Couple social reminders
You don't have to follow everyone you know/like.
Not following someone doesn't mean you don't like them.
It's okay to interact with someone that's not following you.
Keeping your follow list digestible is self care.
The concept of followers equating to value is perpetuated by birdsite and designed to pressure you into more content than you can reasonably digest; it's an idea that following, being followed is a currency of popularity.
We don't need that.
Couple social reminders
@Facet I've lost friendships because I unfollowed and the other party took offense
Couple social reminders
@atinyfairy That's what I mean. We put too much stock and stress into that sort of thing.
We need to start moving out of these expectations, as some of the hundred cuts that contribute to overload and burnout.
Couple social reminders
@Facet it's an ought-is issue
that you *ought* to be able to shape your internet experience however you want for any reason you want does not mean that temporarily unfollowing someone instead of muting so you can still see other people's retweets of them will not result in being blocked
Couple social reminders
@atinyfairy I've got a bunch of people I stopped following here or on birdsite that I still talk to regularly on Discord, Twitch, or elsewhere.
But I have plenty of their interaction in those places and don't have to have it here too for any obligatory expression of friend status.
Couple social reminders
@atinyfairy That's just my perspective, anyway. A well-curated timeline of more personally relevant updates makes for a much less stressful experience for me.
If I have people I rarely interact with that make 50 updates a day and I'm not sure how to talk with them, I'm probably not getting anything out of following them here, though I may still interact with them elsewhere.
All it does is make more personally relevant updates harder to catch.