Building Community

One of Inland Steel's SW1's, #72, was photographed by Roger Puta at the company's massive Indiana Harbor Works complex in East Chicago, Indiana on December 31, 1964. pic.twitter.com/qs20smVRp5

— American-Rails.com (@americanrails) April 1, 2020

When I was a kid there was a common thread that ran through my circle of friends and teammates. It seemed like everybody I knew had East Chicago roots. Either their dad grew up there, or used to work at one of the mills. Starting in the 60s there was a migration south from the lakefront cities of East Chicago, Hammond, Gary, and Whiting to Highland, Munster, Merrillville, and points beyond. It felt like we went back to the old neighborhood often enough (family holiday gatherings, banking, lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall taco or sandwich stand) to keep it familiar, but it was also cool having a common bond with people in a “new” place.

So this moment in the social media landscape rings true. I’ve been on Twitter since 2010 and it’s been an invaluable source of connection amongst teachers, a place to commiserate with fellow Cubs/Bears/Bulls/Hawks fans, my go-to for breaking news and reactions.

Some of the coolest moments with the people I met during my just-completed year as an Indiana Teach Plus Policy Fellow started with some variation of the phrase “I knew you from Twitter before I ever met you in person”.

But a lot of the folks who made Twitter such a beneficial learning and sharing space are limiting their usage or leaving the platform altogether. I’m intertwined enough (and let’s be honest, a total creature of habit) that I probably won’t leave altogether, but I also want to be where the people I learn from and with are gonna be.

But in a moment when there are a gaggle of new social media platforms vying to be the landing spot for the Twitter diaspora, where is that?

For what it’s worth, my experience/opinion:
Twitter – Dying, hope it comes back when that guy leaves
Mastodon – Feels like having to know how a computer worked in 1998
Threads – I want Zuckerberg to know less about me, not more
Bluesky – I like it! Feels like early Twitter

— John Moe (@johnmoe) July 6, 2023

“Feels like having to know how a computer worked in 1998”. Ooooh, I felt that.

Wherever we all end up, community is going to take time and intentionality to build. Some of my brilliant math teacher connects are working hard to do just that on Mastadon (or more precisely, mathstadon, as their instance is known).

But no lie, building community from the ground up in a new place is hard work. And although I recognize the value in my online community, I’ve got be be very aware of my capacity for that kind of heavy lift.

Is it possible to move the best parts of my Twitter experience to a new platform pretty much intact? It would almost have to be an extension or offshoot of an existing platform, right? Someplace with the reach and bankroll to claim a headstart?

Enter Threads, Meta Corportation’s rival to Twitter. It took over my social media world on Wednesday night, as the first five million or so folks signed up, including more than a handful of my follows on Twitter. Many of the early posts (threads? strings?) had that “walking into a party where you know a few people so you grab a drink and make your way around the room and smile and nod a lot” feel.

Of course Meta gives you the option at signup to follow all your Instagram connects on Threads, and it was interesting to see how many folks had some variation of “Oh man, I’m not the same guy on Twitter that you see on IG, bro”.

I was super-curious to see who the early-early adopters were. For me I checked Chicago sports teams (Blackhawks, Bulls, White Sox, Cubs jumped right in) and my news sources (Tribune yes, Hammond Times not yet, WaPo and the NYT of course), a hanfdul of colleges (oh man were IU, ND, and UNLV all over it), some weather people (Ginger Zee and Matthew Cappucci right at the front of the line). Then… teachers and assorted edu-humans. I had a sense of who I might find right away and I was mostly right. Either folks who tweeted their Threads handle, or who I knew were looking for new community, or who have been part of the online Edu-conversation and want to stay active in that space, they were all there.

I also knew that my IRL teacher people who I’m connected with on Twitter might take a little longer to make the move. Honestly, I’m a little too online for my own good and my teacher friends who have actual lives are probably blissfully unaware of the great Social Media Platform Shakeout of 2023.

Which is fine. Maybe we’re all overreacting and Twitter just keeps being what it (mostly) has always been and we keep sharing and learning together there. Or maybe we are pulling on the thread that unravels the entire tapestry.

Either way, I’m committed to staying connected and learning online. If that’s on Twitter, awesome. If Threads turns out to be the social media platform of our dreams, cool. You’ll find me there as @thedullguy. Let’s connect.