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  • July 14, 2023

    Fractured Social Media

    Fractured Social Media

    Not too long ago, the only way to have access to all TV content was not only to have a cable subscription but also to purchase every additional “package” of channels (and many overlapped to further drive home the wasted money). Netflix changed that when they pivoted to streaming in 2007, claiming that the days of cable subscriptions and packages were over, and that now you could subscribe to Netflix for one low monthly fee and see everything (or something like that). That was nice for a while.

    Fast forward to today, and not only are there multiple streaming networks, but many are now packaging other streaming networks: Paramount+ with Showtime, Disney+ with Hulu, etc. Streaming saved us from cable subscriptions and packages, only to later rebrand cable subscriptions and packages.

    Sorry for the long preamble, but after the whiplash of memories from this Tumblr post, I feel like we’re going through the same cycle with social media.

    https://www.tumblr.com/cubeghost/721881487309471744/something-familiar-in-the-splintering-of-social

    Not too long ago, the only way to have access to all of your friends online was to join a ridiculous number of social networks, which were all free money-wise but each carried their own cost in time spent scrolling. Eventually, that thinned out to the major social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Tumblr. You only had to join at most 5 to follow all of your friends, but most of them supported cross-posting to something (usually Twitter), so if you were lucky, maybe you only had to join 1 social network.

    Fast forward to today, and not only has the near collapse of Twitter and Reddit spawned multitudes of new social networks all vying for their users, but Twitter has effectively shut down all cross-posting. If your desire is to have access to all of your friends online, you must once again join a ridiculous number of social networks. Social media is fractured again.

    I guess I’m fascinated by this system that creates too many options, narrows down the choices, and repeats. Is it our own battle between freedom of choice and fatigue over too many choices? I don’t know.

    Allegedly there’s hope in ActivityPub, which is bringing the philosophy of email to social media (you don’t need a Gmail account to email Gmail users and an Outlook account to email Outlook users), but the barrier for entry is steep right now. Mastodon is at the forefront of ActivityPub work, but which server do you join (they all have different policies, practices, and core communities), and how do you find people to follow on other servers? I think it’s awesome that you can bring your followers and follows with you when you move to a different server, and that you don’t need to share a server with someone to follow them, but if the barrier for entry is already steep, how many people will even experience that?

    Of course, there’s always my solution to the problem. I’m just not going to join everything this time. Tumblr satisfies my need for mass-connection, MLTSHP satisfies my need for a small almost “where everyone knows your name” community, RSS (with particularly NetNewsWire) satisfies my need for following sites, and the rest are text messages and email.

    I don’t know what the solution is. I don’t know where this is going. But the cycle is fascinating, or at least fascinating enough for me to put a lot of words down.

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    Technology
    social media

  • April 22, 2023

    Earth Day, 2023

    Earth Day, 2023

    Happy Earth Day, everyone! Today’s great a day to reflect on the Earth, the only planet we have, and it’s also a great day to save the environment for free, go carbon negative, and donate to Trees for the Future.

    I know this is a shorter post than usual here, but you could say the rest of this post is outdoors. If you’re in the US, please consider visiting a national park or a botanical garden. Wherever you are, if it’s safe to do so, please go outside and experience nature!

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    Science, Technology, World
    earth day, environment

  • April 10, 2023

    Hawaii in 2023

    We took the opportunity again to visit Mom in this allegedly “post-pandemic” world. Don’t worry, Sarah and I still wore KN95 masks from Project N95 on the planes and submarine tour, because I’m not eager to get COVID-19 again, and yes we’re COVID-negative still even a week later. Masks really do work!

    Hawaii continues to be an absolutely beautiful and peaceful place, and as usual, here are my favorite photos:

    Kona
    fish
    shark in a shipwreck
    Atlantis Submarine
    cruise ship
    low tide
    waves
    Mauna Kea Resort
    Buddha

    By the way, if you followed me on Tumblr, you would have seen these photos posted the same day they were taken, and you can find many more bonus photos over there.

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    Photo
    hawaii

  • March 10, 2023

    Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story

    If you’re looking for something new to watch this weekend, check out Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story, a charming present-day remake of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from Shipwrecked Comedy.

    The web series follows Ichabod Crane as the legendary Headless Horseman offers to pay his rent in exchange for help finding his head. Each episode features a new head, transforming the Horseman into the person the head belonged to, and hijinks ensue.

    The story is engaging, the characters are fun, the acting is excellent, and the production is impressive for its budget. I’ve enjoyed it since the first episode, so much so that I even went to the gala, which is rare for me; Star Wars Celebration 2022 was the only other thing like it I’ve been to. So, enough rambling. Please enjoy!

    And if you loved that as much as I did, please consider following Shipwrecked on Tumblr!

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    Humor, Review, Video
    headless, the legend of sleepy hollow, web series

  • January 1, 2023

    Happy New Year! the 2023 edition

    Happy New Year! the 2023 edition

    2023 begins today, and looking back, the top post here had some staying power since it was 2019’s Rewatch: Stargate SG-1.

    Here are some of my favorites from last year. I hope you enjoy them too:

    • Movie: Belle
    • TV: Our Flag Means Death
    • Game: Bastion
    • Comics: Batman: White Knight
    • Book(s): The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim and its sequel, Prairie Fire

    And, since I spent more time on Tumblr, don’t miss my 2022 recap over there!

    This year, please consider sharing your voice and experiences with the world. If you don’t have a place to write yet, launch your site with WordPress.com, or take Tumblr for a spin if shorter content is your thing. And if you don’t know what to write yet, join the Bloganuary Challenge!

    May your new year be what you make of it.

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    Technology, Video, World
    2023, new year, tumblr, WordPress

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