I've grown increasingly frustrated with Facebook and Twitter lately. My Facebook feed has become some pattern variation on: page, page, sponsored, suggested, group. I rarely see friend's posts anymore, and even when I do, it's just a share from another page. I understand that part of the algorithm means I see less of who I don't interact with, but that becomes a race to the bottom & a self-fulfilling prophecy since I never see who I never see. Twitter isn't much better.

I'm just longing for the days of forums and AIM/ICQ where folks actually communicated on media instead of reacting and sharing variations on a meme. It was funny at first, but now I'm desperate for the kind of internet connections I used to have but no idea where to find them. Everything feels like I have to compete against the sea of noise just to be heard or seen and it's depressing & exhausting.

With discords and slacks galore, there are so many options but I end up getting ignored because I don't spam chat all day long nor could I have the time to do so. The last place I made a group of really good friends was an introvert forum. Before that, it was a gaming forum. Smaller spaces are harder to find now it seems.

Covid has made it worse, but I've been struggling with this over the last decade.

What do you do to develop friendships online?