diff --git a/content/blog/closed-openness.md b/content/blog/closed-openness.md index aee3d15..95b0c7c 100644 --- a/content/blog/closed-openness.md +++ b/content/blog/closed-openness.md @@ -32,19 +32,23 @@ But I digress, as part of coming to terms with how politics affects both my pers ## 𝕏 Marks the Spot -My journey on 𝕏 since July has been difficult to summarize, but I'm not sure describing it as "positive" would be wholly honest at this point. It has certainly been quite jarring, to say the least. There are a lot of things I've wondered about over the last decade that I am now not so confounded by, for better or worse. The mystery of collective social instability suddenly makes perfect sense — I couldn't design a better tool for psychological manipulation and instability if I tried. But let me caveat that by saying it hasn't been all bad, either. +My journey on 𝕏 since July has been difficult to summarize, but, to start, I'm not sure describing it as "positive" would be wholly honest at this point. It has certainly been quite jarring at times, to say the least. Allow me to caveat this by saying it hasn't been all bad, but this experience has crystallized my understanding of modern social instability, transforming vague intuitions into visceral comprehension — I don't think I could design a better tool for psychological manipulation and instability if I tried, frankly. -My time on the platform has been a mixed bag, really. On the upside, I feel more plugged into what's happening, though whether I'm actually better informed is debatable. I've built some genuine connections too — despite my modest following, I've found myself enjoying real conversations and slowly making actual friends. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that memes have become my new addiction. +But my time on the platform has been a mixed bag, really. On the upside, I feel more plugged into what's happening, though whether I'm actually better informed is debatable. I've built some genuine connections too — despite my modest following, I've found myself enjoying real conversations and slowly making actual friends. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that memes have become my new addiction. -But the platform's darker side is impossible to ignore. There's this growing existential dread inside me — and while I can't blame it all on 𝕏, doom-scrolling certainly isn't helping. What's particularly concerning are the patterns I'm seeing: worrying trends among younger users, and equally disappointing behavior from my generation and older. Perhaps most troubling is how it's hammered my attention span and focus. +But the platform's darker side is impossible to ignore. There's this growing existential dread inside me — and while I can't blame it all on 𝕏, doom-scrolling certainly isn't helping. What's particularly concerning are the patterns I'm seeing: worrying trends among younger users, and equally disappointing behavior from my generation and older. Perhaps most troubling, though, is how it's hammered my attention span and focus. -And it's not just me. In a year that's already seen unprecedented attacks in the Red Sea, devastating floods in California, and mounting global tensions, our collective ability to process and respond to crisis seems more important than ever. Yet social media's constant doom cycle paradoxically numbs us to real issues while amplifying manufactured ones. As if this cascade of global crises wasn't enough — from supply chain disruptions to AI regulation battles — the tech community seems to be fracturing right when we need collaboration most. +And it's not just me. In a year that's already seen unprecedented attacks in the Red Sea, devastating fires & floods in California, and mounting global tensions, our collective ability to process and respond to crisis seems more important than ever. Yet social media's constant doom cycle paradoxically numbs us to real issues while amplifying manufactured ones. -All of this has me reconsidering my approach. What started as an experiment in engagement has become an unwitting study in human nature and power dynamics. It's also, frankly, an exercise in self control, even for someone who has grown to rely on their own ability to remain disciplined. Perhaps I need to take planned hiatus periodically, or hire an account manager? Not yet sure... + As if this cascade of global crises wasn't enough — from supply chain disruptions to social upheavals to AI regulation battles — the tech community seems to be fracturing right when we need collaboration most. All of this has me reconsidering my approach. + +What started as an experiment in engagement has become an unwitting study in human nature and power dynamics. It's also, frankly, an exercise in self control, even for someone who has grown to rely on their own ability to remain disciplined. Perhaps I need to take planned hiatus periodically, or hire an account manager? Not yet sure... Whatever the case, the real connections I've made are valuable, but my original criticisms of social media haven't just persisted — they've been validated more strongly than ever. For our purposes, though, there is one particular aspect that I have been thinking about a lot lately that ties into the topics I'd like to discuss in the rest of this post. -My experience on 𝕏 has highlighted a particularly troubling pattern: the replacement of meaningful discourse with performance. Where social media could be a powerful tool for knowledge sharing and mentorship, it instead rewards degredation into a arena of posturing and point-scoring. I've now watched countless opportunities for genuine learning transform into gladiatorial spectacles of utterly unfulfilling "dunks" & "ratios". But this isn't just about social media behavior — it's symptomatic of a deeper cultural shift in how we approach knowledge transfer and personal growth all together. +My experience on 𝕏 has highlighted a particularly troubling pattern: the replacement of meaningful discourse with performance. Where social media could be a powerful tool for knowledge sharing and mentorship, it instead rewards degredation into a arena of posturing and point-scoring. I've now watched countless opportunities for genuine learning transform into gladiatorial spectacles of utterly unfulfilling "dunks" & "ratios". + +While there is some real social utility in well placed [ridicule](https://nrd.sh/blog/12-years/#the-forgotten-utility-of-ridicule), that is decidedly *not* what happens in a majority of cases, sadly. But this isn't just about social media behavior — it's symptomatic of a deeper cultural shift in how we approach knowledge transfer and personal growth all together. ## From Mentor to Memelord & (Hopefully) Back Again