I don’t try to cultivate a big follower list, I didn’t do that on Twitter, and don’t do it here. Regardless, in 3 years on Mastodon, I have managed to nearly double the number of followers that I had on Twitter. So that’s cool. Thanks. :)
I don’t really understand why that result is different as the way I interact is basically the same… following people that follow me and vice versa. And occasionally, a yearly basis?, I find myself unfollowing people and resources for various reasons.
On Twitter, the unfollowing was mostly because so many accounts seemed to be fake or bots. But here it is more about curation. It is so much easier to get good content on the Fediverse from many vectors, people yes, but also hashtags, lists, federated blogs, aggregators, and the like. Following people is less crucial.
It is an under appreciated advantage of the Fediverse and #opensocial web that starts to break what I feel is one of the most destructive aspects of traditional social media I call: The Illusion of Popularity
From adolescence we are often taught that being universally “followed” or “admired” for good or ill means you have more worth.
But is that really true? In Real Life, is a person with one good friend automatically better than one with many friends? Or is it more about your impact in the community or just impact on yourself and those you choose to interact with?
Afterall there is nothing wrong with cultivating your own obscurity. Some people seek that out.
Perhaps, if the #opensocialweb is truly successful, there will be little nooks and crannies of it that will host those folks who just want to… be.
Introverts, hermits, lurkers, “the silent masses”….whatever you might label them, there is nothing wrong with them, they just are. Traditional social media was built to convince us that everyone has to be important, an influencer, a leader, when many many of us, just want to be.
I hope the #Fediverse can be a place where both of those types of people can thrive.
#socialmedia #followers #following #values
