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LM: #304: Why Bluesky is not our savior
There used to be only one “micro-blogging” platform. Now there are several.
It’s a schadenfreudic flavor of amusement to watch people migrate off X, to Bluesky, Threads, or Substack Notes, while proclaiming that finally, they’ve found a place that isn’t full of toxic, vitriolic, and hyperbolic snark, misinformation, and melodrama. The situation has the energy of someone who, after divorcing the eighth time, proclaims they’ve found “the one.”
It’s impossible to copy the “Twitter” format, open it to all of humanity, and not end up with pretty much the same thing as Twitter. You still have a feed full of snippets of text, competing with one another for attention. You still have an algorithm with no better way to decide what’s “good,” besides likes, comments, and reposts.
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Those short snippets of text still need to interact with human wetware. We still scan that feed, and what stands out stops the scroll. So information of the ugliest emotional tenor always wins.
Maybe one platform will have a different political leaning or psychographic difference than another. Maybe one platform can make a subtly different algorithmic tweak, but it will still be the same. So if you expect your feed to consist of only well-reasoned, intellectually rigorous and honest civilized discourse, delivered with a friendly, light-hearted, and humble tone, you will be disappointed.
As Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” As the eight-time divorcee should hear, “It’s not them, it’s you.”
As we need to learn, “It’s not the algorithm, it’s us.”
Aphorism: “Do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live.” —Gustav Flaubert
Cool: Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary about a musician who became a star, without knowing.
Best,
David
P.S. Read my breakdown of the meaning of “The medium is the message.”
