It’s been a while since I disappointed my thousands of alleged ‘followers’ on Twitler and went out on a journey to find a new social media home. Tried nearly all of them, ended up on Mastodon and Threads. Least worst is a sad but apt description. Mastodon sometimes feels like it’s for people who mumble to themselves at parties avoiding eye contact. But quite a few people I have respected over the years have ended up there as exemplary citizens – and at least it’s honest. On the other hand Threads is a jumble of tortured souls desperate to be noticed. It’s mostly dishonest. The ‘algorithm’ twists and turns the conversation, ignoring time and relevance.
Threads is useful in keeping on eye on what the average ‘creator’ is thinking, or at least what the ‘algorithm’ thinks they are thinking. My first day was a deluge of people who wanted to know why Spotify hadn’t recognised their supreme talent. I mean a mind-numbing endless list of people who are dumbfounded by their lack of immediate fame on Spotify. In fact Spotify is not even wanting to host their gift to mankind! 1000 plays a year! The conversation is sure that it’s a scam to be outsmarted.
It’s very very VERY tempting to step in with 40+ years of experience to give advice BUT – count to ten – what to say? I was tempted to a quick slap – “if you know what genre of music you’re making then somebody has already made it, so don’t bother” – then I thought to be helpful – what does a person from 40+ years ago really know? I’ve mostly sold physical media. Yes I have also made a good amount from Spotify (441,820 plays in the last year) but it’s all from a few titles. My audience is mostly granddads. Not helpful.
Yes I’ll show my stats. Because honesty.
Or is it? Because when I was young it was indie cassette labels. Hundreds of them sprang up after the original pioneers. In Sydney the shops that sold our tapes had to eventually ban cassettes from their shelves – too many. There were printed books that tried to list cassette labels around the world – the Contact List of Electronic Music was just one of them. There has always been an over supply and you have to cut through.
So there’s likely no conversation to be had, and I’ve sadly started to religiously swipe/erase posts from the kids. Instead I want to hear from people who can teach ME. I’ve discovered a man that worked on the design of DisneyWorld and I am grateful for his experience and guidance. Another person is a commentator on Immersive design and again this is a great help to my own efforts. It must be said I now follow them both on more traditional blogs than Threads because the ‘algorithm’ keeps dunking me back into the average user and their navel gazing.
(Worst part is that some people have worked out that the ‘algorithm’ is based on engagement. So if you ask a stupid question a lot of people will answer it – no – fight each other to deride the question – and that stupid question rises to the top of the thread.)
But the sheer number of people compensates. If you work hard you will find good people on Threads. I would love to bring their voices back to Mastodon but the technology is half hearted. I can post my words on both but not share the good messages back home.
