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Worth noting that most of the people who say Bluesky is dead or useless are journalists, not organizers. Bluesky has been OUTSTANDING for me as an organizer. I've raised THOUSANDS of dollars here, gotten HUNDREDS of people to actual events, gotten LOADS of people to DO POLITICAL THINGS.

I've also sold more stuff through my online store via Bluesky than I ever did on Twitter. Genuinely shocked by how fast special sales go - things often sell out within hours or days. (Check out the store - gregpakshop.com!)

Of course none of this happens through just posting a few links. It comes from spending frankly too much time on this site, lol, interacting and conversing and bullshitting and having fun with friends. And it comes from repeated and strategic repetition of posts and appeals in interesting ways.

In short, it takes WORK and TIME. I think folks with a lot of followers got used to old Twitter as a guaranteed slot machine of interaction. Ain't like that here. Gotta start from scratch, build your community, goof around, have fun, and work to build something with good stuff to offer.

As an activist/organizer, "good stuff to offer" means CLEAR CALLS TO ACTION about stuff you ACTUALLY DEEPLY CARE ABOUT presented in INTERESTING or even FUNNY AND/OR EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING WAYS. Give people something to DO and tell 'em why and they very often will actually do the thing!

As a creator/writer/artist, "good stuff to offer" is your awesome work, presented proudly and shamelessly and frequently in ways that make people feel EXCITED and AWESOME about participating in it/checking it out.

If you just check in once every few days and throw up a link or two, of course the joint's gonna feel dead. You're not HERE! People aren't gonna see your ONE POST in a fast moving timeline. You gotta post it a few times, have some friends who care & share it. You gotta build a little community.

This is a good corrective to my first post! Many, many journalists who are doing real reporting seem to get FANTASTIC traction here. Pundits? Particularly moderate pundits? Not gonna find so much of an audience here! bsky.app/profile/dans...

I should also note I'm also a journalist - a photojournalist. And my photography threads are typically some of my most viewed/shared posts, because they're showing stuff folks can't always find in mainstream news outlets - first hand images of protests and political events in NYC. Which is to say...

...YES, Bluesky leans left. So yes, "centrist" pundits & politicians can get critiqued or ignored here. I think my politics jibe pretty well with the site, which absolutely contributes to my feeling that this place is GREAT for what I need to do. I concede that's not gonna be the same for everyone!

I've always been political, but Bluesky is the first place that's help me find people and groups to connect with LOCALLY. Twitter was useless for that, in my experience.

💪

Also really really really worth noting... this site is not a SERVICE. You don't just show up and get clicks. It's a COMMUNITY. You share, you make friends and find comrades, you lift up people and things you support, you find yourself lifted up by folks who like what you're doing. You gotta GIVE.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

Thus endeth the lesson.