30 CHF just for organising something that should be free. I am fine with covering petrol and other costs. I’m not fine with paying a random person money for organising something, without anything being provided.


Facebook


The reason for which I dumped Twitter is clearly present on Mastodon instances so I am tempted to dump Mastodon too. I find myself gravitating back towards Facebook. If people are not looking to build friendships on the Fediverse, and if people are not informed about Current Affairs, then it makes sense to gravitate away from Twitter and Mastodon instances, towards Facebook. Facebook is, after all, a network of IRL friends that we happen to be friends with online, too.


Local Groups


One of the key advantages of Facebook over the Fediverse is that we can find networks of local people. We can meet local people, and go to local events. We don’t have to be isolated with strangers ranting about current affairs that no one has read a book about. We can meet local people, and shift our personal lives from online solitude, to offline friendships, and maybe more.


And Finally


I still hate Facebook but Meetup wants money for events. The Fediverse is filled with ignorant people arguing about current affairs rather than reading and understanding context. Twitter is degrading rapidly, and swinging to the Right. The Fediverse is also filled with the Utilitarianism that I was complaining about from 2007 onwards. In the end Facebook might have become the least worst option around, for the moment. I can’t believe I wrote that.


The reason I dumped Facebook hasn’t left, but there does seem to be a local community at last, and that’s priceless. I use social media to negate solitude, and the Fediverse is not helping negate that sentiment.


Facebook is still filled with a lot of kitsch.

The Day Switzerland and Denmark Decided to Ignore the Pandemic. This Isn’t Freedom, This is Exposure.

The Day Switzerland and Denmark Decided to Ignore the Pandemic. This Isn’t Freedom, This is Exposure.

Byrichard

Today is the day that Switzerland and Denmark decided to ignore the pandemic. They and other European countries have decided to lift quarantines, remove the need to work remotely and other such safety measures. Health indicators shows that there is a consistent rise in new cases in Switzerland and Denmark. They say it’s over but the graphs and data show that it is not.


https://twitter.com/EckerleIsabella/status/1488876782996631553


Switzerland says that since 90 percent of the population has been exposed to the virus there is no need to worry anymore. Several governments have just decided to wash their hands of the pandemic. This moment is insane. It makes no rational sense to just decide that a pandemic is over like this. I think it will come back to haunt these leaders. I want them to be held responsible for their decisions, several months or years down the line.


This is a frustrating moment because it means that Covid-zero could be years or even decades ago. Going to cinemas, to restaurants, to bars, to indoor events will always carry an inherent risk of danger. This isn’t like the risk of flu or a cold. This is a new disease that the current generation of politicians have decided to live with, rather than eradicate. Remember that the Romans drained the swamps of Rome to get rid of Malaria, so there is no valid reason for 21st century leaders to do the same with Covid-19.


This moment doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense that politicians would choose to let people fall sick, rather than prevent it. It doesn’t make sense that they aren’t losing their jobs. If the 737 Max had its issues today, would anyone bother to investigate it or would planes have been allowed to continue to crash due to that issue with trim that was eventually fixed.


As a media student I have to ask, has the media landscape and the Fourth Estate, become so superficial that politicians, can act or fail to act, in impunity, without consequences for their actions or inactions. England, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and one or two other countries seem to have no Fourth Estate, to keep politicians accountable. It feels as if the Fourth Estate is failing in its democratic role, of keeping government transparent.


People are angry with what is happening. They feel that they have been failed by their governments. They feel that the governments could and should have done more during this pandemic to keep people safe.


That’s why I would like for leaders, during this pandemic, to be investigated for Human Rights violations. The right to health is in the UDHR and other documents. The Right to Health for Children is in the Charter for the Rights of Children. The pandemic isn’t over by a long shot, but in the meantime investigations should be mounted to investigate whether leaders behaved immorally, and if so to hold them to account.


We can’t control a pandemic, but we can control how we react to it once we have more information.


I just noticed that the idiots have used freedom day:


Les milieux économiques demandent un retour à la situation ordinaire. “La Suisse doit apprendre à vivre avec le virus, sans que les droits fondamentaux garantis par la Constitution ne soient restreints de manière disproportionnée”, avancent-ils, proposant à nouveau un “Freedom Day” (jour de liberté, où toutes les mesures seront levées).

RTS


The Freedom Day they speak of is not a freedom day. It is a day to ignore the danger posed by the virus, to risk an inordinate amount of people, to fall sick from Covid-19 at once.


From one day to the next the government has decided the pandemic is over. This isn’t a war. This is a pandemic. You don’t just sign a peace treaty with a virus. The virus will continue to pick us off until moral leaders decide to eradicate it.


I will conclude today’s post by saying that I am sad. I am sad that the government has failed us since June 2020 until today, and that as of today it has decided just to ignore the danger, rather than protect the society it is responsible for. I am sad that there is no end in sight for this pandemic, and I am sad that we have little hope of a normal life, unless we choose to ignore the risk. This isn’t freedom. This is exposure.