A couple of days ago I wrote that I was thinking about disconnecting my blogs and myself from every social media, even Micro.blog.

My concern was/is the constant expectation of feedback, that addictive behavior of posting something and immediately looking for any response in the many different social media platforms I post to.

So I said I was thinking of deleting my blog feeds from the Micro.blog timeline and stop cross-posting to other platforms, effectively isolating my writing in the vast void of the Internet, in order to lower my expectation of feedback and the slight anxiety that it brings.

And then, in the most heartwarming manner, feedback poured in.

[@kjz](https://micro.blog/kjz) encouraged me, having tried a similar approach himself. [@Miraz](https://micro.blog/Miraz) told me that she reads all my posts, but she doesn’t always have something to say in response. [@heyloura](https://micro.blog/heyloura) showed me that having to reply to a post might be stressing too.

[@adders](https://micro.blog/adders) explained that he has all notifications off and only pops in to read the timeline when he has time. [@pratik](https://micro.blog/pratik) would miss reading my posts and he’d be willing to follow me via RSS, but prefers the MB timeline. [@briandigital](https://micro.blog/briandigital) would suggest to MB some improvements to enhance interactions.

Alas, [@Annie](https://micro.blog/Annie) made me think about how important it is to acknowledge our fellow humans and have them acknowledge us. Like seeking eye contact, nodding our heads, making people feel they’re not alone in the void. And how challenging it can be to find balance in the digital world, with a never ending stream of stimuli.

So all these beautiful people have made me think and understand a few things. In essence, I really don’t want to isolate myself. If I write in a blog and not in a notebook it is because I want to make contact with people. If the problem is that seeking contact might be addictive or frustrating, I have to be able to find a proper balance and control the sources of the feelings of expectation, reward and failure.

It’s actually quite stupid to think that cutting all ties could solve anything. Getting rid of all the good things that come from human interactions because sometimes they can make us feel somewhat miserable is, in fact, a senseless idea. I was not born to live in Walden Pond.

I decided to take one measure only: I stopped cross-posting to Bluesky and Threads. I will limit my online presence to Micro.blog, where there’s a wonderful community of very nice people. And Mastodon/Fediverse users can follow my MB ActivityPub user, if they find it, which is nothing but a mirror of my MB user. If they ever write to me, I will see their responses in MB, so I everything will stay in a small and suitable place.

Sticking to Micro.blog only is, for the time being, my way of finding the proper balance. I can keep having quality interactions with excellent people while keeping my reward expectations in check.

So I’m not going anywhere.