#instagram is one of the worse social media apps i use it only to post my own photography and scroll on my fyp which is well curated somehow

[milkstoner]

I don't have an insta 😔

I do have to respect that honestly.

[mcromwell]

Four years ago, I installed TikTok and began making art videos to promote my art business. I steadily got better at making videos, had a few big hits, grew my follower count to 75k (my largest on any social platform ever, to this day) and even qualified for the app's creator program, which netted me a fair chunk of change for a few months. Right when I started considering it an integral part of my business, engagement started tanking. Despite my follower count and trying to keep up with trends and editing techniques designed to retain viewers, my videos went from getting about 10k views to less than a thousand--that's not even 10% of my follower-count. The app slowly stopped recommending my videos to anyone, followers or on the FYP. For months. And then after TikTok was voted to be banned in the US, it got even worse, and the CEO even stated in his video addressing the ban that they would "not be able to pay creators as much due to spending more money on legal fees to challenge the vote". At that time I was grimly reminded of what I already knew about social media sites: they aren't your friend and they don't care about you. They'll give you something "nice" (a chance at monetization and virality) with the hope that you'll keep making content for their content farm, and when your videos don't get views, the gambling mindset of "maybe next video will do well" or "the algorithm is just weird right now, maybe it will improve if I just keep going" will keep you addicted.

I finally hit a wall. I can't waste my time. I have very little time to achieve what I want to due to my health. So making videos that get 300 views and no comments is definitely a waste of my time. I used to say good things about the algorithm, how it shows you niche things instead of only just the popular stuff, but clearly that isn't the case. My videos posted elsewhere get tons more interactions and engagement. I am stepping back from TikTok for a while; I even uninstalled it. The endless scrolling is not good for me, either.

All that to say: art videos will be less frequent. The only places I'd be making them for is Instagram and YouTube, and I think if I'm going to pick one to focus on, it'll be Youtube. Subscribe to my channel here, where I am slowly uploading my entire TikTok catalogue of hundreds of art videos.

TikTok did great things for me when it worked. It was really exciting for me to hear folks at in-person events say stuff like, "Oh, I saw a video of this painting!" "Your process is so fun to watch!" I won't forget the support everyone gave me. Thank you.

I hope to use this extra time to focus on my practice more. I want to lean into sketchbook bundle downloads, Patreon, and just simply drawing more! Exploring more! We'll all benefit from that. So here's to newer, healthier directions.

💖 M

[abacus-jpg]

Anyone else not understand why people are moving to cara. Like I understand it’s because ai and shit,, but like. What confuses me is as long as your art is on the internet, aslong as you chose to post your art online anywhere, doesn’t matter where, it is prone to being stolen by ai. To me ai is nothing more then when people trace your art and call it their own. Ofc I don’t want people to do it, but ultimately that will not stop them. I do have a cara account, I was the first to claim abacus. When I tried posting there a few times I’ve been met with an error message, alongside that the app is really buggy and slow. I don’t see why people feel the need to come up with new apps to post art on when you could just use tumblr, but then the argument with tumblr is that there’s no engagement. But if we all flock to tumblr like people are flocking to cara then I don’t see why engagement would be such a big issue. Even then, if engagement is your main concern with your art I feel like you should reevaluate why you are pursuing art in the first place. I had this struggle ages ago where I didn’t feel my art was worth anything because I couldn’t cap 10 likes. But I realized, my art is for me. I’m the one that should be enjoying it, and my reason for posting now is for other people to enjoy it, so if they don’t,, I really don’t care all the much. I understand it is really detouring to post ocs and to have zero engagement, but that’s just the way art is. Unless you are producing fanart consistently of shit that is made into content farms, I really don’t see how you can garner a following just doing ocs. That’s why, doing art for your own sake is more important than trying to please everyone. I can guarantee there’s atleast one stranger on the internet that will fw your stuff the way you want. And the more you post, the more the number will grow. Most of the time it’s gradual, but one goes to two, two goes to three. And maybe you’ll only get one or two. But the important thing is, there’s someone. If you feel like you have no one, remember your art is for yourself. You’ll always have one, even if that is yourself. This might all seem contradictive. But trust, only you matter when it comes to your own artwork.

This “speech”, if you can call it that, isn’t to deter people from drawing and posting their ocs. This is just to say, engagement shouldn’t matter. As long as you’re happy, that’s all the matters. Post and draw what you want aslong as it’s not straight ripping from someone else. Idc.

This whole thing was supposed to be abt Cara but it turned into a uhh,, Ted talk of sorts. I’m not saying people shouldn’t use cara, if it works for them then by all means go for it. But personally I will not be making it my main form of social media. In my opinion, it’ll be like that other art app people were using for a week before they forgot abt it, I forget the name of it but I remember the interface was a light pink, similar to Instagram,, but somehow worse.

IM GONNA SPECIFY THAT I DONT CONDONE AI STEALING PEOPLES ART EITHER,, just putting that out there because some people have a way of misunderstanding or misinterpretating things. Which is okay!! Because some people genuinely get confused and that’s alright. But like please don’t use so first handedly. With that being said, I’m just a nobody on the internet so why would you listen to me,, you won’t. But i uhh,, am gonna put that there anyways

Thanks if you read allat,, idk why you would but that’s anyways I guess😭😭😭

[arcofacatboy]

also Neal shusterman or someone on his social media team is doing shady shit involving AI art

Separating this from the post about Neal taking a “neutral” (complicit) stance on genocide, since art thievery and falsely crediting an artist is much, much less harmful than encouraging people to stay silent about the genocide in Palestine.

On December 7th, 2023, Neal Shusterman made this post to his various social media accounts - I took the screenshot from his Twitter.

Neal does fanart promotion all the time, so this was nothing out of the ordinary for him, except that even though I’ve only read half of Gleanings, I could immediately tell that this wasn’t a character from Gleanings, with the obvious clue being that Rowan is the only character in the series to have ever worn a black robe, and this clearly isn’t supposed to be him.

You’ll notice I blurred the artist’s name here - I did that intentionally so they don’t face harassment from people who didn’t read my post closely enough, but if you want to support her work you can easily find this post on Neal’s socials and get her username (while it’s linked on all of his social medias, the username corresponds to an Instagram account).

