Digital Minimalism and philosophy in tech

Jake, I'd say that Mastodon (on the right instance) is very much so like Twitter circa 2009-2011 (a lot of engagement, no algorithms, no ads, etc). But for me, I can't use Masto because I get caught up in the vanity/boredom/expectancy of interaction type of mindset. Twitter ruined me, in a way. Haha.

It's for the better, because now I don't deal with any of it. Masto def works for some, though. And that is good.

Paolo and Noisy – I've used Mastodon off and on over the years, but it never really took off for me. (I'm on writing.exchange as @jakel1828.) But you two have convinced me to put a bit more effort into it.

tmo – Maybe social media is just nasty at its core and I'm just naively holding on to the hope of something like Twitter's early days, before the algorithms ruined everything. :)

I haven't read Digital Minimalism, but I've subscribed to Cal Newport's blog, Study Hacks since early-2020. That was several months after I had deleted my last two remaining social media accounts (Instagram/Twitter), and there was definitely good info within the blog about “tips” or concepts or even perspective (or philosophy in tech) regarding refraining from social media use.

I tend to be a lazy reader, so I doubt I'll get around to reading Digital Minimalism, but at this point I've more or less “diagnosed” and “came to terms with” how I used social media, how toxic it was (for me – others, too, more than likely), and how there truly is nothing to be gained from social media (other than possibly promotional reach for a BIG influencer/celebrity in regards to a product or event).

Anyway, good post, Jake. Stay well :)

I read Cal Newport's book in 2019 and decided to delete my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts while I was going through his proposed exercises. I remember being annoyed by the algorithms when they started showing up (circa 2016) and I tried to solve that by unfollowing stuff and curating my timeline but in the end I never had control over it. And that annoyed me a lot!

I've been using Mastodon more recently and it's a totally different experience from Twitter, it feels more like a discussion forum, which I prefer.

I also prefer the desktop experience (and a full sized keyobard), so I choose to have the smallest smartphone available to be less tempted to do things on the phone.

I also prefer the desktop experience for the better legibility and screen area, as well as the productivity a keyboard provides.

The algorithms make me almost completely invisible to Twitter, so I gave Mastodon a shot and everything changed. Now I have more engagement and interesting conversations on Mastodon with an order of magnitude fewer followers than on Twitter.