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I've often wondered if you can't have your cake and eat it too by treating social media as write-only. If you just post, but don't read comments, demonetize, do

I've often wondered if you can't have your cake and eat it too by treating social media as write-only. If you just post, but don't read comments, demonetize, don't track performance, you break the cycle of feedback and measurement that shapes inauthentic behavior. This doesn't mean you take NO feedback, because you can always offer an intentionally "high-friction" means of contacting you (I personally like the idea of a time-limited email address that is the answer to a riddle presented in the content. Or a PO Box). It's deeply uncertain, even unlikely, that this will work because users crave engagement, feeling like their involved, and this "shape" of social media is more akin to legacy TV and print media which is "fire and forget". But still, I think it's an experiment worth doing.

techterrier 1y ago
of course you can, theres lots of healthy ways of engaging with and using social media... its just that for whatever reason, we've invested the lives of many of our best minds into pulling you into the unhealthy ways, as they make the line go up.
- simpaticoder 1y ago
  I suppose my question was less about whether or not one can do the experiment, and more about whether or not anyone has done it and whether it was successful. I could see it going either way.
immibis 1y ago
Without feedback, how will you optimize your posts for attention? If you don't want to optimize for attention, why are you posting?
iluvlawyering 1y ago
Been doing this for almost a decade. Drive-by social media. My pages are all public too. Check iluvlawyering on Instagram and you'll see hundreds of posts without any responses. There's even a post that I made as a channel marker of sorts (paraphrasing: click on this and tap on that, all day long its click, click, clack, feel free to click on this there's no tapping back. Needless to say I haven't scrolled or engaged with anything on any of my own feeds in years. It's also important not to curate or review what you've already posted. That was an issue for the first couple years but it's all smooth sailing now.

techterrier 1y ago

of course you can, theres lots of healthy ways of engaging with and using social media... its just that for whatever reason, we've invested the lives of many of our best minds into pulling you into the unhealthy ways, as they make the line go up.

simpaticoder 1y ago
I suppose my question was less about whether or not one can do the experiment, and more about whether or not anyone has done it and whether it was successful. I could see it going either way.

immibis 1y ago

Without feedback, how will you optimize your posts for attention? If you don't want to optimize for attention, why are you posting?

iluvlawyering 1y ago

Been doing this for almost a decade. Drive-by social media. My pages are all public too. Check iluvlawyering on Instagram and you'll see hundreds of posts without any responses. There's even a post that I made as a channel marker of sorts (paraphrasing: click on this and tap on that, all day long its click, click, clack, feel free to click on this there's no tapping back. Needless to say I haven't scrolled or engaged with anything on any of my own feeds in years. It's also important not to curate or review what you've already posted. That was an issue for the first couple years but it's all smooth sailing now.