This morning I saw a little alert that I'd been "mentioned" on Mastodon. I checked, and Phil Nunnally had "tooted" (it still feels weird, hence the scare quotes) "That was a fun meetup today!" with a link to his blog.

I think this illustrates one of the differences, and advantages, of "traditional" blogs versus the social media silos. I replied on Mastodon, but it was just to acknowledge that I'd seen the toot, and subscribed to his RSS feed. The real reply is here, where I have some time and a different environment, and different cues to compose it.

In composing this post, the image of the human "energy farms" from The Matrix came to mind. That's kind of how I regard social media companies. And the "matrix" is the "content" of social media apps:

It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

The "content" that we keep making, to keep getting likes, to keep us coming back. "Reality" is a hall of mirrors, funhouse mirrors at that.

There is no urgency to blogging. There can be a rhythm, a pace, and it can vary and often does. But if it feels "urgent," take a breath. Feelings pass.

The message may be urgent. Or not. Doesn't have to be urgent. Could just be a "cheese sandwich" post. But the point is, in general, I'm writing here from a place where I'm less reactive. Where I'm not looking for a reward, I'm looking to "see what I think," and share that.

And I'm not making anybody any money doing so. The only people whose paychecks may in some insignificant way depend on the marmot is the hosting company and Mark Bernstein. There is no financial dimension to this "conversation," because it's not a market. It's my backyard. And Phil's in his backyard, and we're just yakking over the fence.

We don't have to stay in the claustrophobic silos of endless provocation and outrage and churn to serve the interests and ideologies of the billionaire class.

We can return to the shire.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:12 Sunday, 25 February 2024