Am I doing it wrong?

I often wonder how effective social media is at being social?

I am a GenX baby (I only recently learned that when I had to search for the term someone else was using about being a GenZ).  I now know where I sit in that category.  As for my sexuality label, I have no idea what the hell I should be tagged as.  I personally hate tags.  I am an individual.  Why to I need to tag my sexuality?  It does not define me; my personality does. Here I am off on an tangent, so back to the theme of this blog post.

I'm a chatty kinda guy.  I'm 54, I know who I am, what I like, and accept that life is never perfect.  I meander along doing my best, probably making a fool of myself sometimes, but I give no fecks!  Yes, one day we all reach that age when you finally can relax and realise that caring what others think of you is quite far down the list of happiness indicators.

I've been on some form of social media for a gazillion years.  Probably started at (forgotten the name), but like most people I was dragged kicking and screaming into Facebook because it was where all my friends and acquaintances were.  Society had reached that point where the only way to find out what your friends were doing was to read their Farcebook (sic) statuses.

I joined Twitter too -- I actually enjoyed the openness, and was lucky enough to avoid most of the twats; or I just ignored them.

My rule for social media is to keep it public.  By public, I mean that I would also stand on a box, in the middle of a town square, and proclaim to anyone who cared to listen.  I am staggered at just how much personal information people share!

I became disenchanted by FB about four years ago and cut the cord one day, going cold-turkey.  My partner had an unexpected heart problem (by problem I mean a quadruple by-pass a few days after collapsing at work).  I had not time for FB, nor the mind set; that was the end of FB.  I returned to traditional communication methods.

After a few months being nurse, I went back to Twitter on-and-off.  Fast forward a few years -- Musk bought the blue bird, and I canned Twatter (sic) too, as it slowly started to fall apart.

So here I am on the Fediverse -- 18 months(ish).  Started with Mastodon, and moved around various other flavours.  I have zero real-life in-person friends on the Fediverse -- it's quite a niche place, but I enjoy being part of it.

Back to the headline -- Am I doing it wrong (that probably should be 'incorrectly', if the grammar police are reading!).

I tend to post random stuff -- life events; photos; commentary.  I also actively try to comment on other people's work when it interests me.  Even if just a few words as a supportive comment.

It amazes me how few people do this -- you know, be social in the traditional sense.

I can make a load of posts on line and get zero response;  even when I comment on someone's post.  Zero, Nil, Nada, f'all.

I'm not posting for reaction, just for fun and the hope I make someone smile a little.

I'm just perplexed why so many are socially distant on Socials.  I appreciate there are many diverse groups/labels/people out there and everyone has different needs however, I wonder what people get from not interacting.

So my question to anyone who is still actually reading this:  What do you get/want out of socials?

Do you use it for: interaction; as a shouty box; a social place; share knowledge; somewhere to say "look at me, look how amazing I am, I need validation" ?

Feel free to comment via my post on the fediverse, email me, or send answers on a postcard.

David
GenX, Male, Litl' crazy, happiness lover.

I am available for podcasts, motivational speaking, and commercial workshops. 😝