To me, this post screamed AI generated artwork, and the more I looked into it, the worse it seemed to get. The cover of the copy of Gleanings in that “photo” is in German - the artist Neal credited does not seem to speak any German whatsoever. In that case, why would they pick a copy of Gleanings in a language they don’t speak to overlay this art? The artist Neal credited never posted this piece of artwork, although they had made a different piece of fanart for the series that was in a completely different style to this one. The style of the piece of AOAS fanart the artist posted THEMSELVES had a completely different art style from the art Neal credited them with.

I ended up reaching out to the artist and asked if they had actually drawn this art piece, or if they knew who did. They responded today.

(My message before I sent the screenshot to them was apologizing for confusing wording in my original messages, and the fact Instagram’s crappy messaging system never sent them the art piece I was asking about in the first place. This confused the artist, which is partially my fault since I used a translator app to translate my message into their native language, which I’m sure screwed up grammar somewhere. I wanted to make sure they knew I wasn’t accusing THEM of using AI, but rather suspecting someone was using AI and saying they drew the AI generated art.)

So, Neal, or someone who manages his social media, put this artist in a damn hard spot and told everyone that the artist made something that was made by AI. And again, absolutely no hate or disrespect to the artist, they didn’t know this was happening and they were very kind and understanding. If you do seek out their account, give them a follow!

[khofiecloud]

how to preserve your mental health at school

School is probably one of the most mentally taxing things a teen can go through. It certainly is mine. With the pressure to be the best, to get ahead, and to generally succeed, it's hard to not be affected. The mental strain is unavoidable, and I struggled with it for most of my school years, but over time that has led me to find tips that could help anyone going through this cope.

There are a few signs that can tell you whether or not you are being severely affected. You might be unmotivated and apathetic throughout the school day, and just because of school itself. You might feel like crying in school during the whole day and every day. Reasons can range from academic pressure to bullying and social ostracization to feeling inferior to your over achieving classmates.(If it's bullying, please tell someone who can help you) But here's some tips that might help based on what I learned from experience:

Find a piece of comfort (that you can come back to whenever you feel bad) .It can be a show, anime, song , movie, fanfic, manga , book, food, piece of clothing, or really just about anything (my recs are saiki k, ghibli songs and movies) . It’s best to have multiple just in case you get too used to 1 of them.

Get a support system: the way you can get this may differ based on your specific problem but here’s some ideas : make new friends offline or online (best app is slowly) and strengthen your existing relationships with friends and family.

Find a 3rd place which is not electronic: A third place is any public area away from homes and school/work ,where people meet and interact in an open environment. But the real challenge is not making your 3rd place your device .It's hard but here are some ideas for a 3rd place : libraries, arcades, gym, yoga place, sport club, skateparks, playgrounds, parks, coffee shops and cafes, bodegas. Make sure to choose a place where you feel comfortable. 

Get enough sleep: being tired will just make you feel so much worse. Never underestimate the power of a good night's sleep. Just to make it extra too, listen to some calming music, light candles and wear your fanciest sleepwear.

Put your mind on other things and focus on finding things that'll make you proud of yourself: You could get new hobbies, especially creative ones since those allow you to express yourself easily. Some examples are crocheting, embroidery, drawing, painting, sculpting, pottery, dancing, writing music, performance art and writing (stories, poetry, essays)

Take a leap of faith: create or design something based on your interests and skills and share it with the world. This can develop into being your own personal extracurricular activity. It might be scary but that's what makes it so rewarding in the end.

1) Video editing : post videos on your favorite subject and post on tiktok or youtube 2) Fashion and Photography : take pictures of yourself wearing cute clothes (or just your fav ones) and post them on your social media 3) Painting and Sustainability : paint an exhibit and display it in public 4) Volunteering and Social Media: make and run the official Instagram account of a local business 5) Gaming : make a game on roblox 6) Reading: start a book review blog These are just a few pretty ambitious ideas. You don’t have to follow these. Create your own project, it all depends on who you are. Take the best out of all of you (pieces of your soul) and create a masterpiece. If you don't have any interests (post on tips coming soon) just make something out of your skills . Make sure to only take on a project if you have time and resources.

Lastly, this is a tip I got from Quora. It’s to make a slow nights document. You can write this down on paper or open a doc and write down your comforts, favorite movie, favorite art pieces, places you’d like to go in the future, what you think your life will be in 10 years and so on. Just write things that will make you you.

School can make you feel drained, insecure and hurt for so many reasons. It may end up in you being numb and apathetic. In most cases, the problems you have can’t be solved by just forcing yourself to look at the bright side or forcing yourself to avoid or ignore them. They are real issues. And when asking for tips on the internet isn’t enough, I hope this post will help you. It probably didn’t solve all your problems, but I hope it showed you a way to go. Thank you for reading and Good Luck 

[dogfags]

why does all social media fucking suck now. tumblr is the best one left but even it sucks bc can't post nsfw. instagram is becoming facebook 2.0 and riddled with bullshit ai features + have you SEEN an instagram reels comment section before cos holy shit. it's like nazi germany over there. tiktok was always horrible and only gets worse and I refuse to download it again. twitter is a cesspool of right wing incel alpha male tech bros talking nonsense and get u banned for the word cis. also refuse to download that app again. reddit doesn't even count as social media to me but I will not become a reddit user™. like idk I used to go Online and Have Fun and now it's just garbage. 200 million ads per second blasted in ur face + ai bullshit features and "art" and fake ai generated posts + rage bait for engagement + recycling of shitty 15 year old tweets with someone's face in the corner "reacting" to it as "content" + mass banning and deplatforming of minorities / anybody speaking out about gaza or any important social issues + constant stream of bigots yammering on their huge platforms that are pushed by the algorithm so I have to see their disgusting bullshit takes on my feed. it's all. shit. I want to just delete it all sometimes but I'm also addicted to my phone and I'd miss the gay people in it. idk. I only even use Tumblr and Instagram nowadays. I have Facebook but only for like family and irl friends. I need to stop watching ig reels tho I can feel it melting my brain matter and it is oozing out of my ears. I need like a social media detox. it's a real problem I have. I need to touch more grass

[the-mad-owl]

Posting art online is so discouraging. I have the direct comparison of handing out the pride stickers irl - they're so cute, woah did you make those yourself, thank you so much here's stickers in return, so many people were brought joy by my art - and posting them online - 3 likes 1 reblog, dead.

