Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between.
More coffee, please.
Blue Skies.
There’s a notion a big migration is happening from SM sites to Blue Sky. You may think the Xitter and Threads but there’s movement from Instagram itself and, behold, from TikTok! It’s “a thing”, apparently. I created a bsky account some 8 months ago, “just in case”. It really doesn’t work for me, though.
The case in “just in case” was (and still is) the real possibility the “algorithm” will kick me out of Threads permanently. Back when I created the bsky account the interface and functionality there were appalling compared to Threads. Recently I went back (I am keeping a moderate presence there) and I noticed many improvements. Not enough for me. Of course being able to “block block” swathes of magats and having toxic accounts banned by the app itself is cool, but…
Considerations about algorithms or lack there of aside the main reason for me not to adopt bsky over Threads is what you are doing: reading. The initial premise of Threads is the threading itself, what came to be known as a string of threads since thread is the word we use for the posts here. As a content writer, writer being the key word, this remains very appealing to me. Even though I created a blog for elaborate long threads I still find pleasure posting them like this.
The same pleasure I find reading other people’s strings of threads. This app was made for it. It’s an app for readers and thinkers. I also love not just the sense of community but the fact we built it from scratch. We smash the algorithm every day by self moderating and selecting the parameters that define our environment. I even got to get rid of the porn bots that way! Of course it takes time and effort but it works.
Now most will probably prefer short bursts of text and lots of memes “à la” Twitter, and the fact the TikTok crowd finds Blue Sky attractive has a hidden clue in it, but for me it’s about writing and community. For those reasons, although as I said keeping an account on bsky, I will only leave Threads if I am kicked out. And that may well happen. I am following my own advice and not conceding in advance. Consider it as well.
Some who migrated already are elated by their fast growing follower numbers and compare their slow rate of new followers on Threads to that flooding on Blue Sky. Maybe. My personal experience confirms following rises fast on bsky, I had a handful of them before I started using it again two or three days ago and I am over 1K now. Not much but more growth than here. However, after a period of ups and downs I am again on the path to 9K followers here. Will that happen?
And if I do ever reach 9K will it last? How long will it take to reach the mythical 10K? Oh, the anxiety! I am joking, of course. To me it never was about huge followings, that’s just an indicator and to be honest I have already a lot of work trying to keep up with the engagement I have as it is - and thank you for it, by the way. It is much appreciated. I know reach is important and information is key, but there’s another key factor in this battle for knowledge: thought.
Not just the ability to make people think but to do so in an elaborate way, expanding ideas coherently (or at least trying!) so that others have what we call food for thought. Some are brilliant enough to do that with a few words on one post or an outstanding meme. Others, like me, are not as gifted and require space to maneuver in the realm of words. Yes, I have heard of Substack. I have a blog instead and I know it’s old fashioned.
Bottom line is I am an old fart that likes to think and pass it along so others think too. Threads is not my soap box or my high horse and I don’t really want to become numb by being overwhelmed by tens of thousands of followers I will never be able to know as well as I know many of the few who do now. I like it like that. I know I make you think and I know you make others think. I am just a ripple in the ocean, creating other ripples.
That’s fine by me. I am not telling you I wish you didn’t migrate to whatever new trendy app is out there just that I hope you still hang out here and keep finding food for thought in my words, so often not good enough to express my feelings. And keep thinking about our world with a little perspective from my point of view. Because all I write is just that: my opinion. Based on facts as much as can be but still an opinion.
I do hope Threads improves; there’s a lot wrong with it but this one fundamental thing they got right from the beginning: it’s a good vessel for writers and readers. And these two categories of people tend to be thinkers. In a world of short bursts and immediate satisfaction I choose to be a threader because I am a writer and a reader and I like food for thought. I trust those who think this way will remain. For those of you who do I will be here, writing. It’s what I do.
