I posted the same picture of my quilt to Instagram, the Making App, and Mastodon today.

On Instagram: I have 448 followers. 7 people liked the photo. Four of those are people I know in real life, the others are internet friends who I interact with somewhat regularly.

On Making: I have 54 followers. 13 people liked the photo. None of them are people I know in real life.

On Mastodon: I have 322 followers. 39 people liked the post, 9 boosted it. 2 of them are people I know in real life, I recognize only a few other names.

Now, my Instagram account is older than the other two so I probably have more inactive followers there, but that's still kind of a jarring difference. It's been pretty noticeable that they just don't actually share my photos with people and haven't since reels were introduced -- it's clear someone's bonus relies on reels getting more engagement so they're rigging the game.

Making is fun because it's small and targeted so a lot of people, myself included, just browse the timeline and look at everyone's posts, or posts related to their selected crafts. Followers don't matter so much there.

And for Mastodon: thanks 9 people who boosted my photo & people who follow hashtags. You're all better than any commercial algorithm and I'm glad to not feel like I'm shouting into the void. As much as I remind myself that my public social media is mostly a love letter to my mother and a tool for making US border crossings easier (cybersecurity experts are a lot less threatening if you look them up and see knitting photos), I'm absolutely not immune to getting a kick out of every time someone sends me a little digital heart. So thank you, and here's some hearts:

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

#TheAlgorithm #SocialMedia #Mastodon #annecdata