:33c the indie web is divided in this topic, some people find it baffling that someone would f33l fr33 and happy on such restrictive spaces with lack of customisation and censorship giving their info to money hungry corporations.
:33c and then theres people like us, who like to hybridize.
:33c the main thing is convinience
:33c maintaining things like websites are time consuming, and exploring the indie web can get exhauting at times, specially to disabled people like me
:33c things such as tumblr, and hell even dreamwidth, have a bunch of things figured out for you: a search system, a post making system, a easy way to follow people of interest, a f33d, insite community and culture, and your whole blog layout is premade from the start with handy templates made by other people that you can customize yourself!
:33c yes this isnt exactly instagram or tiktok but!! weve started using again instagram too, reluctantly, because everything in our country is organized there and for a good reason! short form posts that can handle information with visual media and gather a quick audience. its a good way to advertize your buisiness, inform the public or k33p your friends informed via the story feature! this makes the internet way easier to the less internet savvy and helps it expand so more people can benefit from it
:33c we also use reddit daily for the daily loggin achivement(good marketing there). we find it one of the better for us because weve now learnt how to behave there and the anonymity allows you to be way fr33r there, not being scared of all you takes being attached to your actual identity (unless you tie it to your actual identity, dont tie it to your actual identity). its toxic as fuck but if you curate it correctly and know when to quit it can be from funny to actually useful. but its not for the faint of heart tho...
:33c social media on itself is not evil, its the companies running them. the constant n33d for profit, sponsors and shareholders being more important than the actual userbase and authoritatian goverments wanting control over what the people say are what fuel the censorship and toxic buisiness practices like the manipulative algorithms, censorship of controversial topics that shouldnt be/intentional bad moderation on things like hate sp33ch, features only made for the shareholders that only harm the end user, removal of privacy features/data collection, making previously fr33 features paid, etc etc
:33c on the toxicity of social media... that happens anywhere you put more than one person in??? forums, imageboards, microblogging sites, art sharing plataforms, school/university, cons, the public park, sports fans clubs, bars, you own neighborhood, anywhere!! how bad the conflic is, how it manifests and how (or if) its resolved depends on what type of people are involved but it happens everywhere. some places and the culture they form can harbor dangerous levels of toxicity that can cause harm to other people outside those groups, this applies to both online and offline spaces.
:33c conflict can be a disagr33ment on a cosmetic part and fixed by a compromise or one side convincing the other, or in a huge fight where nothing is resolved at the end. sometimes this causes splits in the groups where new projects form (such as protest forks, making a new thing from scratch, forming a new group, people migrating to another place, etc)
:33c again, here im indirectly refering to the foss world and political parties. as well as the twitter/reddit/tumblr/etc refug33s, all the livejournal forks, nekoweb, forum drama, etc etc!! this is not a social media exclusive thing.
:33c i use archlinux and foss for the privacy and customizability. i make my own websites to be away from the controls of corporations and be more authentic and fr33. i also run propietary software when foss isnt available (or is more convinient), use social media (mainstream and indie), use google accounts, ran banking apps on my phone, use youtube premium that im l33ching from a family members plan, use paid ibis paint as one of my main art programs and other contradictions. sorry, call me a hypocrite but i prefer convinience.
:33c foss and the web revival are a political thing for me, yes. but i cannot afford to fully commit to it. if i want to socialize i n33d whatsapp, instagram and discord, if i want to do money related things i n33d to use the bank apps. and sometimes things being more convinient like steam or google i will use it. i prefer foss alternatives and the day i can quit these propietary things i will, but that day hasnt come, and this is a political thing im definitely not hardcore enough about.
:33c im trapped with subpar alternatives too, like firefox and krita (tell me what you want but krita sucks) and new plataforms also tend to be propietary. i try to go to more indie and niche spaces so i can find community with likeminded people, but often those are in discord or tumblr or reddit. and if i want to find physical communities they often organize via instagram.
:33c what im trying to say is that social media is useful, and not everyone can afford to "quit" social media. if social media is a horrible place for you that is dangerous and/or is ruining your mental health, quit it. do whatever is best for you. but sometimes the best for some people is to be on social media, specially if you find the right places, block and filter correctly and learn how to listen to your n33d and take breaks/know when to quit a discussion/cut ties with people. the lack of customisability is sometimes what is so attractive for some, its very plug and play, not so overwhelming and high maintanace like personal websites are.
:33c i love indie/foss spaces, dont get me wrong but im sick of this superiority complex that these places have harbored. social media is not the devil, not all propietary software is bad (think steam)
:33c so yeah, this was a bit of an opinion piece, and also a ramble about things ive heard in web revival spaces (not necessarily in the indie web) and foss spaces. i sound a bit more pissed off than i actually am, im just a very emphatic kitty
# :33c i might dequirk this one fur reach idk yet