There’s been lot of talk these days about users fleeing from X to Bluesky. I’m one of them.
I wrote about this already, but it’s worth repeating that I don’t use social media to find fullfilment, validation, or happiness. I know I won’t find any of those – quite the opposite, in fact.
I quit Instagram and Facebook years ago and never looked back. Recently, I quit X as well.
I don’t have a business around my photography, so I can do whatever I want and I can even afford to lose all my audience overnight, but I still feel the need to have some audience, so that’s why I keep using some social networks instead of abandoning them all.
I’m not that much of a people person in real life, even less online, and I don’t find particularly enjoyable to interact with a lot of people at the same time. I prefer smaller circles, quieter groups.
X has become a noisy mess, riddled with NFT nonsense and an increasing amount of AI-generated images. So, goodbye.
Let’s see what I use now and why – keeping in mind that I use social networks to publish my work and to find and follow other photographers whose works I like. I don’t need to discuss politics or other matters. Just photography.
There is, however, a common trait that I’d like to point out: all the following platforms show, by default, posts from the people or groups you actively follow, in strict cronological order.
Mastodon
Mastodon is a decentralized network of nodes (called instances) that talk to each other. If you and I are on different nodes, we can still follow one another and interact.
The software is getting more polished over time and I find a good level of humane interaction on there although, as I mentioned, I’m not one that interacts a whole lot.
Because Mastodon is quite niche, I can’t find my favorite photographers there, but there are quite a few worth following for inspiration.
I treat this social network as the “long-haul” option. I believe it’s here to stay, but probably it won’t get beyond a certain level of usage because it’s a tad bit too complicated for the average user. The idea that you have to pick an instance to sign up to is a bit unusual and, while it’s the main advantage of Mastodon, it’s a barrier to entry at the same time. At least for now.
Most instances are managed and paid for by volunteers. I have an active account on photog.social and I donate a (very small) amount every month to my instance to help and keep it running.
Bluesky
Bluesky is a Twitter clone. It was initially created at Twitter, in fact, and later spun off. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s gaining a lot of traction during these weeks.
I like the experience there, probably because it feels like Twitter in the good ol’ days. I’m not sure what will become of it, but for now I actively post on my account and I’ve found many great photographers to follow.
Flickr
Flickr is the undead of photo-centric social networks. Everybody knows Flickr and nobody uses it.
And yet, there’s lots of stuff going on there!
Because free accounts can only upload 1000 photos, I only post portfolio-level images there. There are many interesting groups where I regularly add my photos, but I almost never participate in discussions (see above).
Because the platform is so old, there are quite a few dead accounts and groups, but the experience is mostly smooth.
The Outsider: Nostr
Until a couple weeks ago I didn’t even know about Nostr. To sum it up, it mostly works like Mastodon, except that your user profile and your posts are not stored on specific server, but instead they are spread across a number of relays and signed by your very own asymmetric cryptography key.
Also, users are identified with their public key (a very long sequence of letters and numbers), which is quite unusable even for a nerd like me. Also, it seems like Nostr is somewhat tied to cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
I created an account on the Nostr network, but I don’t plan to use it. Heck, I’m not even sure where it’s stored.
What’s Next?
So, will I ever return to X? Instagram? Probably not.
Who knows?
I wish that all social media platforms were interoperable with one another, but I know that’s utopian. Mastodon, Bluesky, and Nostr are all built on open protocols, but they’re incompatible by all practical means. It’s quite disappointing because the Internet thrived, in fact, because it’s built on open standards and specifications. Social networks should work together to… Oh, wait.
For now, I am content where I am and I always keep my eyes open for new things. As always, I want to focus on my website and prints, books and zines. Oh, and I have launched a newsletter.