📑 Social Media Jujutsu
Jujutsu is a martial art focused on using your opponent’s momentum against them– clever redirection of force rather than trying to meet it directly. This seems like it might be an option for some of today’s social media woes where people are trying to continue to take advantage of the good aspects of these tools/communities while opposing some of their attempts at manipulation. There are major alternatives like Mastodon but many people aren’t going to make that jump. So consider this post more of a way you might mitigate harm while continuing using tools meant to bend your mind and warp your perceptions.
Tom Woodward reflects on the stresses of social media and shares a number of tools for mitigating the harm. This includes add-ons which hides Twitter metrics and tools which adjust your language. He also touches on some strategies, such as commenting on sites more than social media. Depending on your platform, I would recommend the #IndieWeb and activating webmentions. Also, Micro.blog offers another entry point to claiming the web, especially in regards to RSS.
Mentions