I miss Twitter

It’s not uncommon for people to feel generally nostalgic about Twitter “before it sucked”. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about something more specific.

I’m on The Fediverse. It’s decentralized, independent, flexible, and awesome. There are so many people from all kinds of backgrounds and interests and we’re all part of something that legitimately makes the internet a better place instead of worse. The assorted microblogging software of The Fediverse allows people to communicate using all kinds of different tools, platforms and software. It’s how the internet should work.

But there’s something I just can’t shake.

I think back to the time on Twitter (before it sucked) and I would announce something I was working on, or ask a question, or seek a connection. And people would jump at the opportunity to be involved, to contribute in some way, to make introductions to other people, and so much more. It was active in a real way. People engaged actively with you, people wanted to help, to discuss, to collaborate, and to connect. I was that way with others. It was exciting to be engaged with people and cool things.

The Fediverse is completely different. There’s no lack of support here. People are encouraging and immensely kind, but in a very passive way.

There’s the notion of a “ratio” on Twitter, where if a tweet receives significantly more replies than likes or retweets, it indicates that the content is unpopular. On The Fediverse I’ve discovered a new kind of ratio. I like to call it the “engagement ratio”. I might post something and get 100 likes and 50 shares of the post, and not a single response. It feels very strange. I think “Wow, look at all these people!”, but then I realize the shares are essentially a person saying “I don’t personally care about this, but maybe somebody else will”, or “That person needs help or advice, but I’m not interested in engaging, but I’m sure somebody else will if I share it”.

Perhaps I was on Twitter at a very specific time when the community around me was particularly engaged in an active way. But I don’t think that’s it. Twitter always rewarded you for being loud, visible, interactive and having a “personal brand”. Everyone wanted to be seen, and a part of that visibility is being actively involved with others. While that may sound negative, and it kind of is, this ultimately ended up encouraging real networking, collaboration and connection. But on The Fediverse, none of that is the case. (Most) people don’t care if others know who they are. There’s (generally) no loudest person in the room. It’s not about being seen and having a personal brand. Most people don’t even use their real names or want to be publicly identifiable. In general it’s a culture that’s more private and less performative. I think that’s awesome. But I think theres a side-effect of that where things become far more passive.

Or maybe I’m just not interesting enough or none what I do is of any interest to anyone. But I don’t think that’s the case. I know people really support Owncast, for example. But If I post “Looking for somebody to test X” or “looking for design help, give me recommendations” or something similar I know people want me to succeed, people will click “like” to show their support, but they’ll never respond to your message. They’ll share it assuming that the people they share it with will engage. But everyone thinks that, so nobody does.

This isn’t to try to change anything, I understand that The Fediverse is very different, and the personalities and interests and motivations are also very different. And maybe my experience is unique, and everyone else is having a completely different experience. But I wanted to jot my notes down and reflect on my thoughts and experiences anyway because it’s been on my mind. It’s also not to say that The Fediverse is generally unsupportive. It’s just a different kind of support, one that’s less visible and less interactive. It’s quiet support.

All the active networking and loud personalities are probably on Linkedin these days. Please don’t make me do that.