juliewolffang64 | No Bluesky; I Refuse (Reply)

Edited due to human error... Still learning the email functionality.

Like most folks, I don't agree with the way of how social media is going in terms of trying to appeal to a specific official. For me, that effort seems very futile and not worth all that work. I'm not a stranger to other socials, but the more I see folks using Bluesky because it's more like Twitter and is better - the more inclined I am to say no. And sometimes, not in a politely fashion. It has lately become more annoying than anything when I see folks with a Bluesky link but the thing I come back to is that they have openly made that decision and regardless of what others would say, they can still remain active as a user there.

I have given the space a try and I was able to get in during the invite only portion. Back then, it felt like a tame Twitter minus the trolls and the crybaby CEO. It was fairly straightforward and had no algorithm much like most of the other social alternatives I've tried. Both Pillowfort and Mastodon had no algorithm to limit posts. Heck, even the now defunct CoHost had no algorithm and worked wonderfully. The problem is more within algorithms and the concept of shadowbans. Most of that is probably best for another entry on its own.
Going back on topic: Bluesky can be a decent alternative to messy bird site, but it still has the setback of character limit. Not a huge deal except for the few that tend to post a ton of novel length status posts a majority of the time. The lists are closest thing to having am algorithm but it's also not restrictive. Handles and hashtags are part of the meta in the site so it's a decent replacement there too. But just like Twitter, I really don't think it's my cup of tea. And it's not just because of the character limitations.
While the lists can be helpful, there are some that can be used to mass block. On one hand, it's pretty fine if you just want to keep certain folks out. But then the other issue is that some use it in a malicious manner. I don't mean spreading viruses, but just adding folks to block because they are against use of artificial intelligence (like myself) or have a strong stance against NFT/Bitcoin (again, like myself). Most add them in the normal fashion of seeing their profile and blocking them the old fashion way.
Third party sites are where my next issue lies: blocked users are publicized. I'm not all for the idea of publicly saying folks are blocked by little Johnny or that Susan is blocked by the NFT herd. Both are quick thought examples, but the point of them is that I don't believe in the idea of sharing such information without consequences. If I block someone, I don't notify anyone close to them nor do I publicly say who and why. I admit to being terrible about saying vaguely I had to block someone but doxxing them is not exactly my intention. Most of it is bad venting habits...
To give credit where credit is due though, not everything about lists is bad, but the idea of blocks being publicly available if the person knows where to look feels pretty invasive to me. The only person that needs to know is the blocked and blockee.

My other issue came from the idea of a board member being involved with NFTs. I already vocalized my stance on the matter and I still do not believe that such a thing is going to help for the better. Even if it is, I know it's more than likely going to be temporary. Both NFTs and AI use a lot of energy and that's not something that needs to be done considering just how messed up the world is right now.
Regardless of that possibility of being spoofed by one with malicious intent is already the l wracking havoc on Bluesky, I still don't consider the option to create another account that is going to sit there and block one person from using it as their own. And like most other sites, there's a probability that BS mods might end up implementing some form of purging of inactive accounts because I had seen several other sites do so. Neopets and Subeta being two that come to mind pretty quick.
I say that because while I'm not a site hosting person, I've seen second hand that website hosting can be pretty pricey if you have a lot of active users. Even the ones that are on the site but aren't active surely take up some space in some aspect. So in a way, I'm saving myself the trouble of messing around with setting up another account and the mods of having to worry about yet another fodder account sitting idly.

To those with accounts already, I won't stop you considering you have the option to do that. Part of me hopes that some slip up would occur to where you find out the issues with an opened garden wall. Other part just wants you to enjoy what the heck ever you want. For me, I've already been burnt out and done with jumping from one social media to another trying to comprehend each one's issues. If in the end, I end up giving up on every single one aside from a select few like Backlogged and/or last.fm - that's perfectly okay.