commission done for bunbunmallow!

clouded by the Dark Side, the future is. They forgot that I'm Him.

it's really not! I keep seeing people say this but it really does reveal how reliant people have grown on the way that modern social media has turned into a hose that just blasts you in the face with #Hashtag #Content? like if you want to find people to follow on here, you gotta do it like you used to have to do it

specifically, you need to seek out things that interest you. if you already follow like one or two active accounts though? you're already kinda set because cohost, much like tumblr, exists in a way where sharing things others have posted. those one or two people are probably sharing stuff they've seen, that they're interested in, and you can start looking at those accounts

there's also the tag search? like if you're interested in art or music or whatever, #my art and #my music and similar are things. admittedly, this is a bit of a pain point because it's not like you're going to know this when you first show up. it actually would be pretty good if cohost had a bit of an onboarding process that could explain this? not one of those extremely obnoxious "hey loser click through these like fifty things that'll let you finally use the site" ones, but maybe like... I dunno, a little guide that new users can click into that shows up in the notifications? something easy to dismiss

but this idea that cohost is some impenetrable wall that completely inhibits discoverability is so fucking weird and maybe it's because I'm the World's Oldest Child but this is just how social media and, yeah, the whole-ass internet used to be! you used to have to actually look for things to help you curate your experience online!

more specifically, maybe more importantly, you had to be an active participant. the internet really shouldn't just be a passive experience if you want to enjoy yourself. if you want things thrown in your lap, cohost probably isn't the place for you, but that also speaks to a deeper issue with what the internet has become and what expectations it's set up. like this is starting to feel like a boomer-ass take, but maybe the way the modern internet encourages passively just consume content is... bad?

I dunno, I think I've lost the thread here

if you want to find stuff on cohost, take an active role in that

I would seriously argue that users passively consuming content as opposed to actively deciding what people and subjects they do and do not want to follow and participate with is a decent factor in a fair chunk of the problems with the modern internet as a whole

"people always complain about UI changes at first and then they get used to it" i'm going to break into your house and put all your important stuff you use every day in random drawers and see how you like it. i'm gonna hide your phone in the towel cupboard. i'll put all your spoons in the fridge. all writing utensils are now stored under a floorboard that i've drawn a pencil on (in very light pencil so you can't actually see it)

if you want your software to be a part of users' everyday lives then it has to be reliable and predictable. you can't just change the entire shape of it on a whim no matter how much better you think it is. make small changes slowly or leave it the fuck alone. a UI overhaul is rarely a good idea because even if it really is "better" you are straining the fragile trust of your userbase by throwing them unexpectedly into HEY LEARN A NEW THING when it is fucking thursday or whatever and they are busy or maybe have an urgent message to send to someone. it's disrespectful. it's a breach of common decency. you shouldn't overhaul your entire UI on a whim any more than you should "deliver" a package by hucking it through an open window at the recipient's head. take the time to knock, or at least don't complain when they yell at you and throw stuff back.

Also, back in the Olden Days you'd maybe go to the book store and buy a magazine and take it home and leaf through it and see that Version 3 was just released and you'd read about it and maybe eventually go to the Computer Store and buy a box, covered in shrink wrap, for which you'd pay quite a lot of money, and bring it home and spend an hour exchanging floppy disks, and it was kinda supposed to look different, you expected that.

Now it's like you wake up on a Tuesday morning and go on the computer to do the same thing you always do and you can't fucking do it because they changed everything

YEAH. like. there's little to no preparation most of the time, and even when there is a period where the new interface in some software or on a website is optional, they'll be like "this is the new thing! what do you think? tell us!" and then simply ignore everything the users say. i'm sure just me saying that has ignited some grudge in the reader here (for me it's my eternal smoldering grudge against deviantART lol). and i get why some of this is happening but if you're going to try to please investors by wiggling things, you could at least wiggle them GENTLY.