I’ve spoken at length on here about the net, community, niche interests, etc. I still believe in the power it has to connect and create unique spaces. I have made a mistake, I must admit.

I read the comments.

I know, everyone says: “Don’t read the comments.” It doesn’t matter what platform though, I get curious. I want to know what people think. I do this without considering that I don’t know any of these people nor does their opinion actually matter. But I do it anyway. Sometimes it’s fun. We’re all on the same page. Sometimes.

Way back when I started the shrine, it was because I grew tired of places like reddit. I was getting frustrated over comments by people I’d likely never speak to on topics that didn’t matter. Even thinking about it now got a bit of a rise.

But I’ve been turning away from threads lately. I’ve tried to disengage. I’ve tried to remember that none of this back and forth matters. I’m making a sincere effort to not put stock into comments. There’s a lot of funny work being done in comments and threads and on social media. Closing the loop is healthier. Call it doom scrolling, taking the bait, whatever you want.

I’m tired. I need to move on.

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently, one I met via the net even, and this topic came up. Both of us had taken to blogging again, for some of the same reasons. This pushed me to write again so here we are.

I still believe in the power of the net and finding connection out there but with all of the noise between here and the dead net, maybe we need to curate those connections a bit more carefully.