When invited to describe my online journal, I often describe it as “almost daily”, but in reality for the last few months it’s been “once or twice a week” at best. Quite a step-back from the torrent of rubbish that used to leave my keyboard.
Without looking, I’m not entirely sure what I used to spend so much time polluting the internet with - I can’t imagine I’ve ever had that much to share. Perhaps as I’ve grown older I’ve become more self aware - more discerning about what I think others might be interested in.
You know the odd thing? I’ve never written for others. Sure, I’ve used them as an excuse - writing so my children and their descendants might know who I was - but I’ve never really written for others. It’s always been writing for the sake of writing - because I enjoy it.
Perhaps my reticence about “fitting in” also explains why I’ve never really embraced the “social internet” (and let’s face it - it’s really not very social at all - is it?). I’ve never chased an audience. I get about as far as landing a link to my writing in a quiet corner of whichever social media platform is attracting the most attention.
I guess this brings us to Threads and Bluesky - the pretenders to Twitter’s throne.
What is it with people telling others how to use the various platforms on the internet - what to post, what not to post, when to post, how much to post, what subjects they’re allowed to mention, what they should never mention… I wonder if they do it in real life too.
I will admit to a few intolerances when it comes to the “social internet” (and yes, I share the common thought that it should be re-labelled “anti-social internet”).
The primary annoyance is probably “mansplaining” - which I rather hilariously saw re-termed “correctile dysfunction” the other day. It never ceases to amaze me how many men there are out there that feel the need to explain either things they were never asked about, or things they feel need to be re-educated. You might think politics and religion would fall straight into this hole - and you would be right - but they pale into insignificance when compared with anything vaguely niche or technical in nature.
It’s almost like people - particularly men - have a voice in their head screaming “I HAVE ALTERNATIVE FACTS AND I MUST SHARE THEM!”
Life is too damn short for all that nonsense.
Anyway.
I seem to have written a thousand words about nothing of consequence. This is of course a skill that the procrastinators of this world will recognise and applaud heartily.
Brace yourself - because I have the next week off work.
This poor keyboard might see more words than it has since the heady days of the inaugural “National Blog Posting Month” back in 2006 - when I discovered my original tribe on the internet.
You never know - perhaps I might find a new tribe, and write an insufferable book off the back of it, mansplaining how each of us can perform a similar feat if only we weren’t reading books about how to do it.