Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, a lot of people have started questioning the alternatives. Having a USA based Oligarch like Musk controlling public opinion through a powerful tool like Twitter doesn’t sit well with many, especially in Canada. It started some self reflecting and many are trying out new platforms, one of the most popular is Mastodon.
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I thought I would review my use of social media tools.
As many have noted it seems to have moved a little more to the right with Musk in control. For my personal use, the WhatsUpEh! account, it’s virtually useless. However for my business accounts that stay clear of any political controversy, it’s still a useful tool. It’s probably the most useful of the social media platforms for driving traffic to a business website which is where I monetize my online presence.
This is where I hang out with people that I actually know in real life, most friends are left leaning so it’s a peaceful place where the most annoying thing is people boasting about their trip to Mexico or Alaska cruise. I do have a handful of right leaning friends and I find I mute them a lot for 30 days, if they’re too annoying I unfriend them, a drastic move. It’s also useful for community news, I belong to a couple of local community pages and it’s great for finding out what’s happening in the community.
I only have a business presence on Instagram, useful for gaining followers, it’s probably the most interactive for getting likes. I’ll get about 100 likes on a post which is way more interaction than I’ll get on FB, Twitter, Mastodon. I don’t spend a lot of time on there, I post something once a week, take a look around and then leave.
Mastodon
Still getting used to it, I signed up on three instances (servers) but only use one personal account on a daily basis. There’s not much interaction, it’s like Twitter that way, I haven’t found it that great for personal use and I’m not going to bother with a business account for now. I enjoy the science posts, I filtered out some of the sports stuff, and people who boost everything, I mute them. I started playing chess a bit, so the gaming potential is there. It’s really the potential of Mastodon and the idea of a federated network that excites me. It’s not there yet but when it reaches the community level that facebook fills right now, then it could be great. For now, I’m mostly watching and posting occasionally to learn how it reacts.
Tik Tok
Probably the most entertaining for watching, I don’t have an account, I really don’t have anything to share, I haven’t found the angle that would entertain or engage people on Tik Tok. I view as a guest when I’m bored, it can be entertaining.
Tumblr
I signed up just to get a look, a juvenile version of Instagram maybe. I wasn’t engaged.
Have I missed anything? Is there a new alternative? I would like to hear about it if there is. In summary I think people use social media in different ways, so each person will have a favourite. Also your view may depend on what hat you’re wearing, your business hat or your personal, unfiltered hat.
Note: The cool graphic was taken from this Buzzfeed article and they attributed the graphic to Homunkulus28 / Getty Images/iStockphoto