A lot of people have been reassessing their relationships with social media at this time of annual resolution making. One of the rallying cries has been Cheri's No Social Media Club which makes a lot of interesting points, chief among them those who claim to be quitting social are the f... colinwalker.blog

@colinwalker One way to think about writing for a digital audience from a sociological perspective would be that you wanting to write is an emergent property of being part of a (digital) social structure. What you write, why you write is less dependent on (only on) you and more a question of you being made to write by that structure. In other words: You are not the first mover in your writing. Removing mb from your blog will surely change what you are writing about, but that’s because you change the structure you are a part of. I would think that it could be an interesting thing to explore but I don’t think it will make a huge positive difference in your relationship to your public writing. IMHO interrogating the relationship as is could be more beneficial. Also: I would miss your voice on here!

@colinwalker Absolutely love reading this and I share so many of these thoughts. Thanks for putting in black and white.

@stevebrady Thanks Steve. It was interesting to see what came out.

@matti I think that's what I've already been doing. It is a strange, largely one-sided relationship with m.b — I push to the feed and can respond to replies without leaving the blog but then almost never reciprocate. I am not invested in the timeline. I follow some via RSS and occasionally dip in to m.b in order to reply (if other options aren't available) but there is generally a disconnect between my actions and the audience there; it feels somehow selfish. It also emphasises the point about convenience: it's easy to dive into a timeline and have everyone in one place bit that comes with immense distraction and irrelevance, even there. I much prefer intentional following, RSS feeds or visiting sites directly.

What I write is unaffected by m.b itself. If I am influenced by those on it it is because I follow them elsewhere or follow someone who shares a link rather than by any engagement within the timeline. It sounds a bit crass but that is the reality of the situation. I want my relationships on the web to be more bi-directional and that's not going to happen by me engaging with a timeline.

@patrickrhone Thanks Patrick 🙏

@colinwalker I hear you. I don’t think it’s selfish. Expectations in and around social structures are a funny thing: You seldom guess right. Similarly intentionalities are what you make of “being made to do” something (else), IMHO. Whatever you decide to do: I enjoy your writing and don’t expect reciprocal behavior.

@colinwalker To add to @matti's reply, I don't think it's selfish either. By blogging, you're making the web a little better. By having your posts in Micro.blog, you're making the timeline a little better too for people here. Whether you engage with the Micro.blog community often or just every once in a while is a personal choice, and most people go through phases of being more or less active.

@colinwalker Thank you to both yourself and @cheri for putting voice (or written words) to these thoughts. They have certainly been going through my mind, and though I too use writing as a way to think, I have not written my way through these thoughts yet.

You said,

These thoughts went in directions I wasn't entirely anticipating — a perfect demonstration of using the written word to explore how I feel.

And I appreciate you for writing them, and others words that you write, whether you reciprocate elsewhere or not. Your gift to us is the sharing of what you do share - something that you could just as well keep to yourself should you choose. Through sharing your honest ruminating, my own world is enriched.

@colinwalker This was a really great and thought-provoking post, Colin! It’s human nature to question why we do the things we do, and everyone is different in terms of what—and where—they feel compelled and comfortable sharing. I echo @manton in saying it’s not selfish at all to share your posts on the timeline but remain in a less active role. Once again, everyone’s different and has different goals for their writing. At the end of the day, however, you’re still sharing your thoughts and words with others and having an impact.

Through that sharing I believe we all experience a real-world version of a collective consciousness or mindshare, and despite our sometimes unique views we often come to discover we’re not so different after all.

@matti Thanks. Much still to think on.

@manton Thanks Manton. I know you've said that before but it means a lot.

@crossingthethreshold Thank you David 🙏

@pimoore Much appreciated Pete.

@manton And I must say that your dedication to supporting the IndieWeb, so that I can reply on my blog but still have the replies show up in place on m.b, is much appreciated.