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I know this is a very simplistic answer, but just stay off social media.

As someone who has never been on fb, insta, TikTok, etc, it's crazy to see the general "terminally online" dynamic move from teenage 4chan edgelords to working professionals who reflexively scroll insta and TikTok. I guess it makes sense as that generation was the first to be fully immersed in the online world, but i will never understand the value and satisfaction people get from being on social media. And it's interesting to interact with those people in the real world and see how far their brain has been rotted. "Doing it for the lulz" was annoying, but generally harmless. Getting health and dating advice from an influencer on TikTok is not.

I know social media is the latest form of mass communication, and its just replacing pamphlets or radio or TV in it's ability to disseminate propaganda, but the disinformation beam seems much more laser-focused, hyper-accelerated, and with significantly more negative consequences to society.

i honestly pity anyone who claims they want to go back to the office for the sake of their social life. that's what hobbies and interests are for. 95% of your work friends aren't really your friends, and will step on your head the first chance they get to clamber over you for a promotion or to curry favour. and, what, gossip about sports or the latest tv show is that important to your emotional wellbeing? fucking NPCs, man.

i understand the importance of networking and of cultivating team dynamics and maintaining a company ethos/vibe, or whatever. all that stuff can be achieved with purposive get-togethers, company days out, big calendar events, etc. but for day-to-day stuff, i swear to god you do not need to spend 2-3 hours a day chatting to people at the coffee machine or gossiping across desks. commuting for 2.5 hours a day to attend meetings in person rather than via a video-call is really not boosting your productivity. it gives the illusion of busyness.

Last edited by uziq (2025-02-06 11:46:31)

there's a weird '12 principles' thing in amazon's corporate culture, set by jeff bezos. it reads like cringey TEDtalk shite.

i have to bite my tongue as one of my good british friends in tokyo is a senior data manager in their amazon office there. he has drank the kool-aid.

uziq wrote:

i honestly pity anyone who claims they want to go back to the office for the sake of their social life. that's what hobbies and interests are for. 95% of your work friends aren't really your friends, and will step on your head the first chance they get to clamber over you for a promotion or to curry favour. and, what, gossip about sports or the latest tv show is that important to your emotional wellbeing? fucking NPCs, man.

What if I told you - there are some people who aren't exactly like you?

There's a proportion who are naturally social, outgoing etc and find it easy. These people think they're the majority when in fact they aren't, still they sneer at and ridicule everyone else.

There's a proportion who find it hard work but still manage it.

There's a proportion who find it hard work and fail, or find themselves shunned for whatever reason no fault of their own.
A different background, minor mental affliction, depression or anxiety is unattractive and becomes a vicious death spiral quite quickly.

There's a proportion who got burned enough times they stopped trying.

And then there are the people who don't crave loud noisy groups and are a lot happier by themselves.

But yeah, everyone should be more outgoing, and could be if they just put in a teeny bit of effort.

i understand the importance of networking and of cultivating team dynamics and maintaining a company ethos/vibe, or whatever. all that stuff can be achieved with purposive get-togethers, company days out, big calendar events, etc. but for day-to-day stuff, i swear to god you do not need to spend 2-3 hours a day chatting to people at the coffee machine or gossiping across desks. commuting for 2.5 hours a day to attend meetings in person rather than via a video-call is really not boosting your productivity. it gives the illusion of busyness.

Companies could work a lot better if they accepted that most of the people don't actually want to be there.
Honesty is the new thing now.