Quit Twitter about 6 years ago because of related issues. Checked out Mastodon, but apart from the distributed aspect it just seems like more of the same, as in an evolution upon the experience of watching TV, in the internet era. I've been quite happy without it since.
We followed a similar path and my experience was mostly the same. I wanted the fediverse to be a positive social thing in my life, I gave it a few years but in practice it felt sadly similar. Reading Amusing Ourselves to Death over the holiday helped me understand my relationship to infotainment a little better. (And I'm conflicted about this site too honestly...)
This book should be required reading in school. I read it when I was around 18 and it vaccinated me profoundly for all things entertainment industry, be it video games, TV or social media. I partake, but there always comes a point where I get that Clockwork Orange gag reaction at some point and am driven away.
And yes, this site is of quality content, but it is still the same opiate.
Very true, but HN has a hard limit on how much time I will spend here. A few stories on the main page plus sometimes comments, and that's it for the day. Social media is designed to eliminate that limit, I used to be able to spend an entire day scrolling Twitter.
I'm fine with HN personally because there is no infinite scrolling, plus a significant number of the posts/comments here teach me something new every day.
Everytime there's some article about Netflix, Facebook, or the like there's a bunch of people telling everyone they quit and how their life is better, etc.
Many times the article isn't even about quitting social media, just some controversy. I wonder if some percentage of those people are right-wing and wait for a chance to jump in so they can harm companies they disagree with.
I love how it has become a right-wing thing to hate corporations. Those poor left-wing global megacorps, constantly attacked by the evil anti-corporate right.
