I first joined Facebook in 2004. Back then, it was restricted to college students. It was novel, and kind of fun. In the blink of an eye, it became the way to connect with people. My “friend count” grew well beyond a top 8 to hundreds, then I broke a thousand friends. Robin Dunbar knows the next chapter. Basically, I learned that you can’t actually have 1,000+ real friends.

As time passed, social networks came and went (R.I.P. Google+, Friendster, Orkut, Periscope, etc.). The companies behind the surviving and thriving social networks desperately found ways to keep the attention of their users. From where I was sitting, it looked a lot like a race to the bottom. Around that time, terms like “doom scrolling” were introduced to describe the inability of people to look away.

When I was a kid, even basic facts were hard to find (“How tall is Shaq? Maybe the announcer will mention it on the coverage of the next Lakers game.”). Not that much later, the world’s information got organized. Then a strange thing happened. Facts got “democratized” and became hard to find again.

One survey found that only 2/3 of millenials believe the earth is round. Despite being a minority, there may be literally millions of Americans who believe that the Earth is flat, and millions more who are undecided. Now imagine these millions of people are on your social media platform. Or maybe you don’t have to imagine. Perhaps some small percentage of these people are flagging posts claiming the Earth is round as misinformation. What is a social platform to do? In the gruff words of George Carlin, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”

Social media is a convenient scapegoat for the ills of society. But I think the truth is more complicated. All platforms that grow sufficiently large will experience difficult problems because of the sheer numbers of people involved.

In the physical neighborhood where I live, there are practical limitations to the number of people I will encounter. However, it is important to me to feel safe. Online, I want Trust and Safety to be prioritized by the platform.

When I invest in a home, it’s costly to leave. It’s hard to move an online community, too. But sometimes it’s worth it for a new experience or a new opportunity. I “moved in” to Bluesky last year, but I didn’t meet my metaphorical neighbors until more recently. Bluesky is growing and I am hopeful that it will be a great place to stay for a while. Or at least that it beats the alternatives.

This definitely isn't Twitter, right?

— Adam Bernot (@bernot.dev) Nov 25, 2023 at 5:14 PM