As someone who grew up before the internet was adopted, then got into Angelfire/Geocities “about me” pages, early MySpace & Facebook; it wasn’t a stupid idea. The early years were amazing because suddenly we were in touch with people all over the world, friends half forgotten, and artists. MySpace and then Facebook was a game changer for booking bands if you were a small venue or house and for tour managers of indie bands in the early 00s. I booked and wrote for a print zine back then and got to book some phenomenal shows and interview some bands I probably never would have if it weren’t for the ease of what social media created. But it had a price. By the ‘10s I noticed the need to look DIY or like one was participating through curated “likes”, posts, or pictures was more important than actually participating. Then it just became shit. I still have an Insta for my dogs because it remains a decent platform for networking with dog rescues and volunteers across country (I wish someone with the tech skill would develop something exclusive for us to use for that), but otherwise it’s become garbage. But for a while it was as revolutionary as the telegraph or telephone for people who’d never been able to connect with others in that manner. Then, like robocalls and telemarketers, the corporate assholes found a way to exploit a fundamental human desire- to connect with other humans.