Threads

  The last thing the world needs is another social media platform, especially from Meta and Zuckerberg. The last thing I wanted to due was to join another one, especially from Meta and Zuckerberg but what can an artist do today. People no longer pay attention to blogs and websites. They've become slaves to these mind sucking, time wasting entities, all while not retaining a thing that they've seen or read. In other words people have become fucking stupid zombies !!!

 Ok, now that I got that out of my system a like to give a very quick review of Threads. The platform was supposed to be an alternative to Twitter but to me it feels like either Facebook Lite or a less annoying Instagram where people somewhat like to engage with others. ALSO NO PHOTO CROPPING! As of now there are no advertisements, a very limited amount of businesses ( I block those ) and an algorithm that seems much less aggressive. When I look at photography or art my feed becomes full of those things, but...., if you search for say cats, trees, or anything other subject your feed will quickly change to those things and most of the art will disappear until you search for them again.

 I've been using the platform for almost a week now and I've had more engagement in those few days than I've had on Instagram in almost a year ! I'm not only talking about followers and likes (what do likes actually mean anyway), I'm talking about people engaging in conversation and sharing which have all but disappeared from Instagram and Facebook. Users are more involved but will it last. Is every post a success? No. But it seems to be far better than the other platforms so far.

 I have no idea how long I'll be using Threads and at this point it's just an experiment. What worries me is what happened to Instagram will eventually happen here? Will advertisements run amuck? Will a "1984" algorithm entity take over? Will the users turn into the mindless idiots of Instagram and Facebook, all scrolling at the speed of light only to stop for a second for a stupid cat video or political meme? Maybe it turns into a financial failure for Zuckerberg and he pulls the plug. If so can artists, patrons, collectors, galleries, museums, institutions please go back to websites and blogs!

https://www.threads.net/@michael_penn_photography