01 june 2018
Making friends should not be easy.
I think twitter, mastodon, facebook, et al. have somewhat simplified the process, so that it seems like making a friend is as easy as following someone and having them follow you back. Indeed, it almost seems as if you get the same warm & fuzzy feeling through connecting with people on social media as you do when connecting with people in real life.
Except, connecting with people on social media is way easier than actually making a real friend. Actually making friends is hard! (But eminently accomplishable.)
That's also part of why things like tilde.town are a Good Idea™; they're digital communities that don't make making friends easy. There are just people. It's not scaffolded; it's literally the equivalent of a real town square, in that you don't get anything for free. People are welcoming, sure (which is great!), but you need to put in the effort.
And that's pretty great.