The local versions I’ve tested out today are absolutely garbage. It frustrated me over simple questions.

I somewhat disagree. They don’t want to forget, they want to finish the job. They have immense pride in something they should feel shame for. That, I think, is the issue. The unwillingness to feel shame, so they replace that feeling with over-zealous pride.

I can agree with that; but I also think that the average person has not the attention span for long form “macro-blogging” to use it as much as something like twitter or bluesky or microblogging platforms. I think this is why things like vine, tiktok, and twitter are so popular; its because they are all short form content. Things like tumblr, which I’m sure has declined for other reasons, but I’m also sure it is because no one wants to read a whole blog of someone they don’t know, but they might read a few words or sentences and if they agree or find it funny or like it for whatever reason, they would be inclined to follow and keep up with that person and may be more inclined to read or give a chance to their content that is of longer form.

Fair enough, I just figured that as a social network, part of the goal is to connect new people together. You can look at Facebook in the same way you described it. That’s what its original purpose was. To just connect with people you already know, but I feel like social networking in general has since evolved from this. We can look at things like Facebook groups for example where it is more on the lines of what I’m thinking, people join groups that interest them and interact with like minded people that they have likely never met before.

I find the idea of using hashtags as the same.

I’m starting to realize that too. I might be more active on one than the other but it’s nice to have them all because it seems like a fuller experience; I am starting to see how they are complimentary.

I think either mastodon or pixelfed. I’m sure we are due to get a specific crowd — just from the political climate at the moment.

Very valid! This guy is like 38 though so I think he has gotten to the age where he has streamed for so long that it’s second nature but using a new social media that isn’t familiar enough seems like a hassle I guess? I feel those closer to my age, people in their 20’s, are either a bit intimidated by it or feel that there is a lack of people and content because it’s hard to find relevant “tweets” (or whatever the equivalent is called). That was my biggest thing when I first tried it a few years ago. I had this “so… what now…?” Feeling. It felt like the social was missing from it. I’m a little bit better at finding things to engage with; such as now, but I can somewhat remember the feeling I had that originally deterred me till now.

Nice to know! I think lemmy has been meeting my needs pretty well, as there are no limits that I’m aware of here. What would be compelling for something like write.as and writefreely?

Thanks for the tip – new to fediverse altogether and my most annoying challenge is the social aspect of finding people to connect with and making an interesting feed! Lemmy has been the easiest; right above friendica!

Not sure; I guess as a new person, I’d like to find micro blogs about topics and things that I might agree with? I was never really into twitter or micro-blogging; I don’t really understand the appeal but I figure since it is a social media, you might want to find similar people with like-minded blogs or whatever? Like I found a new up-coming political streamer that I like from another. Maybe that isn’t what micro-blogging is for and I’m off base.

Not Acer. I’ve been burnt by them too much in the past.

Well, I am intrigued! I’ll give it a look; thank you!

That and finding relevant things or anything at all sometimes; also I hear that people want to see everything like a friendica environment but don’t like the differences from the social medias they know already. I’m not sure if it is all valid or relevant because I am extremely new to the fediverse in general myself.

That is pretty amazing – do you continue reading a book you don’t particularly like? It is hard for me to continue something that doesn’t captivate me; especially with fiction. Are you more of a fiction or non-fiction reader? Or both?

I’m the same way… especially with the MMO genre. It’s really sad but I just end up playing the same games these days.

Very good point lol, that is a great way to put it – I might have to steal that from ya next time I’m bickering with some gaming friends.

I can’t even bring myself to do that – I feel like it would be time wasted and get mad at myself for not having better and faster judgement lol. Better than me for at least giving it a try instead of researching and deciding based on that alone!

This is totally valid and understandable. Do you find yourself feeling this way in media as well; like TV shows or movies? BoJack Horseman comes to mind when you mentioned unlikable characters you are supposed to root for. I can’t say that I’ve had that experience within a book but I do find myself in certain shows rooting for some characters that are assholes or unlikable.

I can’t say that I have found much humorous works – though I haven’t particularly looked for it. The best I can think of is Christopher Hitchens’ “Hitch 22” memoir having some funny moment in there. Do you have any recommendations?

I am the same way with not reading more. It is why I choose super thick books to try to make the experience last longer if I like it. I end up rereading the same things until I might stumble upon something else. Is there a book or some books you find yourself rereading for comfort or extended enjoyment? I imagine this might be more difficult with fiction.

That is interesting, you don’t find that world building further engulfs you in the setting; or is it that when world building is overdone? I see this complaint a lot with The Lord of the Rings, and agree that it can be overdone – however I do feel that verbose world building done right can be extremely immersive. What do you think? Do you prefer simple settings and descriptions? We might differ on vocabulary usage, I find that learning new words in fiction can be a bit fun, though distracting, to your point; but I find overusing normal words can be a dull and banal experience. Do you like sprinkles of strange words in small dosages or do you prefer just normal words with as little honeyed words as possible?

I can agree with you there – I am not a big fan of Peterson myself, even before becoming a fan of Destiny and Dawkins; but I do find myself more engaged when reading things I disagree with to strengthen my arguments and worldview. Have you ever had this experience?

I agree – especially after a particularly good book, it can be hard to find something to follow up with!

I’m not a fan of fiction in general; but especially YA fiction; did you ever like YA fiction when you were younger, and have outgrown the genre or has it never really been your thing?

Ah I see, I sort of like reading things I disagree with; even in fiction. (I am extremely picky with fiction.) I find it more interesting to argue with characters in my head or in journals and sometimes they might poke holes in my belief system that I have to think about in order to patch it up – if it can be. It seems to be more rewarding to read unlikable characters; do you agree?

Very true, but I figured it can’t be that much more difficult than reading Robert Burton’s compendium “The Anatomy of Melancholy.” And that is true, I read that in the introduction of the copy I have, which is interesting. How do you feel about it? Apparently it is a very polarizing work.