This isn't to beg for interaction and more to say... if I had to start drawing all over again, in today's social media environment, I don't think I would manage.

Tumblr's friends/mutuals/reblog structure is breaking down, and while instagram used to be the place for artists and I was able to gain followers that enjoyed my art through the use of specific Hashtags, nowadays the feature to search by latest is removed and the algorithm punishes your harshly for being a small account or average at your skill.

Looking only at my social media, one should think I am getting worse and worse at art, I started out being quite good and worth seeing and 8 years later I have forgotten how to draw. This isn't true of course, I am improving. But there's no way to gain a kind word anymore, no artists at roughly the same level as me to find me and follow me for a friend through interaction. Nor am I able to search out people like me myself, tumblr is... tumblr (currently still the best option), and the algorithms of all other apps only recommend me the best and most entertaining.

Now I don't do good strategies. I still mainly use tags, nothing else. I don't post according to user schedules or make art to show off every single week, my art account is new and was dead for a while, i don't use fanart to draw people's attention. I don't know how to make tiktoks of my art - I aim to create pictures and be good at that, not make video content.

Of course I don't get much interaction. But the comparison: The same art, handed to people online and in real life, both for free, both by a stranger, is so striking. People are happy about your art, they like it, they really do, but by posting it it's rare to get that feeling anymore. I hope new artists keep drawing.

[theblindhag]

Be mature. Be an adult.

this is a vent one-shot I'll be real, but if you want if you want drama that I adjusted for anonymity sake then read! 1250 words :)

A girl in her late teens walks down the street, walking towards the train station she sees many people making the same commute. Teens like her going out for fun, single mothers and fathers pushing strollers or walking hand in hand with their child and school children being the majority at this time of day. She catches her train, finds a seat and prepares for the 30 minute wait. She puts headphones on and pulls out her phone to play music. bzz bzz

Facebook, Strange, she never uses that social media except for birthday messages and new years posts. She taps the notification and sees the last thing she could expect. It’s a post from a family friend, one she hasn’t seen since she was small.

‘Happy One year to Mr and Mrs. Carlos and Bridget Amaro!’

The photos consisted of her father and his now wife’s wedding, her entire family is in one photo taking a group picture, the carefree couple sharing cake and the two during the ceremony.

The girl sits in shock, looking over the post again and again, hoping that she isn’t seeing what she thinks she’s seeing. She closes the app and opens it again, it's still there. Tears well up in her eyes but she pushes them down ‘I can’t cry yet. Just wait till I'm home.’

Her stop draws near, she exits the train and catches the bus home, only using her phone to change the song that's playing. By the time she opens the front door she has an iron grip on her keys, jamming them into the lock and throwing open the door in anger.

Her breathing grows heavy as she kicks the door closed, throwing her bag onto the couch with dangerous force. She tries to even her breathing, “Mature, just be mature. Prove you can be an adult.” she chants as she paces the length of the hallway. She opens her phone, seeing the post mocking her attempts at pulling herself together. The mere sight of it causing her tears to well up with twice the anger behind them.

She calls her mum.

“Hello!” The melodic cheerful tone of her mothers voice only made her feel worse, You’re annoying her.

“Mum, When are you going to be home?” She asked through tears, unable to hide the anxiety attack that had no plan on stopping soon.

“Soon Rita, Why? What’s wrong?” She answered with concern clear in her voice.

“Dad got married last year and I just fucking found out.” Rita yelled out with sobs following after.

“He what?” “One of his friends posted on facebook for their anniversary and thats how i find out, through fucking facebook.” Her breathing grows more erratic, the anger now fully taking the initial shock’s place. “Hey I’ll be home soon ok? I need you to eat something, and watch that magic show you like. When I get home we’ll talk more. Ok?” “Ok, I can do that.” 

“Te quiero.”

“Te quiero también.”

She ended the call.

--------

Rita lies in her bed, looking up at the glow in the dark stars above her, as she thinks over the conversation with her mum.

‘Is it my fault that he didn’t tell me? I’m the one who told him that I'll see him when I'm ready.’

‘It is not your fault, if he wanted to show that he cares about you, he would’ve said something.’

‘But I said that seeing him was going to be on my terms.’

‘A text message or invitation isn't breaking that, it’s giving you the choice. He didn’t even try.’

‘He never tried. He never showed effort. You’d think only having one child would make it easier to plan times to see her but no. That’s why I stopped seeing him, to see if he would try when I gave up, but no, 18 years of effort for nothing.’

She looks at her phone again. The blue app icon taunting her. She turns it off and goes to sleep.

--------

Another week, another train ride, Rita sits on the train again, scrolling through instagram and liking posts. 

She’s enjoying her time zoning out on the calm train ride until she looks at the photo on her screen, a baby, who can't be more than 7 months old. That’s weird, it's from her aunt’s profile. She looks at her other posts seeing that the baby isn't hers, no one else on that side of her family is of the age to have a baby except for… 

This has to be a fucking joke.

She looks closer at the picture of the baby seeing some of her own features on the infant's face. Her platform is called out, she runs for the doors and continues to run for the bus, she catches it and continues looking at the picture.

Nose, ears, eye colour. That could all be a crazy coincidence! She keeps searching, making sure that the similarities she found already are the only ones. She looks on the child’s arm. A mole, in the same spot that she has hers, it's another coincidence! She tries to convince herself of that, but it only gets more difficult to believe when she remembers that her  father has it, so does her uncle, grandfather and cousins.

She gets off the bus and walks to her house, trying to control her breathing again for the 2nd time in the past 3 months. She opens the door, throws her bag on the couch and curls into a ball.

“Mature, just be mature. Prove you can be an adult.” she says to herself again, repeating it over and over, until she stops.

“Fuck being mature, i’m not going to be silently replaced.”

She opens the messaging app and begins to type: Rita - Hi dad. I heard it was your anniversary a bit ago so happy anniversary, also congratulations on having a baby. I’m so glad I found out on my own.

Carlos - I was going to tell you when you found out.

