When I look at Facebook, BlueSky and Threads I see a lot of content that should never be. I see sentences and phrasing that provoke hostility, and I see article headlines and more that provoke polarisation. In essence I think that social media is no longer a social network. I believe that social media is about emotions, rather than conversations, especially negative emotions.
I bring this up because I can go for hours, or even days without looking at threads or FB and when I do I am struck with how negative posts are.
I had and have reservations about Bluesky. I worry about the venture capitalists funding the site and I worry about the community on the site. Today I wrote a post that was meant to show empathy but it got me flamed. The flames were just two posts, but that flame is enough for me to deactivate my account, at least until the flamers have given up.
I was flamed like that on Twitter in 2020 or so, and on the Fediverse more than once, which is why I almost gave up on the Fediverse.
Today I spotted another clear sign that modern social media are toxic and unhealthy. I see this through the boy sober movement.
A new trend is sweeping TikTok: #boysober. Its rules? No dating apps, no dates, no exes, no hookups. Thousands of women are uploading videos describing why they have gone boy sober and extolling its benefits.
In my opinion this is a clear demonstration of why algorithms are so awful on social media.