The End of Social Media

This morning, as I was about to look for a job on LinkedIn, I responded to someone’s post about how useless job postings in general (and LinkedIn’s in particular) were for finding a job. (I believe this is the definition of either irony or insanity.) The poster said that, based on his conversations, most people found their jobs either through networking or because they knew someone in the company. I commented that, indeed (no pun), only 3% of jobs were found from job postings and that on my last job search I had responded to 1,700 job postings and only gotten five interviews. (I eventually wound up getting a job through a temp agency which I said was, I supposed, like knowing someone in the company.)

My feed was immediately filled by people telling their own LinkedIn horror stories (as well as numerous advertisements), but no posts from people I was actually connected to. Similarly, a few days ago, I asked someone a question on Instagram in response to a post this person made about a friend of hers in the film industry. Although this person never answered my question, I immediately started seeing dozens of posts from her.

Is this the great future that was promised to us by A.I.?

In both these instances (and in business in general) the idea seems to be, “How can we remove humans from the equation?” If there’s a job that a software (in this case, A.I.) can do “better,” let’s replace the human with the software.

Two more examples:

I recently joined both Threads and Bluesky after deleting my Twitter account (because Elon Musk was instrumental in electing Donald Trump, donating $250 million to his campaign, as well as suppressing anti-Trump tweets and promoting pro-Trump tweets). After a few weeks, I have 131 followers on Threads and 52 on Bluesky. On both platforms, I see posts from basically the same two people (who must do nothing but post all day), to the point where I’ve started deleting some of them.

I just use these two platforms to vent my frustration at the election of Trump/Republicans, but I’m just preaching to the converted. I’m not actually changing anyone’s mind. So what's the point?

The only reason I stayed on Twitter after Elon Musk bought it was to be a “voice of the opposition” and look how well that worked out.

The best of these platforms might be Facebook, perhaps because it’s based on people I actually know. (I compare these other platforms to a bunch of people screaming into a vacuum.) But even here, out of 1,793 “friends,” I only see posts from about two dozen. And on all these platforms, the “conversation” seems to be very one-sided. It just seems to be people promoting or selling something (to be fair, I’m guilty of that as well), but rarely engaging in actual conversation.

Maybe I should just rely on my website and blog. If people are interested, fine, if not, that’s fine too. But, of course, then the issue becomes how to get people to pay attention to your website or blog, hence social media.

It’s a vicious cycle.

Now excuse me while I post this on Facebook, Threads and Bluesky.

Eat Drink Laugh at Pangea, Saturday, December 21 at 9pm

I'm hosting a stand-up comedy show at Pangea on Saturday, December 21 at 9pm, $10 in advance ($15 at the door) plus $20 minimum. Advance tickets available here: https://cur8.com/23871/project/127527

I hope you'll join me and this great line-up of comedians.

See you there!

Paul

Queer

Queer is the most devastating gay love story I’ve seen since All of Us Strangers.

Based on the book by William S. Burroughs, Daniel Craig, in a role that’s diametrically opposed to his long run as James Bond, plays a gay, junkie writer (much like Burroughs himself) named William Lee, who seems to spend all his time in Mexico City chasing hustlers, drinking and shooting heroin. Then me meets a young man named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), whose sexual orientation isn’t immediately apparent, and falls in love with him. The two then go on a journey to South America in search of ayahuasca, a drug that is supposed to aid in telepathy but seems to induce hallucinations. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I’ll just say that you may be as heartbroken as you were at the end of Strangers.

I think director Luca Gaudagnino (Call Me by Your Name, A Bigger Splash) is the most interesting director working today. What I really love about this movie is the way it captures gay desire, with its camera lingering over Starkey’s body. It doesn’t shy away from gay sex (in fact, it’s quite erotic). Craig is still in great shape (despite the fact that he’s playing a junkie) and Starkey is also quite beautiful to look at.

Also featured in the film are Drew Droege (off-Broadway’s Bright Colors and Bold Patterns), as a stereotypical, effeminate lounge lizard and an unrecognizable Jason Schwartzman, who put on a ton of weight for his role as another bar fly.

While the movie is set in the 1950s, Guadagnino once again makes great use of music, including Nirvana and New Order.

There’s a hallucinogenic quality to Queer, as befits a movie about drug use, and you may find yourself saying “What the fuck just happened?” at times, but the pain of lost love will remain in the pit of your stomach long after you’ve left the theater.

A Letter to the New York Times

To the Editor:

Charles Michael Sitero’s letter ("Healing the Political Divide and Despair,” 10/11/24) is full of precisely the “presumption of moral high ground, smug and arrogant and judgmental sense of elitist entitlement, malicious hate, envy, name calling and abusive persecution through the use of the media” of which he accuses liberals.

When Florida is underwater because Trump has trashed climate protections, put a climate change denier in charge of the E.P.A. and given billions to the fossil fuel industry, I don’t want to hear a fucking word.

Paul Hallasy

New York, NY

Why I Left Twitter

It took me a week after the election, but I finally decided to delete my Twitter account. I’d been having second thoughts about Twitter since Elon Musk took over and, since the election, they’ve only gotten louder.

Twitter was always the least popular of my social media accounts and it’s only gotten more so. In just the last week, I’ve lost at least 16 followers and most of the followers I’d gained since Musk took over were, I’m assuming, fake accounts. (Women looking for sex from a gay man? Hello?)

Add to that the fact that it seems like Musk has been suppressing anti-Trump accounts and amplifying pro-Trump accounts.

In fact, now that Musk has succeeded in getting Trump elected, I wouldn’t be surprised if he sold Twitter (assuming anyone would be interested in buying it).

