...

Someone who knew I was on Mastodon actually ended up asking me if it was worth looking at for spreading their name as an aspiring author. My honest advice was this:

"Don't bother. I left, and I'll never go back. Twitter and Facebook have more reach, but no matter what you use, you'll be in for a hell of a time. If you're not all that resilient against peer pressure or toxic environments, forget all three of them. And even if you are, they will wear you down before too long. You'll be constantly stepping on eggshells about what you say, and anything even remotely connected to you will be put under a microscope the moment you become even moderately popular."

Then, I realized that social media really has broken me. Just the idea of being successful in the age of social media has me scared shitless. It's actually in my best interest to stay obscure, rather than look for a career where I could become known by lots of people.

It actually hurts knowing that.