On the Topic of Community

One thing I’ve learned about Steemit is that the number one rule of Steemit is to talk about Steemit.

Okay, I can do this, as long as I keep the threshold of knowledge low. Like everyone else, apparently, I already have a lot to say about Steemit and I’ve only been around a few weeks. Actually, this is the first thing I should mention: I could have been on Steemit a long time ago, long before a few weeks ago. I first heard about Steemit all the way back in June 2016, and even started to sign up, but I changed my mind. After scrolling through a few posts (random) and reading a few articles (incomprehensible talk of digital currency that would not materialize for weeks, if it happened at all on the initial July 4 payout), I decided against joining Steemit. Not only was I sick of bloggers rattling on (who wasn’t sick of bloggers by 2016?), but I was sick of the whole Internet. The whole place – but especially social media – seemed like a giant corporate cesspool, made even more horrible with a constant stream of freakouts about politics and, worse, lots of groupthink. I had very little faith that this platform would be different.

Facebook is Gross

Everyone knows this. In using Facebook, I’ve had to learn to dodge the constant invasions of privacy (the incessant demands to “finish filling out your profile” the condescending “what’s on your mind?” as an invitation to post), and nannying of Facebook through its every-varying algorithms controlling the manner in which I was spoon-fed.

Since the beginning of my time on Facebook, I have never shared a single thing about myself that was not absolutely necessary to function there: not my favorite movies, or books, or pop stars, where I went to school, who is in my family – none of that stuff. It has helped minimize the intensity of Facebook’s intervention in my feed, for starters. What was really the saving grace of Facebook for me – why I stuck around – was its “Groups” feature. The ability to sort myself into a group (or multiple groups) of my choice and carry on a curated experience in a community I valued was fantastic. The best part was the fact that this happened with no advertising (at least in the feed) and no oversight from Facebook over the content itself.

In the last few years, however, the like-minded nature of the communities in my various Facebook groups began to morph into a creepy sort of groupthink, in which considering a counter point of view – no matter how innocuous – became unacceptable. At the same time American politics had reached a hysterical pitch leading up to and following the 2016 election, which, of course, is no coincidence.

I soon learned that a dissenting opinion threatened the hive mind and my FB groups began to look a lot less attractive. It make sense, then, that the only FB group I’m still even nominally active in is the one formed by citizens of the town I live in. This group functions primarily as a town square where someone stands on a soap box to rant, only to have tomatoes thrown at him before being yanked off by the elbow, or whatever the virtual equivalent is, and replaced by another person ranting. While this negativity is exhausting, at least it contains multiple points of view, and closely parallels the reality of a real place, an actual small town, and what it means to co-exist with a bunch of people you don’t agree with.

On to Steemit

I revisited Steemit after a few people in my family came to the platform and managed to find a real sense of community. There’s a lot of junk to wade through, of course. Spammy comments and money-hungry hopefuls (which includes all of us, at some level) and all the rest. But at least I make the choice to wade through the content and find a strategy for making the most of my time here. Which doesn’t just mean figuring out the currency aspect; it means working to create real content that reflects my real values and point of view, one that connects with other people, but on their own terms and according to their own tastes.

I’m hoping to head to Boston for a Steemit meetup this weekend, to make real in flesh-and-blood what has only been virtual, up to this point. But I know I don’t have to meet the people on Steemit to meet the people on Steemit. It is possible to find community on this platform, and I look forward to the experience, knowing it is unmediated, that no one is governing the process, and the experience is mine, for good or for ill. The best part is, it is all up to me.

The sky outside my front door. Limitless, now that I'm not languishing on legacy social media platforms.