The world cannot be your community

I’ve found out, via Lex Friedman, that Marco Arment is making his comeback to social media via an announcement on his blog titled Community. Basically, my opinion is largely the same as Lex’s opinion.

It does feel like what Marco wants is to be able to say whatever he wants without pushback and not have to think about politics. That makes sense when you’re very well-off and in reality, even if you do not like the current administration, you’ll be perfectly fine.

I do understand not wanting to have to take on the world’s problems. You do need spaces where you don’t have to take on everything. It’s healthier to have your space where you can take a break from certain aspects of life even when your life gives off some real Thurston Howell III vibes. However, I think the problem is that a lot of people make is they still want that potential reach of ‘the whole world’ that social media gives but without the pushback.

I think especially when social media sites have algorithmic feeds, it’s just impossible for it to not eventually become toxic. The incentives will always be wrong, and it will always be ripe for bots or sock puppet accounts to take advantage of the algorithm.

Though even on a human scale it’s just not realistic to expect to have a controlled platform. If you broadcast your opinions in a pub, you will run a high risk of someone with an opposing opinion commenting.

It does feel coincidental that Marco made a new note-taking app (see: Post-show: Marco has something to share) and now wants to come back to social media. It’s hard not to feel jaded about that.

But, again, I understand wanting some time away from real life. It’s why I do not really promote this blog and I wouldn’t ever consider comments. I’m happy with this being my place to voice opinions. People may or may not find them, I can put it to the side and forget about it.

I could probably maximize it for my benefit, but I’m doing okay. I don’t need to turn my free time into a money / opportunity making scheme. I think it would be helpful if more people felt that way.

It feels like that’s how most of the original web worked before it went commercial. Sure, people would argue online, but we had plenty of different places and communities to go rather than stick to a select few corporate websites.

Marco should reconsider what he wants from a community and to be honest, maybe volunteering in a soup kitchen.