Slow social media

>I think there should also be a reasonable cap on the number of connections that can be made. Something like 300 friends sounds right

What about a requirement "at least one direct interaction in a year"? Maybe with a reminder "you didn't catch up with X in 11 months, are you still connected"? This will both:

* Achieve the main reason of social network existence, i.e. give people an excuse to have a chat with a former friend and keep in touch. I sometimes thing about messaging a person I knew years ago, but it feels awkward enough that I don't do it usually.

* Naturally limit the number of connections, because now having connectione require (small but still) work. A very small dopamine addicted users may still try to collect connections, but I feel like this platform will be hostile enough for them and they will leave anyway, not finding what they want from SM.

Yes, just put people in charge of the algorithm.

The feed (etc.) algorithm could be written in natural language and executed by AI.

As a small +1 — I built mood.site to be an easy way to share galleries of images with people. The idea being like "hey send me some photo inspiration for the party we're planning" and having a throwaway way to do that (kind of like a pastebin for images).

People definitely use it for this, but what has really surprised me is people's capactiy for expression inside of the bounds of the program I created, and how people are clearly using in as a sort of ad hoc social network of loosely collected boards and inspiration. There are no actual _social_ features in the app (no discovery, etc.), but what has been sort of inspriring is that The Will is just there for people to find ways of expression outside the idea of a "feed" and "posting".

I think those models have indeed become synonymous with "social media", but my only point here is to bring up a possibility of "social media" as something that can be much more expansive and look very different compared to the primary models we think of today.

Another person favorite of mine along the same lines is how the comments section of this Pilsburry recipe for "veggie pizza" has become it's own sort of ad-hoc social media for grandmas to share their own experiences with each other about the dish: https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/veggie-pizza/4b2c60ae-69e5...

Media was always already social. If I email my friend a link to a YouTube video, is the Internet a social network? I think what we think of when we think of 'social media' or a 'social network' is an integrated platform that lubricates particular potentials, like being able to create and share content with friends and fans. But there are other ways to realise those potentials, including ones that require the interfacing of different platforms (or media, in the McLuhanian sense), or what might be perceived as different platforms at one scale, and the same platform at another scale, as per my Internet example. And, the multiplicity of platforms, and the interfacing between them, might confer additional advantages and open up yet more potentials.

Strava is the closest thing to effective social media that I use, because it is 'slow'.

You create 'content' by doing something orthogonal. You pay for access vs selling attention for ads. You only look at Strava when you are working out, so engagement is authentic vs contrived/performative. I care about my friend completing a run because I know they did it.

One of the best thing they did was allow the chance to add photos.