Baking Soda: noun
Informal term for social media notifications which alert user to:
ads
generic content (despite term "for you")
new features in social media platform
anything that's not an actual, one-to-one social interaction
Makes the somewhat-crass analogy that just as drug dealers "step on" their product with baking soda(making it less potent but maximizing profits), so too do social media companies dilute person-to-person socialization with "fluff" such as ads and other content.
Case Study: LinkedIn (not the worst of them!)
My Last Five (non-spam) Linked-In messages:
old coworker saying something really nice
guy I went to school with introducing me to a friend of his, who shares an interest of mine
person I chatted with (& really enjoyed the company of) thanking me for my time (totally unnecessary, but very heartwarming and appreciated)
guy I ran into at a busy event following up to say it was nice seeing me
good friend of mine arranging logistics to catch up properly for first time in over a year
I am never going to stop checking my linkedIn messages. As far as linkedIn is concerned, I am "addicted" to DMs.
Which means once a week or so for the rest of my life I'm going to be see a little red dot and think, "Oh I think someone is reaching out to me" only then to be served stuff like this:
Served to me by a company who's idea of "for me" is shit like this:
Before you major in Computer Science read this – full post & (more of) my frustrated rambling
I already did major in Computer Science. I said so...on my linkedIn!
This guy...he's a real person. I sent him a message asking to chat about what it's like performing linkedIn. I didn't hear back.
He went to Berkeley.
He interned at Apple.
From those two things, I assume he's probably pretty smart, certainly very hardworking. I don't understand why he's wasting his time and mine, his attention and my attention (and now your attention), staring at a computer screen while a friend takes a photo. Who is this for?
And don't say "me." LinkedIn already suggested that!
But seriously: Michael, if you're reading this (or if you know Michael), I'd love to chat. I genuinely believe we would have a lot to connect over as human beings. I don't blame you for the state of linkedin in 2025. I respect and admire your determination to play the game.
More Baking Soda
I am getting mad as I write this, which tells me it's time to stop.
I really don't blame any individuals. I've met people who work at Meta. They've been nice. But it's just crazy, the state of cyberspace in 2025. How did we get here? How do we get out?
I don't really know what I'm doing with this format, but I have been taking screenshots over the past two weeks whenever I see something outrageously shit on a social platform. Here's some of what's been served to me:
A person you know mentioned you!
I see:
And this is a real person I know. So I click through, because it says they mentioned me!
Except no they didn't.
But I've already clicked, so the fraction of the cent is already in the bank account. I guess maybe they should worry that I'll be mad and talk the ear off of their support representative, but checkmate they don't have those.
The "product" is kneecapped. If someone now actually does mention me I have to decide if it's the boy crying wolf or if...the metaphor is breaking down, but you know what I mean.
A person is dead
Every so often on facebook I learn that someone I used to know has passed away.
So now, facebook sometimes shows me people I don't know who have passed away. Because it'll take me a few seconds to figure out if I know them or not...and those couple seconds are engagement, baby! Some Product Manager is going up the Org Chart, and I wish them well.
"Our Phd Data Scientists have discovered people sometimes pause at graphic imagery, much like traffic slows down near brutal accidents"
I'm going to do you a kindness that was not done to me and not show you what facebook showed me. You're welcome. It's a variety of gross, graphic, near-pornographic, and also a lot of Graham Platner interviews.
Assorted
"Boy, wait till they hear at the 10-year high school reunion that ETHMumbai follows little old me"
How sad is this?
And I wanted it too. I only have a twitter so I can follow people who only have twitter, and I wanted it too.
OpenAI corporate Office google maps reviews
I like reviews for corporate offices on google maps. A repository of all kinds of emotions that, when they (openAI in this case) made the UI, they specifically did not leave a place for.
mastodon.com
farcaster.com
bluesky.com
These are small things, but think of the tens of thousands of people who dared to take the first step towards trying something new...and this is as far as they got. LinkedIn is idiot-proof. Facebook is idiot proof. Open social won't get normal people until it's idiot proof.
Did I just make $4K with one blog post? Am I crypto genius?
Act I: Well done! You just made something. You maker. You builder. Creator. Well done! Your writer coin is live!
Act II: As I'm sure you know, metrics are very important.
Your metrics so far: 8s read time, that's very good. 1 view. Still early, that'll go up I bet. But here's the important one:
Earnings.
$3,846.35.
Or maybe $4,337.38.
It's definitely one of those two numbers. Maybe both? The post value is $4,337.38, while the estimated value of holdings if $3,846.35. At a minimum you just made $3K.
Act III: Boy you worked hard. Time to relax. Let your eyes unfocus...and then just press the obvious button. The button that feels right. The central button on the screen. Please click it. Give us money. We told you you earned 4K, now in exchange please give us real money. Pump it up. Do it. It's already worth 4K. You've heard of Doge Coin, right? This could be like that.