Why does this chart just go down? 0 once again marks the spot

To be honest, I’m not sure I want Mastodon to grow. I actually never wanted Twitter to grow. I originally joined Twitter in 2008 for a developer conference (C4 in Chicago) to network with other software developers. As far as I’m concerned, Twitter was ruined by the influx of celebrities and celebrity worshippers. Thankfully the celebrities have mostly ignored Mastodon. A crucial difference between the two social networks is that Twitter needed masses of people to join, because Twitter was a publicly-traded, for-profit corporation, financed by advertising. The goal of Twitter, like other such social networks—Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok—was to maximize attention and thus eyeballs on ads. I speak of Twitter in the past tense because Twitter no longer exists; X is a somewhat different beast, whose owner drove away many advertisers and appears to have goals other than profit maximization, namely, the spreading political propaganda, though that too requires maximization of attention.

This raises an important question: should you give your attention to social media? Is social media use healthy? In November 2022, shortly after I stopped posting on Twitter due to the Musk acquisition, I wrote the blog post I don't want to go back to social media, describing a number of ways in which all forms of social media are problematic. (I also explained why the Musk acquisition triggered me to stop posting on Twitter, if you’re interested.) Three months later I wrote I do want to go back to social media, admitting that I had joined Mastodon:

I can’t speak for Matt Birchler, but I can speak for myself: I am a social media addict. This is a bad habit. I wouldn’t encourage other people to take up my bad habit. I hope that cigarette smokers would not encourage other people to take up smoking. Our goal should be to decrease rather than increase the rate of smoking. My opinion is that humanity would be better off if all of the largest social networks immediately shut down. If that includes Mastodon and Bluesky, so be it. I already have an unhealthy love-hate relationship with Mastodon.

This is not to say that I find all forms of online communication unhealthy. Way back in the days of 300 baud modems, I dialed up local Bulletin Board Systems. The local aspect was crucial, because my BBS usage allowed me to make many friends in person, friends whom I would not have met otherwise. Thus, the BBS was truly a social network. If I recall correctly, the last time I made an in-person friend from a global social network was over a decade ago.

By design, Mastodon avoids maximizing your attention. It sells no ads. The only algorithm is a reverse-chronological feed of the accounts you follow, a form of usage actively discouraged by the ad-supported social networks. Infinite scrolling on Mastodon is difficult to achieve. As a consequence, it’s no wonder that casual visitors to Mastodon tend to lose interest. In the deplorable article by John Gruber, X Once Again Marks the Spot, an unapologetic, uncritical celebration of ignorance in the face of unprecedented spending on political propaganda by Elon Musk—who is practically single-handedly funding Republican midterms campaigns—one statement stands out as illuminating:

In other words, Mastodon respects its users, doesn’t intend to waste their time. If Mastodon users decide to leave, I say good for them! But please don’t return to X. Or Threads/Facebook/Instagram. Don’t watch videos on YouTube or TikTok. There are so many better ways to spend your time. Socialize with other people in person. If you’re looking for a solitary activity, read a book. Seriously. Books are good. And you can join book clubs to both read and socialize. Feed your mind, not your addiction. Leave social media to the pathetic people like me who cannot bring themselves to leave, instead of becoming pathetic yourself. Would it be so bad if the monthly active user counts of all global social networks fell to 0? The count was 0 when I was young, and that didn’t seem so bad.