This is the conclusion I have started to come to as well, but it has been very difficult. The question I used to ask is “How do I contribute to something that overcomes the gravity well of the existing network effect?” And the answer, it turns out, is that it doesn’t really matter. People who want to come will come, and we are better off without the people who don’t. The fallacy of large N is pervasive. There is a happy spot where it’s just about perfect.

It’s hard to get used to the slower speed of these newer sites. I prefer it, but it took time to prefer it. You get so used to the speed of the giant networks and the emotions it triggers so frequently that the slower pace of smaller networks leaves you in withdrawal. This was why I didn’t use BlueSky as much as I used to use Twitter, but I’ve been starting to enjoy the slower pace of all of these services. I actually have more free time now because the tap runs dry and i log out for the day. I’ve been on the Internet since I was 11, back in 2001, and I’ve had to really wrack my brain to remember what it used to be like. Forums simply didn’t update at the speed sites do today, and I didn’t mind it.

Reddit is so full of bots and people pasting AI instead of posting themselves that it was beginning to make me feel genuinely insane. Using that site now is hazardous to your mental health. It always was, but now it is hazardous in entirely new ways. I just cannot believe the absolutely crazy stuff I see from people on there. The AI boosters are just unhinged there.