Rita - Oh that makes me feel better. I had to find out that I have a sibling through social media, that makes all my abandonment issues disappear!

Carlos - baby i was going to tell you but you said that you didn’t want me to see you.

Rita - I never said you couldn’t text me. You saw an opportunity to stop being a parent and took it. I hope you actually care about this kid cause you already fucked up my life.

Carlos - I do care about you.

Rita - How old am i?

Carlos - 15

Rita - 18. 

Carlos is typing…

…

Rita - I’m going to talk to my family again because I haven't seen them so they won’t be brought into this bullshit but now it’s up to you to fix this. I have been doing this since I was 5, now it's your turn to be the adult.

Carlos is typing…

Carlos is typing…

Carlos is typing…

…

Nothing. The conversation ended there. She felt a weight off her shoulders, she can talk to her family again. She also felt a weight on her shoulders, he can’t even remember her birthday.

Numbness fills her, too many emotions to process all cancelling each other out turning into the emotionless numb feeling. She sits on the couch and watches tv. Her favourite show is on, she sits and watches as tears roll down her face, finally letting out her full pain by watching her and her fathers favourite franchise.

[nickgerlich]

When Life Hands You Lemons

The semester is starting to wind down these days, especially for my grad students, whose term lasts only 13 weeks. It may seem like it is long at times, but it really is fast. And like many other semesters before, we have been treated to some very newsworthy, sometimes amusing, other times anger-inspiring, events that cause us to stand up and pay attention.



Like the ongoing worries over TikTok and whether it should be banished not just in individual states and on their government-owned devices, but nationwide. Australia just announced its complete ban on government-owned devices. In the US, in a rather odd come-together moment for the Right and Left, there is momentum to ban it here as well.



It’s just that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has more ammo in its case. The top apps right now for lifestyle and video editing are owned by them: Lemon8 and CapCut. Take that, you pompous lawmakers. We’re not just going to roll over and die.



CapCut is a handy tool for creating the reels that users post to TikTok or elsewhere. I only learned about it this last weekend from my oldest daughter, who said that “everyone’s using it” at the digital marketing agency she calls her professional home. Me, I use Mojo, which, for all I know, could be owned by ByteDance as well. She says it is much better than Mojo. I messaged Oldest Daughter yesterday about CapCut’s owner, and I could almost hear her gulp all the way from Dallas.



And then there’s Lemon8, the new social media app that is designed to take on both Instagram and Pinterest. But in the case of Lemon8, it’s only new to the US. Launched in 2020 to little fanfare, ByteDance kept it in limited circulation until now.

And now we know why.

Lemon8 is not an exact Instagram clone, however, focusing—at least for now—on fashion, food, wellness, and travel, among other general interest topics. Like BeReal, it shuns pretense, and urges users not to stage photos like many we see on Insta. The site also encourages users to include direct links to where viewers can buy featured products.

My question now is whether a ban on TikTok would also include a ban on Lemon8 and CapCut. And even if it does, what’s to stop ByteDance from continuing to roll out new apps to dodge federal bullets? Will it boil down to banishing all Chinese-owned apps, like Pinduoduo and Shein? This could lead to war, you know.

Which makes me begin to wonder if all this pomp and circumstance, this drum-beating, is an exercise in futility. Short of erecting a massive firewall around us, like the Chinese do to keep out western media, there’s little that can be done. Worse yet, it leads to frustrations among the people, especially when we live in a place that espouses First Amendment rights and freedoms. Fire up the VPN, as I have said before, and hope you don’t get caught. I hear that Chinese citizens can be in serious trouble if they do so. The last thing we need is a similar clamp down.

The other part of me wonders how people can continue to absorb so many social media sites. I am not opposed to the development of new ones at all. It’s just that there are still only 24 hours in the day, and I have a hard enough time just attending to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. I have work to do, you know. Heck, my LinkedIn looks like a ghost page. I guess if I were looking for a job, I’d hop on it.

All of which means we are continuing to slice the market into ever smaller pieces, and as long as it can be done profitably, new sites will continue to roll out. Stir on the controversy of Chinese ownership, and Ima gonna have things to write about for a long, long time.

Let the user beware. There may be someone in Beijing looking over your shoulder.

Dr “But Still I Must Check It Out“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[stevensaus]

As this current wave of people have been leaving the rampant fascism actively being pushed by Musk on X, many people have ended up on Bluesky. I've also seen people finally getting fed up with Meta's tampering with the main timeline and doing the same. Which, y'know, is cool. Bluesky is a hell of a lot better than X or Facebook. You can find me there at @stevensaus.com or alternately, follow my Mastodon account at @StevenSaus.faithcollapsing.com.ap.brid.gy. However, I've also seen others be wary of enshittification. If you aren't familiar with the term, take a moment and read the linked Wired article from Corey Doctorow. TL;DR: profit-seeking makes things worse as companies shift from serving the users to serving the investors. Bluesky may feel different now, but so did Twitter then. What's to prevent it from happening again? Nothing. This is the tradeoff you make when you use someone else's service that's being run with an expectation of making a profit. Whether through the consumption of ads on the site or through making purchasing ad space a requirement to reach your audience, any for-profit company is highly incentivized to... well, make a profit. That's not inherently bad; it is very possible to make a sustainable profit and not completely enshittify something. But that's not what typically happens. Instead, corporations tend to focus on maximizing profits, particularly in the short run. That combination is what really slams the gas pedal down on the enshittification process. Whether it's shrinkflation or predatory inflation or shoving ads in your face or not letting you see what grandma posted because she didn't spend money to , the net result of enshittification remains. So what are you to do? For people who are mostly just being social and consumers, I would make sure that, aside from having good blocking tools, whatever service(s) you use have the ability for you to export your data easily, and migrate servers if possible. Both Mastodon and Bluesky allow this (though "selfhosting" Bluesky doesn't mean quite the same thing it does for Mastodon). Aside from making multiple accounts, you can use RSS feeds to get user feeds from Bluesky or Mastodon natively; there are services that claim to be able to do so with Threads. The ideal solution would be something like Mastodon, but even moreso, where there are many, many, many individual instances. But that does require some degree of technical expertise, and a lot of folx either don't have the know-how or the time or energy to set something like that up. Community servers -- like wandering.shop -- are a compromise, but rely on donated funds and time (for moderation). Failing that, the next best thing would be an app (or apps) to combine the feeds of multiple services into one (or one interface). I would love a deck-style app (or even better, a TUI) where you can have a column for Mastodon, a column for Threads, a column for Bluesky, a column for Tumblr etc. It's probably feasible at this point in time, but I'm unaware of such a tool as of yet. For producers -- those of us who write blogs, create art, or otherwise share "content" in one form or another -- you cannot have your primary online identity be any social media site that you do not control. Plain and simple. Just like how this blog post is being pushed/posted to Tumblr, LinkedIn, Medium, Mastodon, FB, and Bluesky. Even if the full text is at those sites, the original can always be found at the blog itself. If someone followed me on X, they'll now find my account is fully deactivated there... but they can still find me here, always. Not only does this protect you from a service going toxic overall like X has, but it also means you're not as hurt if you get caught by an overzealous moderation bot that doesn't give you a reason for why you've had your account restricted. It's happened to me on G+, Discord, Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Pintrest. Many of those I do not know what I supposedly did wrong and cannot

