I spent the last hour crying. And I’m not a cryer. I never cry. But something extraordinary happened & even as a robotic autistic who rarely feels feels, I was verklempt. Totally unprepared. I have been on the Internet since its inception. Never have I experienced such a sense of community. I was on chat rooms that turned into Friendster that morphed into MySpace which eventually led us to tmblr, Twitter, Facebook & Spoutible. Gen X maps this evolution of social media in our DNA. The entirety of its development has taken place in our lifetime & its longevity or effectiveness to influence will not be denied.
So, why does Spoutible matter?
First, as an introvert, connecting with people I know electronically is my preferred method. I generally do not like people in close proximity anyway. They consistently disappoint me. If you study my social media profiles, you’ll see I value quality over quantity, so if I follow you; I thank & appreciate you. That was my number one goal on Spoutible. After 20+ years of social media & watching it disintegrate at the hands of megalomaniacal billionaires; I was weary. I had been on 💀🐦 since 2009. I saw it rise & fall, however, like many others, its current state of decomposition & the ugly rearing of hate, prejudice, homo/transphobia, misogyny & straight out modern day Nazism (aka Christian Nationalists) from its bowels has forced many of us to flee hastily to anywhere else not merely out of a sense of principles which make most of us balk at supporting a forum allowing such abusive behavior under the disingenuous guise of ‘guaranteeing Free Speech’ in light of how apparent it is to every-freaking-body, the current owner of the site is only interested in supporting/promoting/perpetuating white supremacy, but also out of a sense of self preservation & maintaining our sanity. We no longer felt safe.
In my fourteen years on that site, I built 4 separate fairly decent accounts. I have no ambition to be a huge account nor do I strive to go viral. I’m 100% there for the interaction (Introverts UNITE! From the safety & comfort of your own home!😁 #IYKYK). I used each account the same; lil bit of fun, lil bit of politics. Ok. A shitton of politics. It is because I have a tendency to be *outspoken* against bullshit (I ain’t even sorry), I lost my first 3 accounts to trolls who targeted anyone speaking up for democracy & against the corrupt Republican party. I was bereft. I put a lot of heart into those accounts, lost touch with some great people when they were suspended (but that’s the point, right?) There didn’t seem to be any defense. I was almost afraid to protest (behavior programmed into my DNA) because it’s a tedious task starting over on social media & I was tired of doing it just to be forced to surrender because foreign countries & domestic terrorists were attacking US in an attempt to influence an election. I didn’t think I had it in me. But THEN CAME BotSentinel.com! Are you kidding me?? A browser extension that detected trolls?? You gotta be kidding me. I’ve been electronically engaged since all screens were black & all text was green & I don’t recall such a clever, EXTREMELY useful program as Bot Sentinel (in my life! Not NASA😁)that benefited everyone like me who wanted to weed out trolls to preserve their efforts to fight fascism & Christopher Bouzy just HANDED it to us; for free. It truly changed the game. Who does that?? Bouzy. Bouzy does that.
When the current owner of 💀🐦took over, many of us immediately instinctively knew what was about to happen. Complete annihilation of the community to the service of oligarchs. NAILED IT! Many like me, hardcore introverts, panicked! Dorsey’s 🐦 wasn’t perfect but it was far less Ku Klux Klan-y & porn-bot-ish. Personally, I was done. I wish Tom from MySpace the best! That was my favorite SM space. But Zuckerberg & Musk & Dorsey can burn as far as I am concerned. So when Twitter died, I was ready to be done with social media despite how dependent I’d become on it as an autistic introvert who despises the phony outside world.
Tired of putting effort into a forum so vulnerable to the whims of its narcissistic owners. Life is already stressful enough without that kind of ego driven ballyhoo.
Then, just as many of us teetered on the precipice of hopelessness, on the verge of fleeing our online refuge into the cruel electronic world with no place to go; enters Christopher Bouzy. Isn’t he the Bot Sentinel guy? Yes he is. The guy who gave political activists like myself a way to protect themselves from being attacked by nefarious *DISRUPTIVE* netizens, he was already beloved by a great deal of us. To provide such a unique & valuable service FOR FREE no less, made him a hero in my book.
So it becomes clear the 🐦is gonna💀 & so a mad scramble begins to be the next 💀🐦, because nothing will change when that is your goal & some of us are sick of the same old same; to quote the Beastie Boys — Something’s Got To Give. That’s why, when Bouzy asked his followers if they’d consider an alternative to 💀🐦, only without bullshit, we lost our minds! Yes!! Yes. Yes. Yes. His vision was inspirational. Guardrails based on Bot Sentinel to address/prevent abuse & trolling, a corporate stance against misinformation (that’s insane! No one else has the courage), & the way he sent us polls & surveys & let us be a part of its development & policies the entire time he was building Spoutible ended up creating a community of supporters who in the most extraordinary way, bound by their appreciation for Christopher, became an instant family. I see FIRST WAVE in so many bios. It’s a sense of pride both of & for Christopher Bouzy. He created something amazing here. He saved us, many whose voices would have been lost due to social media fatigue. After breathing in the toxicity of social media for over 2 decades, Spoutible is like fresh air. Anything is possible! But not everything would be tolerated. Not censored, but we had polls & consensus rules, policies reflect that. Bouzy gave us that & the community keeps itself in line. It is quite impressive. The way you would want a democracy to work. Even if you are suffering from social media fatigue & cannot bear the thought of starting over, I would urge you to give it a try. Trolls are not allowed. Hatefulness will get checked EVERY TIME. Misinformation will be called out & those posting it will be expelled. It is one of the safest spaces on the Internet I have ever seen. The atmosphere is welcoming & inclusive & the FirstWave community are fiercely protective of one another. Exactly how you’d want the real world to be.
An environment made possible by the RIDICULOUS amount of unbelievably supportive #PodMates you’ll find there.
I have enjoyed a great deal of interactions with family and friends over the years on various social media platforms but on Spoutible, the entire community whether they know you or not, CELEBRATE your accomplishments & share in your struggles. It’s nutso. I mean. It’s EXACTLY how I think the ENTIRE WORLD should be but at the same time mind blowing. I have been online since before the Internet & NO WHERE has there ever been as great & self regulating community, as found on Christopher Bouzy’s masterpiece; www.spoutible.com
I made a spout about how after struggling with homelessness for 7 years, I had been accepted into a rent controlled apartment in Colorado where I’ve been trying to get to for the last 5 years & within SECONDS I had 30 congratulatory notifications, the vast majority from many spouters whom I’d never encountered before. In minutes, complete strangers asked me ‘how they (the community) could help’ with moving. To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. No one in my family is that generous. Here, people read ONE of your spouts & think — I wanna help that person. Just insane.
Roughly a week later, #MyPod had come together & helped me raise enough money to escape my hazardous living conditions. ONE WEEK. To say I am overwhelmed by that sense of community would be an understatement. & It’s not just the money. I have been sharing my life experiences of struggle with this pod & YOU KNOW WHAT?? They’re just SO supportive, it makes me feel weird. In a good way. I’m not used to that. But I will learn to deal! I feel certain Spouters have no idea just how wonderful they are. I’m convinced of that. They show TF up when their pods need them. Exactly how you’d want the real world to be.
Who does all that??? Bouzy. Bouzy does all that. Bouzy made all that happen.
I’ve never seen anything like it. & I doubt we ever will. Christopher Bouzy gave us a home.
That’s why Spoutible Matters.
The Gypsy Tells It 