I really was. Despite not feeling very well, and not due to New Year’s Eve for once, I wanted to publish something today. Not because I had much to say, but because I am on a bit of a roll lately and have found that the act of wanting to write something usually pushes something into my mind.
This is in stark contrast to my thoughts a few months ago, where I chose to keep quiet unless I had something to say.
Following my link post talking about bullet journals, I received quite a few replies. Many from those that have, like me, tried and failed to use physical tools, but some from advocates. One worth noting was from sketch noter Chris Wilson, and my response was something I wanted to expand on.
I have come to terms with the fact that, despite my love of physical things, digital tools suit me better.
Jon Porter writing in The Verge about his move back to apps rather than a physical journal via Robert Rackley:
Having to write each task out manually turned a to-do from something I could just file away in an app and forget about into something that I had to manage on a daily basis.
I have tried manual task lists about as often as I try physical journaling. It falls down when I begin to forget to carry the book around, or I start missing things because I forgot to write it down.
Sarah Frier pointing out that DJ Khaled is not your friend:
This year, social media mostly stopped offering a window into the lives of our loved ones. It turns out that the social part of social media, which helped shape human behavior online and off for more than a decade, is proving to be something of a fad.
This tracks with almost every other news story about social media that doesn’t involve Musk.
The indieweb has become an important part of my decision-making when it comes to online things. It wouldn’t stop me from using a new service if support was lacking, but it would form a large chunk of the decision-making. I think it’s essential to make sure where you put your content and spend your time is a good place. Not only that is supports you as a person, but also the web as a whole.
There isn’t usually much to report from my Christmas day. We spend the day, like most of those that celebrate, eating too much and being thankful for everything we have. This year has been a tough year for us all, with personal struggles and economic issues to contend with. However, this has led to considerable personal growth.
My son has been working really hard on his confidence and social skills since going to secondary school.
I usually pick something that I want to focus on for the coming year. The past couple have gone by in a blur of COVID and other issues so I haven’t put as much attention towards them as I’d like. Last year, I wanted to watch more films as a way of getting back my attention and returning to a lost love, but I failed miserably. This year I am picking something more important to me than ever before, I feel like I’m getting old, so my theme this year is slower.
When users first log into Mastodon after fleeing Twitter, I can almost guarantee that this is one of their first thoughts. The “Social networking that’s not for sale” didn’t aim to be the detox drug for those seeking to ween themselves off the bird site, but despite its claims to be radically different, it offers the perfect replacement. Mastodon doesn’t work as well though, and that’s a good thing.
There’s just no getting around the fact that Mastodon looks and feels very much like Twitter.
The original title to this post used the word agonising. It was a bit too strong, but perhaps displayed the annoyance and thought that I have put into not repeating the same social media mistakes. In its simplest form, I can’t decide what to do with my social media usage, and that means I’m doing everything just in case.
The issue all stems from Twitter. I can’t allow myself to get to a stage where I feel like I have to use a noisy service that’s bad for my brain.
Nathan Schneider for Norma mag:
Scalability explains a lot of what seems wrong with social media. Content moderation at scale needs to be semi-automated, which often means applying universal rules without context or nuance. And when abuse, harassment and misinformation drive engagement, the incentive is to address it in a way that doesn’t threaten business.
There have been many words written about how large scale social media doesn’t really have an incentive to get rid of hate.