get an answer from the service; for Threads and Insta, they claim the weekly flash fiction challenge site is a spam/scam site, even though I've jumped through the hoops to verify it. It can be a pain in the rear to do it this way -- I still have to post to Bluesky manually, for example, at least for now -- but overall it's worth it. That reduces the "sunk costs" of being on any particular service for both you and your followers. https://ideatrash.net/2024/11/trying-to-escape-the-cycle-of-enshittification.html?feed_id=491&_unique_id=673bc82083f97

[family-video]

Introduction

Hello, not sure if anyone would ever read this but I'll say it anyway. I'm tired of living like this. With AI, constant modernization, instant gratification, all of it. I know I'll sound old and bitter, but bear with me. Im 23 years old, and over a decade of my life has been owned by the internet.

When I was 11, I was given my first tablet. I used it mostly to play games, but I began obsessively scrolling on iFunny and Tumblr. If I wasn't doing that, then I was watching Youtube. I spent hours on it every day, cycling through the apps. Then when I was 13, I got my first smartphone. It somehow got even worse. I had access to every social media now, and I wanted every hour of my waking day spent scrolling on Instagram, snapchat, twitter, everything and anything I could download. I spent my years like this until I was 18, and COVID hit.

As I was bored in quarantine, I finally realized something-I felt empty. I was no longer surrounded by anyone, I had no one to prove myself to. I turned off my phone and reflected for awhile, and realized how deeply I missed life before social media.

Before I turned 11, I was truly living. And the world felt alive with me. Some might argue that perhaps I only felt that way because I was a child, but I disagree. I know there was a shift there. When I was a kid, before the internet entered my household, I woke up on the weekends- and did nothing. There was no phone to grab and immediately scroll on. I would lay, look at the ceiling, or glance at the ticking Hello Kitty clock mounted on the wall to know if it was too early to get up for the day. Once I was up, I would sit at the table and eat my breakfast. I would read my books, play on my DSi, or play with my littlest pet shop figures. I would go outside to blow bubbles, or sit in front of the TV to watch SpongeBob.

Then if my parents felt like going out to eat, we would. We would go to Texas Roadhouse and not mind the long wait, and then go to my favorite place in the world- Family Video. In there I would spend all my time looking at the video games before renting something I liked and going home.

I don't know if this makes sense, but things felt so alive. The world felt almost sparkly. Everywhere we went was busy, but no one seemed to mind.

However, now, I feel like things are dull. Dead. Again, I do not think this is because I am an adult.

Now I wake up, and I immediately grab my phone. Even when I try my best not to, I subconsciously do it. I read through my unimportant notifications and scroll on TikTok or instagram reels before thinking "What the hell am I doing? I need to get up!" When I do get up, I eat my breakfast while scrolling on twitter, reading unimportant things like celebrity drama.

Then if my boyfriend and I don't feel like going anywhere for the weekend, we sit, and we scroll, and we watch YouTube, and play Roblox. (Yes, I am aware I am too old for that. But playing Bloxy Bingo with my siblings is too much fun.) And if we feel like eating out, we don't even go out. We simply order off DoorDash, sit, and wait. And I plan on digging into this "instant gratification" thing in another post, but I will say that it feels so dull.

Another thing too is that both my boyfriend and I have anxiety- and going out to stores doesn't necessarily feel the same anymore. Ok, here is where I will hear someone out if they say "well it's cuz you were a kid!". Is it just me, or after COVID did everyone forget basic manners? I can't walk into Target without feeling like I'm going to have a heart attack. Everyone is cutting you off abruptly, or walking so quickly behind you they're almost stepping on your shoes. And NO ONE says excuse me. Sure we don't have to, but it would be a little nice if I had a clue that you were trying to get past me in an aisle without bumping my shoulder.

This stressful experience leads me to want to isolate myself further. And as I head to the car, sweat dripping down my forehead from damn near running to leave, I get a notification on my phone from my crime app telling me that there was a super terrible tragedy nearby that instills the feeling in me that I need to stay home.

I need to stay safe inside, continue door dashing, continue scrolling.

But I'm done with it. I have felt the desire to abandon this lifestyle for a couple of years now, but this time im going to do it- and I mean it.

I am going to live like its the 2000s again.

Yes, I am aware that I could never truly go back to the way things were before. And there are in fact modern things I want to keep in my life. Modern interests, etc. But what I mean is I don't only want to quit social media (besides Tumblr so I can write), but I want to go back to some of the technologies that genuinely worked just fine. In an ever changing world, I can appreciate that we make technological advances every single day. But maybe we don't need to.

I know this is long, and again I am unsure if anyone read this. But if they did, sorry for the rambling, and thank you for reading my thoughts.

So without further ado, here I go- back into my imaginary time machine.

[charlotteswebbbbb]

What's the vibe? #68

Moco Museum in London I think opened? Frieze is soon in 2 weeks. London Film Festival is in like 3 weeks and if you didn't get tickets then you're out of luck...sorta?

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Paris Fashion Week starts end of this week. London Fashion Week, we loved you but also you made it difficult to go to see Oxhy.

I also saw In Camera this weekend, which was okay. Some new British directors lack flare.

