Almost a Month on Diaspora now. Changing the way I use it.
It does take some time to learn how to use #Diaspora, and that's because Diaspora doesn't tell you how you're supposed to use it. You make it do what you want it to. And #tutorials are easy to find and use. That is not only very unusual for a social media platform, but it's also totally cool! Build your own, the way you like it! Building your own the way you like it takes time, though, and I think a lot of people are just in a hurry and not willing to take the time. So here are a few lessons learned in my first month on Diaspora:
Social media doesn't reflect how most people actually think and feel. It's a place where the people who make the most noise get all the attention. Most people aren't even on social media, and kids my age aren't on anything like Diaspora, and not many even on #Facebook anymore. It's all 10-second videos on TikTok or Snapchat, and 99.99999 percent of it is just "look at me, ain't I cute."
It's okay to use the #Ignore button, even though it seems bad to do need it. It's probably true that some people have blocked me too. I got really mad at some Diaspora people (do we call our selves "Diasporians" or something?) who said I was intolerant, bigoted, whatever because I don't accept and celebrate things that I think are bad. I blocked them, and they blocked me, probably. But that makes my experience - and theirs too I guess - better and just more enjoyable, by getting stuff that makes you angry out of your feed. Also, I got a PM from a stranger with no profile, just a picture. Not even a single post. But he/she/they says they want to do everything just in private chat. I think that's inappropriate with a kid and it's creepy. So the Ignore button is also maybe a safety thing.
#Markdown language is really cool! I could never do that on Facebook, but here I can #format my posts and even comments with italics, bold,
strikethrough, all kinds of cool stuff! It's just fun, and it makes my posts look nicer. I found an easy cheat sheet here that I use a lot.Do the #profile thing, please! When I get a private message or want to see what someone is about, more often than not all I see is a blank page with maybe an avatar and nothing else. It's probably a better experience for everyone if we all do our profiles so we get some idea of what people are into.
Again: It is worth taking the time to "build your own" social media experience. So if you are #newhere, just know that building your own is well worth the time, you'll meet some great people and we can all learn from each other.
𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮,
𝓡𝓸𝓫𝓫𝓲𝓮
