The slow exit

 

Maybe it's the start of the year, but I feel the urge to leave the social media scene more and more.

I don't consider blogging part of that. It's separate for me. But I deleted Twitter/X two months ago and I think Facebook will be coming next.

I know a lot of folks deleted Facebook a long time ago, I get it. I've stayed because of connections to people who mean something to me in my life. But as some of them leave the app themselves, there's less there for me to see and the recent news that the site is about to enter an even wilder scene than it already has isn't encouraging me to stay (I have never relied on Facebook for news, I have a journalism degree for crying out loud).

 

I never joined Instagram or TikTok, so if/when Facebook leaves, all that will be left is Bluesky. (There's also Discord, but I'm not on that much).

 

For now, Bluesky is pretty delightful. Part of me expects it to go to pot eventually like it seems every social site does, but I'm enjoying it while I can. One pleasant surprise is that one of the things I feared I'd miss when I left Twitter, is still a thing on Bluesky -- there's still a chance to land cards.

 

Several folks there give away cards, or there's an opportunity to trade. Over the last few weeks, I've been able to land a smattering of cards for free.

 

 

This gold foil parallel of Walker Buehler's 2023 Topps card came from the generous @karadbaseball.bsky.social. She often gives out cards through the @ngtcollectibles.bsky.social Sunday giveaway thread or just gives out cards on her own.

This card happened to arrive on the same day that the news broke that Buehler was no longer a Dodger. That was a tough day, so the card brightened it. And it made me realize that I can still gather Buehler Dodgers cards with maybe a little less competition now.

This is the first 2024 Topps Holiday card in my collection and the first that I have seen at all in person. Pretty nifty that it's a Shoehei Ohtani and a silver glitter parallel at that! 

This card was sent by @hrderbyswing.bsky.social, who is always offering up snazzy cards like this as freebies. I was lucky enough to win it. It also inspired me to finally order one of those 2024 Holiday ball things -- just to have something Christmas-y to open way after the holidays.

 

 

I'm most excited about these. All of these 1979 Hostess needs came from Christopher Kamka, who is a big-time presence on Twitter, working for the Cubs' Marquee Sports Network, and also makes appearances on Bluesky. During one of those times I was able to claim a lot of '79 Hostess extras. Amazing! I'm now over halfway complete on this set.

 

He even threw in a couple of Dodgers. I think I have the Piazza (need to double-check) but I know I need the Pages. He apologized for a delay in sending which is not necessary for freebies!!!

It's nice to be in the company of giving folks like this and I like the conversation. It makes me want to give away cards myself and I've tried a couple times. That's what happen when you're around good people and very little ulterior motive. (It's interesting that some of the folks who were known for selling cards or harvesting followers don't really know what to do with Bluesky).

It's true I'm wary of this situation and expect it the blow up like all the other sites have. But I'm also ready to return to the days when a computer was for data processing and everything else happened in real life. I know that would freak out a lot of people, but I remember that time. It wasn't so bad. Pretty nice, actually. And a lot less weird.