War Time Culture >>>

Closer than ever on the doomsday clock than we've ever been (90 seconds to midnight) and the conflict in Gaza expanding into neighbouring nations such as Lebanon (with British/French/American governments suggesting against travel there) we're in war time. And a slight recession in the world.

World peace used to be a slogan - used to be a meme during beauty pageants but what does it mean to be a citizen in the world. Brought up by the Olympics, this unity of people via nation is something that is to be defined and redefined. In the UK, the social contract has eroded after years of austerity causing the marginalised in society to have hatred sent their way or worse.

Whilst I lack the answers for how this will affect other areas, British theatre has been raising these questions for the past few years.

Probably best to predict that in the next 10-20 years there will be more awareness on the role of peace in our lives. Like can we as a whole reject things that are bad for us.

The role of radio and cinema specifically will be highlighted. Thinking a lot of the quietness of La Chimera and how much people enjoyed that this spring. That was also about identity (slightly, a Englishman in Italy, as a grave robber...)

Online / Offline? >>>>

Since 'enshittification' of many popular sites have become more common, people being more intentional with their time as social media becomes more and more toxic. It is now common on instagram to do "dumps", Twitter has become so toxic that brands and organisations are leaving the platform (posting and advertising), Threads...pretty irrelevant, TikTok ensures virallity or shortens your attention span.

Where can brands come in? How do people meet each other?

Feeld is doing pretty well and doubling turnover financially £39.5m. But Feeld is probably one of the only "dating" apps that gets you straight to the point. In fact I would argue that it's not really a relationship app, more like a "what are you interested in sexually" app.

In Spain people are looking to supermarket symbolism to find what you're looking for at Mercados across the nation. - @_anagildersleeve

Going from turning the supermarket into a third space to brands appearing in third spaces in Vogue Business.

"For brands, showing up in third places means seeking out already curated events where people are gathering, or organising pop-ups and markets at bars and restaurants, to tap into the renewed interest in alternative, physical spaces that double as places where hobbies and fashion can coexist. It takes the pop-up concept to the next level: rather than compelling customers to seek out your space, you’re showing up in theirs. That said, brands need to be mindful that they’re not disrupting what makes third places special to start with."

and

"The value of the third place goes beyond the physical, however. According to Yems, these spaces can create micro-communities — think the rise of running clubs, which has pushed forward the ‘new streetwear’ — and with the re-emergence of hobbyism, more people are partaking in activities that bring them to gyms and activity centres. “Much like running, belonging to these spaces comes with its own external aesthetic codes, many of which have infiltrated fashion on a broader scale,” Yems says."

Have you heard of Timeleft? Similar to a dating app, it requires users to do a questionaire and meet people physically over a meal.

I've never used it but trawling through Reddit, it seems to be interesting and a way for people in new cities to meet new friends. It allows people to meet and eat at the price point they want, and after meet all the people using this app at a bar which the app team has chosen as the meeting point.

Independence can allow brands to be weird >>>

Whilst the grand majority of brands today are seriously serious, sitting up straight and creating sometimes without risk, many independent brands are doing themselves. Many artists are doing themselves whether it's a popular look or not... (Skullet included)

There's weirdness in the random, in the unexpected. See; Chopova Lowena doing a collaboration with Hellmann's Mayo for London Fashion Week.

Reworking their new bag design to fit a Hellmann's jar and a vintage spoon for dishing out the sauce. Even Collina Strada doing a very green collection and bringing out Elizabeth Sweetheart who is the Green Lady of Brooklyn to walk in their show.

With the Leigh Bowery exhibition opening up at the Tate soon and young British artists thriving in small galleries, this exploration of maybe the not so polished is open to the public.

(Also The White Pube's first auto-fiction(?) book is out next month, titled Poor Artists....)

I think fashion is moving more into taking inspiration from dance and theatre - and I'm not talking about set design but more like...ballet, contemporary dance, theatre curtain draping, mirrors.

See: Simone Rocha getting darker this season (ultimate gorp x ballet x goth cross overs)

See: Burberry SS25 at the National Theatre. A bit drab, definitely prefer last season.....

With that also loops into (something I dreaded mentioning) this medieval revival. Related to maybe this "serfdom" feeling of a British economic downturn...

Welcome to the blog, teenage engineering.

promotional day:

See: LEUDER

Chopova Lowena

or Rosie Evans

Overall, London is sexy, sex and practicality rules in this city.

Sleep being a luxury >>>>

Grinding til you die? Recession across the world means longer hours for less money or benefit. The new Apple Watch will be able to detect sleep apnea and disturbances.

"Luxury sleepwear’s rise can be credited in part to the transformation of every bedroom into an office-space-slash-wellness-studio during the pandemic. But there’s more to bedcore’s global expansion than simply staying indoors. It’s about fashion and meaning; colour and cool; and the generational need to stylistically create something new." - Vogue Business

The Netherlands ^

"One habit which seems to be helping the Dutch get such quality sleep is drinking their morning coffee outside, allowing them to soak up as much early sunlight as possible. This practice can help regulate the circadian rhythm and promote better sleep and productivity. "

Being a night owl is associated with mental sharpness, according to a study by Imperial College of London

Lead author of the study, Dr Raha West, from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, said: “Our study found that adults who are naturally more active in the evening (what we called “eveningness”) tended to perform better on cognitive tests than those who are “morning people”. Rather than just being personal preferences, these chronotypes could impact our cognitive function."

Just a few articles over the past few days on sleep:

Can you trust a brand if...

the founder doesn't live it's brand lifestyle? Use its products? I think for me, TikTok has now become a powerful tool, which if brands don't realise or know how to use it, they're in big trouble. It's reactive, fast moving, you can blink and there will be 1.1M eyes on a video about the services that your brand has.

i.e. a Fenty Hair London Pop Up Review

&

What are Mancunians interested in?

In Manchester, a new Korean food store opening causes long lines. This is interesting because it shows the gap in the market for Korean food or how trends are maybe slower to reach other UK cities that aren't London.

