Six months on Bluesky
I have been using Bluesky for about six months now, and while it remains limited in terms of user base (three million as of yesterday) and features, so far it suits me fine. I stopped using Twitter in September 2021, briefly returning in mid-2023 in the hope of sourcing a Bluesky invite. Twitter was pretty bad in 2021, but the vileness of the place in the Musk era shocked me, and I ended up deleting my account. It's essentially a hate site, and while I recognise that some people have to use it for their jobs or activism, I am under no such obligation.
I have tried to be more selective with who I follow on Bluesky, and I have a pretty good mix of writers, readers, artists, musicians, music nerds, and other enthusiasts. I avoid people who fixate on politics, most journalists, and anyone engagement-farming, however benign. I have declined to follow several people I used to follow on Twitter - the kind of terminally online accounts I would check first thing on waking to see what was causing controversy on Twitter. As with any social media service, there are accounts that act as vectors for drama, and I will unfollow if someone shows leanings in that direction.
In short, I have tried to prioritise my mental health over social media use. What a concept!