I've been getting back into social media via Mastodon. Social media never had the hold on me that it did for some of the people interviewed in that article, bu

I've been getting back into social media via Mastodon. Social media never had the hold on me that it did for some of the people interviewed in that article, but I had stopped checking Facebook and Twitter a few years ago, largely for the negativity and argumentativeness I felt it bringing out. I don't know if that's due to algorithms designed to maximize engagement, or if it's just human nature. If it's the former, then Mastodon may offer a path to the benefits of social media without optimizing for addiction. Mastodon currently has nowhere near the reach of Facebook or Twitter. Maybe it never will. But in the meantime I'm enjoying following interesting people on Mastodon and the generally positive discussions I've seen there. Curation is certainly required since there's no algorithm making an effort to hook you in.