Facebook's View Only Culture Vs. Steemit's Immersive Culture

I deleted my Facebook last year with the intention of trying to make actual connections with people and to stop wasting my time on something that was truly unfulfilling.

When I used to use Facebook I would read one of my friends posts and notice an interesting comment from one of their friends that we didn't share in common. I would become intrigued and start looking through their profile and in the process find one of their friends who left an interesting comment... Suddenly I was 5 "friends" removed from my original "friend". Looking at personal information about someones life that I couldn't really comment on because well I don't know that person and that would seem kind of creepy.

I found myself on Facebook repetitively involved in this cycle. People watching safely from the other side of the screen. A really brain numbing and unrewarding activity. I found that this behavior of taking in information and not responding was becoming a habit.

I started to notice I was also at times doing this with my text messages and emails. Realizing later when the second message came in that I had in fact not responded to the previous message.

Another thing I noticed about Facebook is that most of the updates posted by people highlight only the best of themselves and their lives. Carefully staged photos and overly happy thoughts. Those who posted updates about their struggles in life often went unliked. Even clearly relatable events seemed to be shunned. As if to say this isn't the place for that we don't want to see those realities. We are only here to look at and put forth fabricated perfection. A very hollow and lonely platform in my opinion.

Then I found Steemit and I am beginning to make those connections I was unable to make on Facebook and am finding it to be extremely fulfilling!

I've found that people on Steemit are searching for authenticity. If what you post is authentic, if the humanity can be felt through whatever means you post then you are going to be welcomed into the family. No need to pretend here. No need to feign perfection. You can talk about the good and you can talk about the bad as long as it's honest.

You don't have "friends" here you have an open community which I've found to be a lot more friendly than Facebook as a whole. Everyone is welcome to participate and posts are there for all to see and interact with.

If I find a complete strangers post that I find to be interesting, beautiful, educational or heartwarming I am welcomed to comment and interact with the author. For that matter even if I find the content to be displeasing or I disagree with it I am still welcomed to comment and discuss and debate the issue.

Steemit is all about interaction between members. It is also about the quality of interaction. So if I find a post that I connect with or that I disagree with I need to bring my thinking and reasoning into the dialogue. A simple "cool post" or "I don't agree" won't fly. In fact if your content or comments are fake or shallow people are not going to be responsive. You will not be received well. You will be told to get real or get out. And even then you can stay but you probably won't get much out of it, financially or socially.

On Steemit you need to dig deeper and think about your feelings and thoughts and what is motivating them and then you need to put that into written form. In trying to bring value to the interactions I have on this platform I am doing this exact thing. I am getting into the habit of analyzing my feelings and thoughts and expressing them clearly. And what I've noticed is...this is flowing over into my life in general. I am taking the time to respond more deeply and clearly to not only my text messages and emails but my in person interactions as well.

And you know what I think that is Grand!

@sarahsayjay

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