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A post shared by Zack Hipps | Manchester Foodie | Yellow 💛 (@zackhipps)

[snwcppd]

I redownloaded Threads recently and realized why it was never going to replace Twitter. For a lot of people (myself included), different social media platforms are used for entirely different purposes. For instance, I mainly use Instagram to connect w/ IRL friends and Facebook to connect w/ my family, and when I had Twitter, I used it for purely online spaces. An important part of this is making sure all of these were separate from each other; just as many of y'all would be horrified if people you knew IRL followed your Tumblr, I would've felt that way a few years ago about my Twitter.

The problem with Threads is that it's definitionally linked to Instagram; when I first made my account, a lot of my mutuals on Instagram automatically followed me on Threads. A button will appear on your Instagram account linking to your Threads account (although they recently made this button removable, it's still on by default). You can't change your username or display name natively on Threads; that's linked to your Instagram account. For some (or even most) people that may not be a big deal, but the people who use these apps the most and therefore make these apps into major social networks do care about these things.

I'd go as far as to say that this is the reason that despite the *gestures broadly,* Twitter isn't dying anytime soon, mainly because there's no real replacement for it. Mastadon and BlueSky, god bless them, were never going to compete with platforms as big as Twitter, and sites like Reddit and Tumblr have such a different culture that it's very difficult to integrate Twitter emmigrants. Threads really had the best chance, being backed by a large company that has social media experience and being created with the sole intent of rivaling Twitter, but Meta fumbled at the endzone by linking it so heavily to Instagram for seemingly no reason. (If I had to venture a guess it's because a lot of young people distrust or dismiss Facebook as a platform, which is a valid but unwarranted concern for Meta imo)

That's a real shame, because Twitter has gotten a lot worse since Elon took over. The biggest thing I noticed when I redownloaded it a few months ago was just how much worse bots were. You can hate the Twitter Blue checkmark system all you want, but for a moment it gave me a glimmer of hope that it would fix the massive number of bots on the platform, which has always been genuinely unparalleled. Instead, it's only become worse. If you aren't aware of the dead Internet theory, all you need is to look at a modern Twitter reply thread for living proof. Granted, these problems have been present for years now, so what did Elon do to fix it? Monetization, which instantly made things 10x worse. I'd go as far to say that modern Twitter is proof that social media platforms should never have native monetization, because the financial incentive for bots will be heightened exponentially. (It's worth noting that I consider platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which can and should have monetization, to be video sharing rather than social media platforms, despite Google's recent efforts with YouTube. Community posts still suck, stop putting so much effort into them, Google)

But because no platform can genuinely rival Twitter, it's just gonna keep chugging along until they run out of money, which is gonna be a while considering it's now owned by one of the richest men on Earth. I don't think it's entirely too late to course-correct for Threads, the platform is slowly growing and Meta is increasingly seperating it from Instagram, but at this rate true competition with Twitter may be a long-gone fantasy.

[maddielevel6fmp]

FMP

Full idea outline

After further research into headspace i asked my self the 5 ws and 1 h

What do i want to do?

- Add a feature catered to gen-z students, in the already existing headspace app

- Added features on the website to be cohesive with app changes

- social media posts promoting the concept to gen-z

- a short instagram/tiktok reel

- Poster 3x to promote it to students in places they use often, buses,bu stops, schools colleges and university campus’

- illustrations for Newley designed content that is cohesive to headspace’s existing design style but unique to the idea of being for students

- a physcial product sent to users ‘care package’ of some sort

Why do I want to do this?

- Headspace are one of the worlds leading meditation and mental well being apps right now and are already very well known.

- headspace have LOADS on offer but nothing dedicated to students unique experiences or needs but more for a vast customer base

- there is existing websites and services for students but isn’t well known, or doesn’t offer the thing I wasn’t to offer at all or on a good level.

- im not ‘rebranding’ headspace I wasn’t to improve them to be more inclusive for their younger audience.

Where will i promote?

- Social media ie:instagram, TikTok

- posters around schools and campus’ or public transport

- student services within the academic side of things will recommend headspace to students as a form of help outside of them and it’ll be spoke about more often.

When will it be needed or used by the consumers?

- when depression sinks in most young people turn to ‘bed rotting’ a slang explanation for staying in bed and ‘doom scrolling’ on social media for days on end until they begin to feel less sad, lonely or depressed (more often than not this will only make their mental well-being worse) seeing ads on social media about what headspace can offer them will encourage them to seek help through headspace.

- when a student may have had a well-being session with a well-being staff member it will be mentioned as part of their process to help the student struggling

- tutors will mention it and often have lectures on mental health and well being (online and in person for those struggling with anxiety) ion porter to promote it as much as possible to lower the percentage of students struggling in silence.

How will i do this?

- use pre-existing branding , illustrations, services app and website b it improving it in the areas needed and adding my touch.

Who is my consumer?

- typically gen-z students ages between 16-25

-Digital natives

- struggling with mental health and or grief

What does the website and app already offer?

-articles and resources

-meditation

-sleep help

-mindfulness

-mental health

-plans

Nothing dedicated to students specifically- one off the page options/drop downs will be specifically for students/gen-z

What’s missing?

- there is no cheap alternative or payment plan for students

- no form of journaling or form of expression for users

Outcomes:

App improvements

- Additonal sections or students

-wire frames to show the usage of the app

- video run through and images of completed app

-mockups to show app in context

Website extra section

- Additional sections added r the same as the app

- video run through and completed website images

-mockups of the website in context

Social media

- 4 page instagram carousel introducing headspace students

-2 additional posts

-reel animation video

- social media mockups of posts in context

Advertisement

- x3 posters (a3)

-Bus stop adshell

-mockups

Physical product

- Note pad designed and mocked up

- colour pencil packaging and mocked up

- colouring book and mocked up

- relaxation bath bomb

- relaxtion tea

-complimentary stickers

Other outcomes:

- portfolio pdf

-portfolio website completed

-business cards +mockup

-completed and designed process book

- professional personal social media presence

[brick-van-dyke]

Just a tiny PSA for young people/ teens on Tumblr who might be new to a few things if this is one of their first social medias or if you're just new to it in general:

• Boycotting is done to stop a certain company from earning money, not denying yourself the ability to talk about what is made by said companies; you can still enjoy these things by pirating them or getting them via a means that means the developer isn't receiving royalties or pay from it. And, of course, simply talking about what you like will not grant them money. If you need help pirating, it's okay to ask a friend you trust who knows more about tech and downloading things.