Then there’s my natural antipathy towards social media in general.

As a late boomer, I’ve always thought all social media was kind of bullshit. I distinctly remember my reaction when I first considered joining Facebook (which I only joined in order to promote my stand-up comedy shows). My reaction was, “You mean to tell me that adults are doing this?!!!” It all seemed so juvenile. (And I’m not sure how helpful it’s been in terms of putting asses in seats. It seems like personal connection and word of mouth is much more effective.)

But I eventually gave in.

Then, I was actually required to join Instagram by my real estate job and it was equally ineffective in helping my real estate career.

Another truism to consider: No one’s opinion has ever been changed by social media. Social media is designed to reinforce the opinions you already have. And it mainly thrives on just two emotions: fear and anger.

So all those New York Times articles I posted about how dangerous Trump was were for nothing. People don’t read newspapers anymore and, even if they did, they’d have to already be a Times subscriber to get past the paywall.

And I’m reluctant to join another social media platform like Threads because what would be the point? I feel like I’m just pissing in the wind.

But maybe it might be worth it as an experiment, just to see if one platform is any more useful than another.

At least I won’t be subjected to all the offensive ads on Twitter (most of which I blocked) and the even more offensive people (like Musk and Trump, both of whom I also blocked).

I didn’t think anyone could be more of a pathological narcissist than Trump, but in Elon Musk, who bought Twitter solely for his own self-aggrandizement, Trump may have finally met his match.

Protect Our Futures March

It was good to express my shock/outrage/sadness over the election results in the company of thousands of like-minded people. The high points for me were passing Trump International Hotel & Tower (where I shouted, “Fuck Trump!”) and News Corporation headquarters (where I shouted, “Fuck Fox News!").

I had an eerie, 1984/Handmaid’s Tale-like feeling as I saw the Fox News ticker reporting the damage Trump/Republicans have already inflicted or are planning to inflict.

And he hasn’t even taken office yet.

How to Survive the Coming Trumpocalypse

The next four years are going to be all about self-preservation. Here are some steps I’m taking (or have already taken) in order to preserve my sanity and suggest you take in order to preserve yours:

1. Contact your elected representatives. The first thing I did Wednesday morning was call my Congressman, Daniel Goldman, to express my shock/outrage/sadness over the election results and ask if there was anything I could do to help. Unfortunately, the young woman who answered the phone wasn’t very helpful (I don’t think they’re allowed to give political advice), but at least I made my feelings known. (Dan, if you're reading this, call me.)
2. Organize. I contacted the Women’s March. If you recall, they held the largest such gathering in history after Trump’s last election (I can’t believe I’m saying that), organizing marches across the country and around the world. I attended their “Election Reflection & Healing Justice Gathering” Zoom meeting last night. It was kind of hokey (although several attendees in the chat were eating it up), kind of like a guided meditation, but it was good to be in the presence of like-minded people. I was hoping for information on a New York City march (there is one in Washington, D.C. this Saturday, November 9), but none was forthcoming. There’s a “Mass Actions Organizing Call” Zoom meeting tomorrow (November 8) which I’m planning to attend, so I’ll see if that’s any better.
3. Apply for/renew your passport. I renewed mine this morning. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to move to another country (and I love New York City—I sometimes refer to it as the “Independent Republic of New York City”), but it’s good to have just in case of an emergency. This is all about empowerment.
4. Spend time with friends and/or family (assuming you’re still talking to them). I spent today, an unseasonably mild day, in the park with a friend of mine and it was a healing experience. (Again, like-minded people.) Nature/the outdoors can also be healing.
5. Limit your TV news diet. I’m severely limiting mine because I can’t stand to look at or listen to Donald Trump. If necessary, I’ll read the New York Times, but I’m limiting my exposure to PBS News Hour (which is great and unbiased, but may still expose me to Trump) and, more importantly, MSNBC (which is unabashedly partisan and only fuels my anger), both of which I used to watch avidly.
6. Limit or cut off your exposure to Trump voters. I know this one’s a little controversial (cf. Bill Maher and his "Kumbaya" sensibility). I’ve spent the last year sounding the alarm about Trump and trying to reason with the few Trump voters in my circle and look what happened: Most Americans voted for him anyway. If watching the January 6th insurrection and seeing/listening to all the things he said and did on the campaign trail (not to mention his four years in office) weren’t enough to convince you that he was unfit to be president (see my related post, “Hate Wins (Again)"), I’m not wasting my breath anymore. I’m done. You are hereby cut off. (If I still have friends who voted for Trump and they’re reading this, they’ll probably be too embarrassed to admit it.)
7. Self-care: Eat right. Exercise. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Don’t do drugs. Get plenty of rest. Doing these six things is good advice any time, but especially now.
8. Create. Write, act, sing, paint, etc. Artists are always at the forefront of social change (and usually the first to be punished under a dictatorship), so keep doing what you’re doing. (Easier said than done, considering my parenthetical statement.) I, for one, will not be silenced.
9. Limit your exposure to social media, especially Twitter. I’m debating whether or not to delete my Twitter account. Fortunately, I’m spared most of the right-wing hate and misinformation because of the “For You” feature, and some of it can be useful (I quoted a thread in my aforementioned post). But now that Trump has actually been elected, what’s the point? And I’m a little uncomfortable about contributing to anything that could benefit Elon Musk. Also: If I see a Trump supporter on any of my social media, I will block, unfollow or unfriend them.

If anyone has any other ideas, I’d be happy to hear them. And if I should mysteriously “disappear,” you know who to blame.