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I have thought about the role of social media for a bit over the past few days, and honestly as much as I can sympathize with social media skeptics like Drew Devault's blog post from a while back, I ultimately think the Fediverse is not as toxic of a place as it's made out to be.

Yes, the Fediverse has issues, but these are not unsolvable. In fact, with the Fediverse being run by mostly individuals and small groups instead of large for-profit corporations, it may actually be easier to implement the solutions to those problems.

Fluff metrics like number of followers/likes/renotes/etc. could be made to not show up by default. Timelines can be made to not auto update. These are simple solutions to the problem of the dopamine rush that tends to chain people to social media in an unhealthy way.

Of course these are not the only solutions (or even the best ones), but it does prove that we don't need to just ditch social media entirely.

Also, the main thing that really makes social networks like the Fediverse great for many people is discovery. As in discovering new people, new ideas, and new things in general.

I've made many friends here, been able to express myself better, and also learned things about tech and the world in general. I do think as much as the fediverse can have its issues, it honestly can be good.