• Callouts aren't going to always be honest and out of concern for safety. Just like irl, people can be petty and may have made it to create rumours for personal reasons; such as trying to get back at their ex or a friend who did something small but meaningful to them and to get back at that. People are people, offline or online, please be safe and aware that people lie.

• If you're a minor, please be careful about sharing your age, any photos or information about yourself, including even basic things. Actually, just in general be careful please.

• Discourse isn't always going to be about what's right or just, sometimes it's about winning an argument to a person on the other side of the screen. The best thing to do is not to argue and just block. I know that's hard sometimes, but they want engagement and they want your anger. With that, it also isn't always obvious when it's someone looking for a response. Sometimes they act polite at first. Be careful out there and it's always okay to block if you feel uncomfortable. And yes, even if you're just a little uncomfortable or they just don't seem quite right. You can always opt out and you're not doing anything wrong by setting boundaries.

• Always do your own research as well, don't just take what someone says on here at face value. I know, not everyone has bad motives, but it's important to still do what you can to stay informed. Sometimes people are just incorrect or haven't done their research fully either. It's always good to fact check!

• Just because someone is similar to you and has the same background experiences and identities, just as being a fellow queer or a woman or any other marginalised group, that doesn't necessarily mean they're trustworthy. People are people, and individuals are always capable of both good and bad. Please don't trust people based on identity and similarities. They can be petty too and they can definitely lie and abuse your trust. And not even for obvious reasons like abuse, but sometimes to tell rumours to get back at people or to just use you for whatever petty reason.

• Online links and adverts for protests aren't always doing to be honest or genuine. Some of them are scams and others are just badly organised. Please do research first before thinking of going to a protest and always make sure you have a friend with you and someone to help you in case of trouble. Preferably, make sure you have a safe support network to return to and people who can back you up financially and legally.

• Check the privacy settings on your apps, including Tumblr and especially places like Instagram and Twitter to make sure data isn't being misused by said apps without your consent.

• Be aware of reposters and AI generated images from people when you post your art online. Always make sure you date your work and, in cases where you're extra worried, add a watermark over your art.

• Use the mute/ filter tags option in settings to avoid topics that make you uncomfortable. You can also filter out nsfw tags as well there.

• Vapes are not only unhealthy and worse than cigarettes, but they also find Israel's genocide. Use gum instead or look into nicotine patches to stave off the craving. There are also helplines out there that can help.

• (This also relates to the above). Certain things are sometimes needed, such as straws for some disabled people, or sunscreen to avoid skin cancer. You're not a bad person for having needs and while some things do impact the environment, it's important to realise that you're one person with a need, not the cooperations burning fossil fuels. Please don't let people pressure you into getting rid of your own needs or making you guilty for them. This also does apply to addiction and if it's hard to quit, not to guilt yourself into feeling worse over it.

• Always ask for help, even if you aren't sure if you'll receive it. If someone is making you uncomfortable, tell. Offline or online, always say when something is wrong and find an adult or close friend (irl) you trust and tell them what's going on. Yes venting to online friends can be helpful, but if you feel in danger, please tell someone in your life offline who can support you.

• If you ever feel like the events in the world are too much, you're not a bad person for switching off and taking time for yourself. I don't mean this in a condescending way but as someone who was a teen who did this exact thing; there are people out there doing the work, adults with support and years of experience for dealing with this sort of stress. As much as it may feel bearable now, it can become overwhelming over time and you can definitely end up in really bad places mentally without realising and thinking you're doing fine. Take time away and please don't doom scroll. Adults are out there and able to handle this, please give yourself time to grow before launching into the world of activism. Preserve your energy and your mental health.

And that's all I can think of right now! Please stay safe out there folks and remember to let yourself enjoy being a kid, a teen and being young. You have all the time in the world ahead of you.

[spookaorionart]

The thing I don't like. And I'd figured out a way to manage this for a while, but now I largely just don't use social media At All.

Is. That, in order to keep up with most of my friends, or acquaintances, or people i know, I need to be using 3 or 4 or more social media platforms regularly. And if I Don't do that, I'm left in the dark about everyone's lives.

But if I DO decide to use social medias, they eat my data, they eat my time, they eat my motivation, etc. There's not one out there right now I personally can use and come away with the same level of energy I had when I went in; I'm always drained or upset or angry. Which, I know is what the apps are generally designed for, I just can't deal with it. I (and most people I think!) have a lot of very upsetting stuff happening constantly in my daily life, and when my "catching up with friends/socializing" replacement time is only adding to that... it really deincentivises it for me.

So I can't bring myself to use much social media right now and it's interesting and upsetting just how much of my friends' lives I'm missing.

I'm also having Worse Health Issues Than Normal, so I'm unable to be as present as I'd like in general. I'm extraordinarily flaky. That is probably contributing to this feeling. But I also know that I was feeling a sense of... drifting? As soon as I stopped using social media (specifically x lmao). I still check in on Instagram sometimes, but it's overwhelming and puts a bad taste in my mouth. Here... I can't get the hang of it, lol. It's also overwhelming, and I don't understand it. Mastodon made me want to cry just trying to sign up, and any of the newer platforms... idk it's all messy and I'm tired.

Is this how you guys felt about MySpace? I was too young for that, I thought my cousin who made an acct before he was 14 was gonna go to jail.

Is this platform even for personal stuff/blogging? Everyone says you can't use it wrong but I'm pretty sure that you can lol; the number of long form sad boy posts like this I've written out and then deleted bc I'm pretty sure this place is just for memes and art and fandom, and also nobody should know your feelings on the internet, as a rule.

Though, this is all just Me Problems. If you read it... now you know I guess. I can't draw right now because I can't hold a pen/whatever else (I'm having nerve problems and problems controlling my body correctly? I think?) so I won't be posting any time soon. I can't hold a phone for very long because my hands don't work right now, and neither do my eyes, so I haven't looked at anyone's posts or anything. I'm sleeping a lot. Forget about using a computer lmao.

There wasn't really a point to this, other than... I miss people. I haven't been able to meaningfully leave the house regularly since I got sick in 2020. And now I can't find a way to interact online either. It's very lonely. Hopefully I will figure something out, but I do still love my friends, even though I am not showing it very well right now.