Bluesky is ushering in a pick-your-own algorithm era of social media

I've been using Bluesky casually for the past week and, as someone who was never a regular Twitter user, I don't see the point of using these kinds of social media websites. Sure, Bluesky is definitely less toxic than Twitter, but I still haven't found a way for it to add value to my life.

It's fine that you don't get value from it, but how does that add to the conversation?

There are an infinite number of activities available to humans. Some people will find some of those activities enjoyable, and others will not. Is there value in joining a conversation about every activity to declare that you don't enjoy it personally?

A more constructive way of engaging might be to say how it might add value to your life if it were different in some way. Or you could warn others that it's harmful in ways they don't recognize. But just an unqualified, "I don't see the point of that," is not so helpful.

Roasted

I remember thinking of it as "Facebook status updates, without the rest of [the old] Facebook"

I don't use any of these services actively, but we do all end up being passive Twitter and maybe in the future Bluesky consumers.

That said I've done my usual due diligence and created an account very obviously under my IRL name now to hold down the username.

I partially agree, and I'm generally in favor of doing our part to help dang and keep the level of conversation high. With that being said, I read the parent post slightly differently.

I took their post as an implicit request that commenters share their own experiences and how they receive value from these services. A bit like the nuance between the statements "This is pointless" vs "I don't see the point", where the latter has something of an implicit (yet).

If people you know are there, it's an alternative to sms or phone calls or whatever.

If people sharing your profession or hobbies are there, it's a way to hobnob or talk shop.

If you follow a bunch of reporter-type people, it's an alternative to the newspaper.

The actual site itself is mostly irrelevant, except for how easy or hard or makes it to do specific things.

It's not for casual users. The only way it adds value to your life is if you use it more than casually. It's a symbiotic thing. The more info you feed it, the more valuable the information you receive on it will be to you.

The only value I got from twitter that I now get from bluesky is following prominent people and institutions. Journalists, scientists, engineers, economists or whatever interest group you align with. It's a great way to keep up with interesting things they are doing or thinking. I rarely if ever get engaged with conversations or debates.

>but I still haven't found a way for it to add value to my life.

I think one of the most useful cases of these sites is looking for conversations by people on a subject you are interested in but don't have a lot of real life connection to. For example I was really interested in China studies, so I found a list of Sinologists. Just reading what they write, what sources they recommend and "listening in" on it is a very good way to get exposed to all kinds of stuff you wouldn't even know to search for.

And there's lots of fields like this. Maybe you are interested in abstract expressionist art. What's the chances you know a lot of scholars unless you are one? These networks of really interesting people is I think where the value is in platforms like this.

Maybe it’s not useful for you, which would itself be a cool result.

How comes ? What works, what doesn’t?

Also it was a revelation for me as a nontwitterer to go barhopping with a friend who tweeted his itinerary and we met up with a couple of strangers that followed him online. Like, oh, social media can actually lead to social interaction, amazing. Probably not typical experience but a few people I know would never willingly give up on such a powerful networking tool in their niche.

> I've been using Bluesky casually for the past week and, as someone who was never a regular Twitter user, I don't see the point of using these kinds of social media websites.

Yeah, if you didn't like old/pre-Musk Twitter, you're probably not going to like Bluesky; as far as the user is concerned it's a slightly refined version of the same thing.

Thanks for you advice on writing Internet comments.

Disagreed, block lists, word filters and starter packs turn it into whatever I want it to be, and of all the things it's not X, I tell you that.

You should review the site guidelines, as you've only made two comments on HN, and both of them violate the community guidelines:

>Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes.

>Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.

Booya

Are there any social media services that you do see the point of and add value to your life?