🧵1/7: A #longthread on #bluesky / #bridge / #echochambers.

🧵1/7: A #longthread on #bluesky / #bridge / #echochambers.

Following @Gargron's decision to opt out of the Bluesky bridge, most likely driven by the platform's official verification of the #ICE account, and one last pointless interaction with a Bluesky account holder,
I decided to follow suit & sever my own Bluesky ties. I realised the idea of echo chambers was probably a myth invented by the giant #socialmedia platforms to prevent users from fleeing. Let me explain.
https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/115912977448929626

🧵2/7: I adopted @bsky.brid.gy early on, when I was still recovering from having left #Twitter & was concerned about critical mass & engagement.

Now? There's only 2 #bluesky accounts I'd miss & stand to lose a handful of followers. Nothing that justifies staying. The nail in the coffin was a recent interaction with a Bluesky user who identified as " a bleeding-heart #liberal and compulsive speculator rambling about saving the world" ...

🧵3/7:... who chose #Bluesky because "it is a #community who care about others with a lot of #cooperative energy". When I suggested Bluesky might not quite be that, he answered he was "not concerned with ownership structures" and didn't "see validating a government department as facilitating #fascism."
And that's when it hit me: must I really contend with that level of reflection?
Staying bridged to Bluesky is often seen as an effort to step out of the #echochamber & reaching across the aisle.

🧵4/7: But who said that a personal #socialmedia account was the only route to engage with people "who don't agree with you"?
Before the age of either #Mastodon or #Bluesky or even #Facebook, I only had to contend with the odd #racist cabbie or the random drunk City banker lecturing me on Malthus. Now they are IN MY FUCKING FACE every day, several times a day. Since when has that become the norm?
I'll tell you about another place where this wasn't the norm...

🧵5/7: ...#Home. As far as I am aware, nobody is expecting me to open my door to #nazis, genocidal #zionists, #antivaxxers, nor invite #obscurantism champions for dinner to ensure they can share "their side of the story". So why should I invite them in the palm of my hand in every room in my home?
The reason why #polarisation has exploded isn't because we don't engage on #socialmedia, it's BECAUSE we engage with #algorithms that favour conflict ("it bleeds, it leads" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01538-4)

🧵6/7: If the #home remained the sanctuary it is supposed to be, if we didn't willingly accept an invasion of our private spaces by #techbros, we would have more energy to engage #IRL as we used to, using the physical third spaces that wouldn't have been commodified by #billionaires, so we could keep on meeting a #diversity of people.

🧵7/7: So no, I am not afraid of being stuck in an #echochamber by choosing to cut my #bluesky bridge and choosing to live exclusively in the #fediverse. If/when I decide to do an undercover stint, I'll do it at work or as part of a #campaigning project (where I maintain observation accounts on major platforms). In the meantime, I'll reclaim dominion over my #home, my brain & my #mentalhealth.

@sheislaurence Ironically your post is probably the first time I've ever seen the topic of nazis etc come up in my Mastodon feed.

@lloydjatkinson a good sign and my profuse apologies

@sheislaurence good topic. I also deactivated my 2.1K account on #Bluesky just week ago, when I saw verified accounts of both and JD Vance on there. 2.1K followers maybe cool for me as an artist, but the idea of being on the same platform with and Vance, official accounts of Republican Party & including many government officials of Iran's Mullah Regime not feels right and maked me unsafe & uncomfortable. So deactivated my Bluesky account and came here on #Mastodon. & already I feel safe here

@ArtofAlexCanEmed congrats for taking the plunge, you had more to lose than I did but ultimately it sounds like you knew exactly where true value lies ️

@sheislaurence I used to liken the feeling of being on Mastodon to a Ghibli Studio film. It's less the case now, but still, with that in mind, it's a bit like if idiots were asking "but why don't those films have more violence, hate and sex, you must have that side of the story!"

@axx well Miyazaki did Grave of the Fireflies in case anyone wants a punch to the gut in terms of violence ! But i get what you mean, not everything has to be everything to everyone, in fact sanity dictates that we should make choices to survive and evolve. And while bigotry, sexism etc... 100% exist in the #fediverse, not only there's no #algorithm pushing it in my face, but there's plenty of tools (at instance and individual level) to filter them out.

@sheislaurence ha yes, i did think of Grave of the Fireflies but you know, the general idea is there

Agreed, there is bigotry of all sorts, but it's not rewarded and there are attempts at managing it. It makes a world of difference.