with Chiaki, Cody, Lane, Tony, and Kristen
<aside> <img src="https://img.icons8.com/ios/250/000000/chat.png" alt="https://img.icons8.com/ios/250/000000/chat.png" width="40px" /> Playtest 001: Thursday - April 27, 2023
We Gatherned for one hour around a post titled:
”**The Post-Platform Internet: We don't know where to go online now.”** by Kyle Chayka
The following gems emerged from the conversation
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Reimagining Social Media: A Call for Digital Coziness and Control
We talked about a collective need for a more intentional, human-centric social media experience; a quieter corner of the internet, free from the unexpected harshness of main stream social media. We’re eager for innovation, not just in the content that populates our feeds but also in the control we wield over our communications.
The idea of 'social digital physics' was introduced, a concept that piqued our interest. An infrastructure, free and fluid, allowing us to maintain our identities across communities while providing the space for creators to craft more personalized, comfortable environments. This sparked a sense of unity, reminding us of our shared longing for a thoughtful, human-centered approach to our digital interactions.
A Revival of Genuine Social Media Connections
We questioned what's missing from our current digital social experience, recognizing that perhaps we've lost our way, with platforms transforming into marketing and advertising stages, rather than spaces for genuine human connection.
We're yearning for more dimensions to our interactions. We discussed the value of adding voice notes, for example, to snapshot our lives - an element that offers an emotional connection currently missing.
We also reminisced about the thrill of exploration, the excitement of connecting with new people, or stumbling upon fresh ideas - feelings that have been replaced with a sense of dread due to the overwhelming and often unfulfilling nature of current platforms. It's clear we're seeking a return to social media's roots - a space for true sociality, exploration, and multi-faceted expression.
Yearning for Novelty and Discovery in Homogenized Social Media
We found ourselves contemplating the ever-blurring boundaries between different social media platforms, their content, and the growing sense of digital homogeneity. Evoking the image of the internet as a map, we likened each platform to a house - the Instagram House of Photos, the Twitter House of Words.
However, the overwhelming nature of this landscape had us yearning for something completely novel. We touched upon the concept of the internet journey as portrayed in "Ralph Breaks the Internet," wondering if we could create a similar experience of excitement and discovery.
We discussed the cyclical nature of social media platforms, their exciting beginnings, inevitable scaling, and the subsequent loss of novelty leading to commodification and exhaustion. Lastly, we pondered the possibility of breaking this cycle, contemplating the emergence of genuinely new formats in the social media landscape.
