It is weird.
I love community.
Yet, I find a barrier to diving deep with online community.
This is likely due to having been associated with many online communities since the
early 90's, and being sick and tired of friends going away.
People in the meat-space community, I have to run in to over and over.
At the store, library or simply on the street. And I love that. So genuine and in real-time.
This? This, not so much.
I can think of over 10 online communities that I've been a part of over the decades and
damn, if not a one of them is still a strong touchstone in my life. That sucks!
All the time and energy. Passionate discussions. Bonding - it all starts feeling like a thin facade.
I was excited to join steemit. I still think steemit is cool, but the moment my "connecting" with
others identically mirrored countless past experiences that led to little or nothing else - OK except in
the case of Suzy Snowflake, but that's another story. - I simply lost my drive. Did I want to log in,
devote an hour to crafting a solid post and then click around for good posts to interact in the
comment threads of, only to feel like I was walking the same path that I've already tread hundreds
of times before?
Not so much.
So, I'm sorry. I apologize for powering down and cashing out, but frak - been here and done this.
I must be getting too old. I want some more meat on my experience. Nevermind the fact that
online communities are only affordable for a specific percentage of the population. And that's just
at the base participation level. How about trying to get together with new online friends? Only
if you can afford the travel! Screw that! I have a family, I can't go flying all over the country to see
friends! That's what made my facebook experience so bitter. All of my dear old friends WITHOUT
children were flying and driving here and there for these great get-togethers and I spent 8 years
not being able to participate. That's stupid! Finally I realized that I should put my energy into the
people who ARE in my immediate world and not so far away and unreachable other than by wire.
So, I'm certainly not leaving, however my desire to have a weighty vote on posts is perfectly zero.
I'll interact, but I could care less how "valuable" my upvote is.
The desire to bond with new friends? Zero.
The desire to read and consider different perspectives? BOO-YAH! That's still here and I will still participate as able. but alas, I don't need to build another unsupportable community, only to drift apart and / or lose them again. Screw that noise. what a waste of time and utterly depressing. There's humans in my community now who drink up a friendly face and I much prefer those interactions to these. In fact, there may be a lot of value in all of us getting to know the humans around us as well as we get to know strangers online ...
Anyways,
May the wind be at your back.