The other day, I was listening to an interview with John Carmack wherein he described his use of the Finger protocol early in his career. The Finger protocol, which predates modern blogging, enables the publication of status updates, simple maxims, and even longer essays. There are no likes, no comments, and no news feeds. Readers need to seek out content that interests them.

It strikes me that thoughts is very similar. I appreciate that it doesn't offer “modern” social networking features. I don't learn much from hot takes; I'm not sure anyone does. If you disagree with something I write and are genuinely interested in the subject, let's have a real conversation about it. I also welcome thoughtful written rebuttals. Comment sections don't foster these things.

Better is not always better. Ancient wisdom.

#SocialMedia #Technology #Communication

I don't know anyone who has genuinely changed their mind as a result of being scolded and judged.

#Communication #Belief

Being right is not the same as being effective.

#Communication

This micro-blog won't focus exclusively on social media. However, given that the service that powers it*, thoughts.page, offers a compelling alternative to the enchanting digital battlegrounds of Twitter and Facebook, it only seemed appropriate to share those thoughts first.

* This content has since been migrated to another platform. That said, I do still very much admire thoughts.page.

#SocialMedia #Technology #Communication

On social media, communication is not about learning. It's not about listening. It's certainly not about changing our minds. Instead, communication serves to score points, to show others how smart and how moral we are, to perform. It's no wonder we can't get along when we use it.

#SocialMedia #Technology #Communication